The heaviest snowfall in a decade is possible, could cause power outages, cut gas supplies
A blast of snow, ice, wind and plunging temperatures stirred up dangerous travel conditions in parts of the central U.S. on Sunday, as a disruptive winter storm brought the possibility of the “heaviest snowfall in a decade” to some areas.
Snow and ice blanketed major roadways in parts of Kansas and Indiana, where the state’s National Guard was activated to help any motorists who were stuck. At least 8 inches of snow were expected, particularly north of Interstate 70, as the National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for Kansas and Missouri, where blizzard conditions were reported. The warning extended to New Jersey for Monday and into early Tuesday.
“For locations in this region that receive the highest snow totals, it may be the heaviest snowfall in at least a decade,” the weather service said early Sunday.
The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole. People in the U.S., Europe and Asia experience its intense cold when the vortex escapes and stretches south. Studies show a fast-warming Arctic is partly to blame for the increasing frequency of the polar vortex extending its icy grip.
About 63 million people in the U.S. were under some kind of winter weather advisory, watch or warning on Sunday, according to Bob Oravec with the National Weather Service.
Millions of Americans from the Plains to the East Coast faced the threat of blizzards, heavy snow, treacherous ice and freezing rain through Monday, the National Weather Service has said.
Governors in Kentucky and Virginia declared states of emergency ahead of the winter storm.
“The storm is still taking shape,” meteorologist Rich Bann of the NWS’s Weather Prediction Center said Saturday evening. “But this thing has multiple hazards from heavy snows in the Plains to significant icing covering roads farther south.”
He added that more than 60 million people in the U.S. were affected by winter weather warnings, watches or advisories this weekend.
A swath extending eastward from Nebraska and Kansas through Ohio, Indiana, southwestern Pennsylvania and northwestern Virginia could see from 1 inch (2.54 cm) to 1 foot (30 cm) of snow. Ice could knock out power lines and cause widespread outages.
A wintry mess of freezing rain and ice will hit southern Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee on Sunday, Bann said, likely making roads hazardous and downing power lines.
“It’ll be nearly impossible to drive in some areas,” he said.
The Kansas City International Airport in Missouri closed temporarily on Saturday afternoon due to rapid ice accumulation, officials said on social media.
Bann said that the storm should move past the East Coast and into the Atlantic Ocean by late on Monday, but a new blast of Arctic air will bring frigid cold to the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. by the middle of next week.
Air and rail travel also snarled
The storms also caused havoc for the nation’s railways, leading to cancelations. Amtrak said in a statement that “adjustments have been made with no alternative transportation being offered” for many rail lines. More than 20 cancelations were predicted on Sunday and more than 40 were planned for Monday.
Nearly 200 flights in and out of St. Louis Lambert International Airport were canceled, according to tracking platform FlightAware.
Temperatures dip, though no records break
Starting Monday, the eastern two-thirds of the country will experience dangerous, bone-chilling cold and wind chills, forecasters said. Temperatures could be 12 to 25 degrees (7 to 14 degrees Celsius) below normal.
In Chicago on Sunday, temperatures hovered in the teens (minus 7 to 10 Celsius) and around zero in Minneapolis, while dropping to 11 below in International Falls, Minnesota, on the Canadian border.
The Northeastern states are more likely to experience several days of cold following what has mostly been a mild start to winter, said Jon Palmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine. A plume of cold air coming down from Canada is likely to result in a cold but dry week, he said.
Wind might also pick up as the week gets going, making for potentially dangerous conditions for people exposed to the elements for long periods of time, Palmer said. (AP/Reuters)
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