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Massive Winter Storm Closes Several East Coast Airports

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Passengers flying to the East Coast from Los Angeles International Airport should check the status of their flights due to a massive winter storm that dumped 19 inches of snow on New York City and 17 inches on Philadelphia.

Two major New York-area airports, Newark and Kennedy, were closed for snow removal but started taking flights again at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Hundreds of flights were cancelled at both airports. LaGuardia Airport had 168 cancellations. About 1,500 passengers were stranded overnight at Philadelphia International Airport, according to spokeswoman Victoria Lupica.

Andrew Mollenbeck described the snowy scene to KNX 1070 Thursday morning.

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In Washington, President Barack Obama couldn't fly on the helicopter that normally takes him home to the White House from a nearby military base. Instead, a motorcade had to snake through Wednesday evening rush hour traffic already slowed by snow and ice.

(TM and © Copyright 2010 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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