US blizzard 2016 - as it happened

Summary

A travel ban on cars in New York City has ended
Air travel in the US is still severely disrupted and the Washington DC metro remains closed
People have been digging themselves out of drifts up to 40in (102cm) deep
At least six deaths have been reported in incidents related to shovelling snow
A further 12 people have died in other snow-related incidents since Friday

Live Reporting

Tom Geoghegan and Tim Swift

Low pressure + jet stream = lots of snowpublished at 15:31
If you're wondering why this storm was so "snowy", Mashable attempts to explain, external...
First and foremost, there was an upper level low pressure area that dug a deep dip, or trough, in the jet stream across the southeast. The circulation around this low and the jet stream winds associated with it produced an area of strong lift in the atmosphere out ahead of it.
This helped trigger a surface low pressure area, which strengthened rapidly on Friday night and Saturday morning as it moved up the coast to a position east of the Delaware shoreline by midday Saturday. The upper low aligned itself on top of the low at the surface, creating a vertically stacked, whirling vortex off the East Coast that sat and spun like a top throughout the day on Saturday.
Image source, NOAA
New York subway staff worked overnight to clear snow, the MTA sayspublished at 15:21
Here's the latest on New York City subway services. Full details on the MTA Alert, external page.
Quote Message
Subway service has been restored to portions of the above ground network hit hardest by this weekend's record snowfall. Service will be limited as we ramp up and continue with snow removal operations. This restoration was made possible by crews who worked overnight to clear snow and ice from rails, signals and switches. Some outages remain as crews, assisted by heavy duty snow equipment continue that work.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York
What happens when small dog enters big snowpublished at 15:21
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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie holds news conferencepublished at 15:11
Governor Christie will shortly hold a news conference. The link to watch it is in his tweet below.
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The Long Island Rail Road remains out of actionpublished at 15:07
In New York, the Long Island Rail Road service remains suspended until further notice. Officials say many of the train company's yards are buried in more than two feet of snow. Tracks are also blocked by stranded trains. The aim is to bring back service in time for the Monday morning rush hour.
Did Washington get more snow than we think?published at 15:02
The Washington Post is questioning whether snowfall levels have been under-measured, external in the area and perhaps the storm was actually one of the top three recorded, rather than joint fourth, external.
Image source, Reuters
New Yorkers woke up to scenes many had never seen beforepublished at 14:51
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New Jersey transport workers have been clearing snow at stationspublished at 14:34
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What a difference a day makespublished at 14:29
USA Today posted this image on Instagram
These photographs from west Philadephia were taken 24 hours apart - Friday to Saturday.
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Some escalators on Washington DC's metro are covered in snowpublished at 14:23
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It's been fun in New York, although the city's been eerily quiet, says broadcaster Alvin Hallpublished at 14:15
Image caption,
Alvin Hall (pictured in London)
Quote Message
It's been really fun actually. The snow was pretty deep. I went for a walk in the middle of the snow storm, and the streets were full of people out walking their dogs, enjoying the snow. It was really quite great to see. Although the city was eerily quiet - it was like being in a science fiction film, and you expect that we were the last people on earth.
Alvin Hall, Broadcaster and financial adviser
Snowfall also breaks records in New York Citypublished at 14:12
By the time the snow stopped falling late on Saturday, New York's Central Park had received 26.8in, the second biggest fall recorded since 1869 and just shy of the previous high, 26.9in, recorded in February 2006.
Image source, Reuters
Watch: Snowboarders out in Washington DCpublished at 14:01
Media caption,
A look at the snowy scenes in several US states
Record snowfall recorded in Baltimorepublished at 13:56
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Motorists in Baltimore are being warned to stay off the roadspublished at 13:52
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What's happened so farpublished at 13:51
Millions of people are waking up to piles of snow across the eastern part of the US. The massive blizzard dubbed Snowmageddon and Snowzilla on social media, is now lessening and heading for the Atlantic Ocean.
It has affected about 85 million people and cut power to more than 200,000 homes.
- A travel ban on cars in New York City has ended
- In Washington DC, the metro is set to remain closed until Monday
- Air travel in the region is facing further disruption
- There have been drifts up to 40.5in (103cm) deep and at least six people have died while trying to clear snow
- A further 12 people have died in other snow-related incidents since Friday
- Some 7,000 flights were cancelled this weekend and disruption will continue into the working week, with at least 615 flights scheduled for Monday already cancelled
Welcome to our snowstorms live pagepublished at 13:40
Image source, AP
Welcome to the BBC's US snowstorms live page.
We'll be keeping you up to date with all the latest news, weather and travel information.
You can also read our main news story here and the BBC's breaking news Twitter feed here, external. #blizzard2016