Cold Grips East, With More to Come

A cold snap gripped much of the East Coast Friday, sending commuters scurrying for cover, while forecasts for more icy weather pushed heating fuel prices to record highs.

A day after the Middle Atlantic states were hit by their first major snow of the season, commuters in Boston, New York, Washington and points between struggled with frigid temperatures and strong winds.

The National Weather Service said colder-than-normal temperatures reached as far south as North Carolina on Friday and were likely to linger through next week as the storm worked its way out over the Atlantic and was replaced by a blast of frigid arctic air.

Forecasts, which call for temperatures of 8 to 12 degrees below normal across most of the eastern U.S. and heavy snowfalls in the northeast and Midwest, were likely to continue to keep the demand for heating oil--and its price--high.

Wholesale prices for heating oil hit a record high of $1.10 to $1.37 per gallon on Friday, up from 79 to 80 cents a week ago. They have nearly doubled from a year ago.

According to Jon Davis, a weather forecaster at Salomon Smith Barney, heating demand in the eastern U.S. is 36% to 49% higher than a year ago. Demand in the Midwest, moderate so far this season, could be boosted above normal by the incoming storms. Davis said the first cold-air mass will hit the eastern U.S. late Sunday, with a second front expected by Wednesday. Snows will be heaviest in the Ohio Valley, the Middle Atlantic and Northeast.

New England was hit with its first big winter storm this week and most of the region has experienced bitter cold since then. But the greater reach of Thursday’s storm snarled traffic and air travel.

Temperatures were forecast to fall to between 5 and minus 5 degrees in Boston, and wind gusts of up to 45 mph will make it dangerous to be outside at night, Charlie Foley of the National Weather Service said.

He said Washington, which was hit by several inches of snow Thursday, would see temperatures of about 20 degrees with even colder temperatures in the suburbs. He advised New Yorkers to bundle up, as the mercury was expected to drop to about 5 to 10 degrees there.

Flights at some major airports were delayed for a second day Friday, with high winds delaying travelers at Boston’s Logan International by two to five hours.

But it was Cape Cod and the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket that bore the brunt of the storm, Foley said. He said 6 to 7 inches of snow had been dumped on the Cape and wind gusts up to 50 mph were making it very tough to dig out.

In the Midwest, a new squall unleashed more cold and snow. The region got between 3 and 10 inches of snow at midweek, with more on the way.

International Falls, Minn., which is on the border with Canada and bills itself as “the Nation’s Icebox,” recorded a low of minus 33 degrees, Janine Burtness of the town’s Chamber of Commerce said.