Second big snowstorm bears down on East Coast

U.S. government offices in Washington closed on Tuesday for a second straight day -- at a cost of roughly $100 million in lost productivity a day -- and the National Weather Service predicted the U.S. capital could get upwards of 14 inches by Wednesday night.

Residents have spent the past few days trying to dig out from the snowfall that dropped 18 inches to 32 inches last weekend from Washington to southern New Jersey, as well as trying to clear fallen trees and re-stock their refrigerators.

The second storm has been dubbed "Snoverkill" and "Snomageddon 2.0" and led some Washington-area schools to call off classes for the rest of the week. Even the battle-tested New York public school system said it would be closed on Wednesday.

"I love it. I can handle one more round," said government lawyer David Kaplan, 50, as he shoveled snow off his roof in Takoma Park, Maryland, just outside Washington. He had spent the past few days sledding and building a luge run in his backyard.

But he also said he spent a fair amount of time shoveling his driveway and his roof. "It's hard work and I hope never to do it again," he said.

There still are more than 10,000 customers without power in the Washington area while subway and bus services were limited. The cold weather also helped push heating oil futures higher.

The U.S. House of Representatives canceled votes for the week and many congressional hearings were also called off.

Beyond the U.S. capital, preparations were under way for 10 to 18 inches in Philadelphia and 8 to 13 inches in New York City, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters also were predicting strong winds that could cause additional power outages.

AMR Corp's American Airlines canceled Wednesday flights in and out of Washington's three area airports as well as Philadelphia. Late flights on Tuesday also have been nixed so that planes are not stranded in the snow, the airline said.

Carriers also once again relaxed their ticket policies to allow passengers to change flight plans around the storm. Both moves could cloud the outlook for an industry already hard hit by the battered economy.

US Airways canceled its hourly shuttle service between Washington and New York for Wednesday while Amtrak passenger rail service warned of limited service along its lucrative Northeast corridor.

The storm left a battered Midwest in its wake, with canceled flights in Chicago and up to 17 inches of snow in Iowa, one of the largest hog-producing states. The marketing of hogs was disrupted, helping Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures to rise to their highest level in six months.

"This snowy weather creates miserable conditions for livestock in feedlots," said Harry Hillaker, an Iowa state climatologist. "It is difficult to get feed to them and to keep water lines from freezing."

Livestock traders said the inclement weather has caused cattle to lose substantial weight, with producers having to feed the cattle more just to keep them warm.

"As of two weeks ago the weather damage to feedlot gains converts to a 2 percent drop in beef production. It doesn't include the last couple weeks of southern Plains storms so the current rate (of beef production) is probably even worse," said Rich Nelson, livestock analyst with Allendale Inc.

(Additional reporting by Diane Bartz in Takoma Park, Kyle Peterson, Meredith Davis and Jerry Biezsk in Chicago; Editing by Bill Trott)