Snow storm batters US east, piling onto holiday chaos

After a bruising holiday week of flight cancellations and record surges in Covid-19 cases, a powerful winter snow storm Monday further snarled US transport, shuttering the federal government and bringing Washington to a standstill.

The storm packed an unexpectedly fierce punch and appeared to have caught much of the capital city off guard, temporarily stranding US President Joe Biden on Air Force One and dumping up to nine inches (23 centimetres) of snow on Washington.

Many Americans have been scrambling to return home after the Christmas and New Year period, with thousands of flights cancelled due to bad weather and airline staffing woes blamed in part on rising coronavirus infections among crews.

More than 4,300 flights Monday, the first workday of 2022, were already cancelled globally as of 1:45 pm (1845 GMT), including 2,800 flights within, into or out of the United States, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.

The latest cancellations -- along with 3,300 US flight delays Monday -- compounded holiday travel misery.

While much of the US Mid-Atlantic was caught in the bad weather, conditions were acute in the capital and neighbouring states of Maryland and Virginia, where accumulation in some spots topped 12 inches, according to meteorologists who described it as the region's biggest snowstorm in at least two years.

"This is a heavy snow," said Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, where ploughs scrambled to clear snow, trees and power lines tumbled, the US Senate postponed votes and health officials cancelled Covid testing.

"If it is not absolutely necessary for you to go out, stay home and off the roads," she warned.

Airports were experiencing blizzard conditions, with authorities at Washington and Baltimore airports reportedly ordering temporary ground stops during a midday whiteout.