WASHINGTON: A major snowstorm pummeled the United States yesterday from Illinois to Virginia and New York, nearing all-time winter records after an epic weekend blizzard paralysed Washington and much of the
east coast.

Federal government offices in the capital will be closed today for the third straight day, while local schools prepared to remain closed until next week as the National Weather Service forecast the mid-Atlantic region
would get up to 36cm of fresh snow.

A winter storm warning was in effect until 7pm local time today for Washington, central Maryland, northern Virginia and eastern West Virginia, with the official forecasting service warning that strong winds accompanying
the snowfall will make travel "very hazardous".

Thousands of homes were still without power after Friday and Saturday's massive snowfall dubbed "Snowmageddon" left whole neighbourhoods entombed in as much as 91cm of snow.

Strong winds expected to accompany the second storm could also translate to further power outages.

Snow-weary residents have since scrambled to get a sense of normalcy, digging out, stocking up on depleted groceries and clearing their streets from fallen trees and branches.

But even before what some are calling "Snoverkill" hit, many secondary roadways remained treacherous with piles of snow and near-invisible black ice.

Harried commuters in the mid-Atlantic States struggled to dig out buried cars and trundle to work on icy roads, while subway users in the capital suffered long waits despite the relaunch of suspended overground services
earlier yesterday.

But just hours after the first new flurries began to fall, Metro said subway service would be limited to underground only stations until tomorrow,while transit officials cancelled bus and shuttle service.

Most of the 230,000 federal employees were off work, although isolated government offices including the White
House, parts of Congress and some agencies were operational.

The government shutdown did not come cheap, at a tune of an estimated US$100 million (RM340 million) a day in lost productivity.

The House of Representatives put off all votes until the week of Feb 22, when Congress returns from the President's Day holiday, and many congressional hearings were rescheduled or delayed.

Just as a thaw had brought hope of respite, yesterday's storm was expected to bring headaches to a broader region than the weekend blizzard, moving through the Midwest and traveling further up the east coast, reaching  as far north as New England and its biggest city, Boston.

School officials in the Washington region said they would not reopen until after next Monday's President's Day
holiday, a daunting prospect for parents with stir-crazy kids.

Even the New York public school system announced closures for today.

Jennifer Ganem, stuck at home in the Maryland suburbs with four children under the age of 10, said her family had been particularly challenged by a weekend power outage that kept them in the dark for almost two days.

"We played a lot of card games and they handled the cold much better than I expected," she said.

"They've held up great. I think that they're more resilient than adults are."

Washington, Virginia and Maryland all declared emergencies, allowing them to mobilise the National Guard to help cope with the unusually severe winter wallop.