Storm Hits South; Northeast Braces

A powerful March snowstorm blanketed much of generally balmy Alabama and then marched across Georgia today, forcing some flight cancellations in Atlanta as America's East Coast braced for a potential pummeling, the AP reports. The storm headed northeast and threatened to drop up to a foot of snow in the Philadelphia area, 13 inches in New York, and 15 inches across southern New England by tonight.

Most roads in Alabama were clear, but snowfalls forced more than 210 churches in central Alabama to cancel morning services as a precaution. In Atlanta, Delta Air Lines and AirTran Airways canceled some departing flights and an FAA site said flights into the city were delayed up to 2 hours. Meanwhile, tornado watches were in effect from northern Florida into coastal Georgia and southern South Carolina.
(More snowstorm stories.)