Huge Winter storm Snow and freezing rain fell across much of the United States on Sunday, dropping temperatures below zero and halting air and road traffic. Tree branches and power lines snapped under the weight of the ice, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the Southeast without power.
the Ice and snowfall The weather is expected to continue through Monday, followed by extremely low temperatures that could cause “serious travel and infrastructure impacts” for several days, the National Weather Service said.
Heavy snow was falling from the Ohio Valley to the Northeast, while “catastrophic ice accumulation” threatened from the lower Mississippi Valley to the mid-Atlantic and Southeast.
“It’s a unique storm in the sense that it’s widespread,” Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said in a phone interview. “It’s been affecting areas all the way from New Mexico and Texas to New England, so we’re talking about a 2,000-mile spread.”
President Donald Trump approved emergency declarations in at least a dozen states by Saturday. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said FEMA has rescue teams and supplies in several states.
In New York, communities near the Canadian border saw record subzero temperatures, with Watertown Recording minus 34 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 37 degrees Celsius) and Copenhagen 49 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 45 degrees Celsius), Governor Kathy Hochul said.
Freezing rain that left snow on roads and trees and branches falling on roads and power lines was the main danger in the south. In Corinth, Mississippi, heavy machinery manufacturer Caterpillar Inc. asked employees at its remanufacturing site to stay home Monday and Tuesday.
“God have mercy on Corinth, MS!… The sound of trees being cut, and bursting & “The fall during the night was alarming to say the least,” resident Cathy Ragan wrote on Facebook.
In Clarksdale, Mississippi, Sanford Johnson said enough snow and sleet fell that few motorists ventured out.
“I had to tell my younger daughter that the playdate I had scheduled is probably not going to happen today. We don’t have any plans to drive,” Johnson said.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said at a news conference that this was indeed the worst ice storm Mississippi has seen since 1994, with the largest-ever spread of ice-melting chemicals — 200,000 gallons (750,000 liters) — as well as salt and sand on roads.
He urged people not to drive anywhere unless absolutely necessary. “Please reach out to friends and family,” Reeves added.
In Nashville, Tennessee, Jamey Jo, 41, feared the power might not last because ice-laden oak and pecan tree limbs kept snapping around her house. “It’s only a matter of time if a party hits a power line,” she said.
Because of the icy roads, Josh Martin thought he and his wife, Misty, were “trapped” for some time at their home on a steep hill in Columbia, Tennessee.
“Going in and out of the neighborhood is not an option,” Martin said. “I can get down because gravity will take me, but I can’t get back up.”
Elsewhere, deep snow — more than a foot (30 centimeters) deep in a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) swath from Arkansas to New England — halted traffic and canceled flights.
On Manhattan’s Upper East Side, January Cottrell enjoyed fresh snow on a block that is always closed during blizzards so residents can skate, throw snowballs and make snowmen.
“I pray for two feet every time we get a snow storm. I want the most we can get,” she said. “Let the city shut down for a day and it will be beautiful, and then we can get back to life.”
As of Sunday morning, about 213 million people were under some type of winter weather warning, Santorelli said. Hundreds of thousands of Customers were without power according to poweroutage.uswith Tennessee and Mississippi being hit hard.
About 12,000 flights were canceled on Sunday, and nearly 20,000 flights were delayed, according to flight tracking. Flightaware.com. Airports in Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, North Carolina, New York and New Jersey were among those affected.
Santorelli warned that the danger will continue beyond the ice and snow.
“Behind the storm, it will be very cold across the eastern two-thirds of the country, east of the Rocky Mountains,” she said. This means that ice and snow will not melt as quickly, which could hamper efforts to restore power.
In New York City, New York City Mayor Zahran Mamdani said that at least five people were found dead outside as temperatures dropped on Saturday, although the cause of their deaths is still under investigation. He urged people to stay on and off the roads: “We want every New Yorker to be able to weather this storm.”
Two men died of hypothermia due to the storm in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, according to the state health department.
Across the affected areas, schools and universities announced that classes would be canceled or held remotely on Monday.
In Oxford, Mississippi, police urged residents to stay in their homes. Utility crews were also pulled from their jobs during the overnight hours.
“Due to life-threatening conditions, Oxford Utilities has made the difficult decision to pull our crews off the road overnight,” the utility company posted on Facebook early Sunday. “Trees are actively falling and falling around our workers while they are in the bucket trucks.”
Oxford city officials posted dramatic photos on social media of slick roads and ice-covered trees sagging or breaking under the extra weight.
In Tennessee, emergency officials urged motorists to give crews space to treat roadways where drivers crash.
Icy roads also made travel dangerous in north Georgia, where the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook, “You know it’s bad that Waffle House is closed!!!” With a picture of a closed restaurant. Whether or not chain restaurants are open – otherwise known as… Waffle House Index – It became an unofficial way to measure the severity of weather disasters throughout the South.
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Brumback reported from Atlanta. Walker reported from New York. Reporting was contributed by Kristin Hall and Jonathan Mathis of Nashville, Philip Marcello in New York, Ed White in Detroit, Jeff Martin in Kennesaw, Georgia, and Mead Grover in Fort Collins, Colorado.