Winter storm takes aim at Mid-Atlantic and Northeast

WASHINGTON (AP) — After pummeling wide swaths of the South, a winter storm dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of the Mid-Atlantic region as it marched Northeast and threatened more power outages, traffic headaches and widespread closures for millions of residents.

Baltimore awoke this morning to 15 inches of snow, measured in Pimlico, the neighborhood that is home to the Preakness Stakes horse race. Snow blowers roared, breaking the quiet of downtown as they cleared city sidewalks in a sleeting rain. But every cleared strip created a potential hazard as it quickly iced over. Traffic was light, with some pedestrians taking to the middle of the road.

Streets were similarly deserted in Washington. As Southerners did a day earlier, many heeded warnings to stay off the roads. The sound of plastic shovels against the sidewalk rang out, and cars were capped in white. Eleven inches of snow had accumulated, with more falling. People trudged through it on foot, hopping over piles built up at intersections. Federal offices and the city's two main airports were closed.