More than 7,200 flights have been cancelled both within and outside United States. New Jersey Transit shut all bus, rail and light rail services early on Saturday and said services would be restored as conditions improve.
Government offices and schools too remained closed even as the conditions worsened. According to the National Weather service it was too soon to tell whether the snow fall will break records around Washington and Baltimore.
Many stores were left with bare shelves as people rushed for the essential commodities in preparation to stay indoors. Residents were urged to have enough food and water that could last for at least 72 hours as city officers had warned that the snow clean up was not going to start any soon.
So far the impact of the snow down fall has been felt in North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee where six people were killed in car crush due to icy roads. "This has life and death implications and all the residents of the District of Columbia should treat it with a lot of seriousness" said Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.
According to the National Weather service the storm is expected to move offshore in Southern New England. Philadelphia and New York were expected to get 12-18 inches of snow before the storm ends.
The last storm to hit Washington was in 2009 and 2010 known as "Snowmageddon" and Snowpocalypse" which dropped up to 16 inches and 18 inches respectively.