Snowfall to ease for blizzard-weary mid-Atlantic region

(News Terupdate) - Snowfall is expected to taper off Thursday in the mid-Atlantic region, which has been battered by record-breaking blizzard conditions, forecasters said.

Blizzard warnings in some areas, such as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, expired late Wednesday. And other blizzard warnings were expected to expire early Thursday. Some areas in New York, Maryland and Washington, already buried under layers of snow, might still see light snow Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

Residents such as Kingsley Barreto of Gaithersburg, Maryland, would welcome a break. Barreto has had to have neighbors help dig out his car.

"Things are clearing up around here a little bit now," Barreto said Wednesday on iReport, a CNN Web site that allows users to submit posts, pictures and videos.

"But some of the cars are still buried with snow. Still got downed trees and neighbors still trying to dig out," he added.

Parts of New York were coated with as much as a foot a snow Wednesday. The snowfall and 30 mph gusts caused many New York courts to shut down. Other government offices remained open, but trains from Midtown Manhattan to the suburbs were delayed or canceled.

Washington residents experienced the most sweeping shutdown of the federal government Wednesday since the Blizzard of 1996, when four feet of snow paralyzed the East Coast, from the capital to Boston.

This winter is already the snowiest on record for Washington and its suburbs, as well as Baltimore, Maryland, and Wilmington, Delaware, the National Weather Service said. And it's on track to set records in other cities, including Philadelphia and Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The 55 inches of snow that have accumulated in the nation's capital during the past two storms proved too much for some buildings. Snow was blamed for the collapse of at least 22 roofs in Washington.

In central Pennsylvania, Interstate 80 near Clearfield was shutdown after two pileups -- one involving 17 cars and the other involving seven cars, said Rich Kirkpatrick of the state's Department of Transportation.

One person died and another person was seriously injured, police said.

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