Snowstorm pounds east coast

Cleaning up in front of the US Capitol building on Friday. (AP Photo)

A crazy El Nino driven snowstorm is pounding the eastern seaboard of the US from North Carolina to southern New England this morning. Heavy snow has fallen in places not accustomed to it including Nashville and Charlotte. Over 35cm (14 inches) has been reported in Washington DC since the storm started late Friday. The weather has resulted in major airports closing and thousands of flights cancelled. Travel on the ground has been terrible with hundreds of accidents reported and several highways closed completely. A state of emergency has been declared from New Jersey to Virginia. Overnight thunder and lightning were observed with the snow across Maryland.

Crews try to stay ahead of the heavy snow in Alexandria, Virginia on Friday. (weather.com)

This morning the large weather system is located off the Delaware coast moving northeast. Winds have been reported up to 75mph in coastal regions of Virginia and Maryland along with flooding from the Atlantic Ocean. Coastal flooding will affect Delaware, New Jersey and Long Island today moving into coastal Massachusetts later. Hundreds of thousands have lost power. The snow will continue most of the day while spreading northward into southern New England. New York City is forecasting 30 to 45cm (12 to 18 inches) of snow today. Arctic high pressure will keep the storm well south of Montreal with just some high cloudiness and a northeast wind today. The storm will impact extreme southern Nova Scotia on Sunday with 80km/h winds and up to 10cm of snow.