page_title: December 2009 North American blizzard
section_title: Impact
hierarchical_section_title: December 2009 North American blizzard / Impact
caption_attribution_description: English: North American blizzard of 2009, snowfall accumulation map. Courtesy of the National Weather Service.
context_page_description: The December 2009 North American Blizzard was a powerful nor'easter that formed over the Gulf of Mexico in December 2009, and became a major snowstorm that affected the East Coast of the United States and Canadian Atlantic provinces. The snowstorm brought record-breaking December snowfall totals to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia.
  The blizzard disrupted several regions, and in some areas the snowfall rate prevented snow plows from maintaining the roads. The blizzard caused flights and trains to be canceled, and left areas without power. Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and New Castle and Kent counties in Delaware declared a state of emergency. Seven deaths were reported to have been caused by the storm.
context_section_description: Some regions affected by the storm experienced winds up to 25–30 miles per hour (40–48 km/h) with gusts of 45–50 miles per hour (72–80 km/h). Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport saw whiteout conditions, causing flights to be delayed or canceled. Of 740 scheduled departures at Washington National and 530 at Dulles, only 14 and 12, respectively, were able to take off.  President Barack Obama, arriving at Andrews Air Force Base after the UN Climate Conference, was forced to return to the White House by motorcade instead of helicopter. More than 800 flights were canceled at New York City's three major airports.
  Trains were also canceled or delayed. Service on Washington, D.C.'s Metrorail was suspended to all outdoor stations at 1 pm on December 19 and remained suspended until late in the day December 20; underground service remained operational. One Amtrak train, carrying 255 passengers, halted for six hours while a frozen track switch was fixed.
  On roads, snow plows were unable to keep up with fast snow accumulations. Road accidents and stuck vehicles further hindered snow removal. On some major highways, traffic slowed to five miles per hour. In West Virginia, on Interstate 77 between Ghent and Beckley, thousands of motorists were stranded for up to 18 hours due to impassable roads.  The interstate was closed for 15 hours.  Governor Joe Manchin has launched a full investigation into why the roads were in such poor condition. Greyhound Lines canceled 294 routes through Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia on December 19 and suspended service in and out of New York late Saturday.
  Thousands of power outages were reported in Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina, reportedly caused by snow weighing down on power lines. By midnight Saturday morning, when the storm had just begun to strike the area, reported power outages had already exceeded 40,000. In Kentucky, 107,000 power outages were reported. A snow emergency was declared in Washington, D.C., where Mayor Adrian Fenty asked residents to avoid venturing onto the roads. States of emergency were declared in Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and New Castle and Kent counties in Delaware.
  The storm was held responsible for seven deaths in North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, including one death resulting from a head-on collision between a snowmobile driver and a horse-drawn carriage.
  The nor'easter, which arrived on the last weekend before Christmas, hurt sales at retail stores in affected regions, but boosted online sales. Super Saturday, the last Saturday before Christmas, typically nets $15 billion in retail sales. It is estimated that 30% of this revenue comes from the northeastern United States. Stores that managed to open saw reduced traffic. The storm resulted in an estimated loss of $2 billion in retail sales.
  Due to widespread accumulation of heavy snow, the storm was ranked as a high-end Category 2 ("significant") winter storm, on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale. The ranking is based on the amount of snowfall, the area, and the population affected.
caption: National Weather Service image showing snowfall accumulation for the Mid-Atlantic states
exif: {}