Record Ice Blitz Daunts Southbound Traffic as Plows, Blowtorches Fail

Lamont workmen used blowtorches. Mayor Curley used MIT's flame, throwers, Boston used every available street cleaner and a condescending reporter from the Globe. The railroads used well-paid volunteers from Harvard.

But this morning the better truth hadn't changed: the ice was still there.

The biggest snowfall of the winter left in its wake a sheet of glass that floored most students remaining in College and made driving nearly impossible for those who went home after exams.

The Merritt Parkway and most highways leading out of Boston lay buried under a six-inch blanket pock-marked throughout with yawning potholes. Jackknifed trucks and ditched cars stretched along US route 9, with busses travelling only in conveys of two.

State police reported all arteries to New Hampshire and Vermont ski resorts "fairly clear" and drivable, but most roads were still slippery in spots.

Except around Times Square, driving in New York City was dangerous and skiddy, with conditions around Boston just as bad.

End of prediction for today: Light snow flurries.