Mid-Atlantic Seaboard Starts Digging Out

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A swirling storm has dumped nearly a foot and a half of snow in parts of New Jersey and more than a foot in Philadelphia.

Tuesday's storm clobbered the mid-Atlantic and the urban Northeast with snow and biting cold. The storm has grounded thousands of flights, closed government offices in the nation's capital and given students another day off after the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.

The storm stretched 1,000 miles between Kentucky and Massachusetts. It hit hardest along the heavily populated Interstate 95 corridor between Philadelphia and Boston, creating perilous drives for millions of motorists.

The National Weather Service says 16 inches of snow has fallen in Manalapan, N.J. Parts of Maryland have 11, as does New York City. At Philadelphia's airport there's 13.5.