December 16th local time, a worst winter storm swept through the northeast of the United States in years, and the capital Washington also ushered in snow that had not been seen in many years.
On the same day, heavy snow fell in and around Washington, especially in the western and northern suburbs of Washington. It is estimated that the snowfall reached up to 40 centimeters. Heavy snow lasted from early morning to afternoon, and then turned into sleet and freezing rain, resulting in extensive freezing of the road surface, causing serious traffic congestion. Authorities said that Washington had not seen snow on this scale for many years.
In addition to Washington, the capital, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and other places also experienced heavy snow on the same day. At present, several power companies are urgently mobilizing manpower to deal with power outages that may occur at any time.
Experts predict that the winter storm will last until the 17th local time and may bring up to more than 45 centimeters of snow to some areas, thus breaking the record for snowfall in the winter of 1961 and becoming the worst snowstorm in history.
There is widespread concern in the United States that the winter storm will seriously hinder the prevention and control and testing of the novel coronavirus epidemic everywhere. According to U.S. media reports, a large number of COVID-19 testing centers in New York and Rhode Island were forced to close that afternoon.
In addition, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Aza said that the relevant departments are closely monitoring the weather situation and trying to ensure that the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine, which just began on the 14th, is not affected.
