A severe storm is sweeping across the country and heading toward mid-Atlantic states, bringing a mix of sleet and freezing rain to a wide swath of the country that the Weather Forecast Center warns could bring disruption to daily life and travel on Sunday and Monday. causing “serious disruption”.
The storm froze roads in Kansas on Saturday before moving into Missouri. Roads were covered in ice and snow Sunday in southern and central Illinois and Kentucky.
All highways in northeastern Kansas were closed Sunday night, crippling traffic in some areas, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation. The closures include state highways in 17 counties and the eastbound and westbound lanes of Interstate 70 to the Kansas-Missouri line.
Kansas City International Airport was closed Sunday due to ice accumulation and nearly all flights were canceled, a spokesman for the airport said. About 275 flights were canceled at St. Louis Lambert International Airport on Sunday afternoon.
As of Sunday evening, more than 100 flights were canceled at other airports including Indianapolis International, Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky International, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
More than 60,000 customers in Kentucky were without power early Monday, according to tracking website PowerOutage.us. More than 30,000 customers were reported without power in states including Illinois, Indiana and Missouri.
Several businesses across the Midwest closed early on Sunday ahead of the storm, including some locations of regional grocery chain Schnucks.
As a low-pressure system swept through Kansas and Missouri overnight, dozens of highway accidents were reported, including a snowplow that rolled over on an icy road.
Several states within the weather system’s reach – including Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia and West Virginia – have declared states of emergency, while Maryland has declared a state of preparedness. state. New Jersey declared a state of emergency for southern counties. These statements are intended to improve states’ response to the storm in a variety of ways.
In Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a snow emergency that will last until the end of Tuesday. All public schools will be closed on Monday and some government officials will work from home, she said. Philadelphia authorities also said public schools will be closed Monday.
Ohio State University canceled all in-person classes on its main campus in Columbus on Monday, the first day after winter break, due to potentially hazardous driving conditions.
Storms are coming as arctic air from Canada seeps into the United States.
As the storm system moves offshore on Monday, “brutal cold” air will settle behind it, said Bob Oravec, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.
Some areas are expected to see the heaviest snowfall in a decade
Nearly 4 million people are under blizzard warnings in much of Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, which are expected to last until 3 a.m. Monday. Some places are expected to receive their heaviest snowfall in a decade.
Forecasters warned of wind gusts in excess of 40 miles per hour and more than 15 inches of snow. A blizzard warning is issued when heavy snow and winds of 35 mph are expected to persist for three hours or more.
In northern Kansas, a 100-mile stretch of Interstate 70 was closed Saturday night, and video from the interstate posted on Facebook showed vehicles gliding across lanes in all directions as if they were at an ice rink, according to authorities. Same as above.
“Last night was brutal,” said Chris Morris, vice president of Signature Landscape, which provides commercial plowing services.
“This is going to be the most violent storm I’ve ever had, and I’ve been doing this for over 20 years,” he added. “We basically got a year’s worth of snow in 24 hours. It’s definitely going to be a record.
By Sunday, much of Kansas City was battered by the blizzard, impassable roads and sidewalks and sending residents to hunker down.
Cathy Maxwell, 71, was nursing injuries to her hip and head when she slipped on her porch while trying to take her dog out.
“As soon as I hit the brick steps, my feet immediately went out from under me,” Ms. Maxwell said. “The snow was so heavy that it hit me right in the face. It was the worst snowstorm I’ve seen in years.
Storm expected to bring snow to mid-Atlantic
The system is advancing from the central Plains and central Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley on Sunday.
In the panhandle between northeastern Missouri and the central Appalachian Mountains, 8 to 14 inches of snow are expected to fall from Saturday through Sunday and Monday. Several inches of sleet and freezing rain are expected across southern Illinois and Indiana.
South of the heavy snow belt, a band of freezing rain is expected to fall from central Kansas into the central Appalachians on Monday, according to the Weather Prediction Center.
Ice accumulation could exceed half an inch in some areas.
Rich Bann, a meteorologist with the forecast center, said: “Rain freezes on contact and turns to glass – that’s what sticks to trees, power lines, roads, cars, windows, everything. .
By dawn Monday, snow will fall across much of the Mid-Atlantic region, including Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington state, and is expected to continue throughout the day.
Four to nine inches of snow is expected in Baltimore and five to nine inches in Washington.
Snow will end in the mid-Atlantic by Tuesday. Cold, gusty weather is expected in the capital this week, with afternoon temperatures reaching the high 30s and overnight lows reaching the 20s.
“It’s going to be very cold most of the week,” said Mr. Oravec of the Weather Prediction Center. From the eastern Rockies to the East Coast, temperatures will be about 10 to 12 degrees cooler than the seasonal average.
Report contributors: Sarah Ruberg, Nazanin Ghaffar, solemn and Kerry Gillum reporting from Kansas City.
