The US work week opened with more snow falling in the Northeast under a massive tail Winter storm This led to ice and power outages, impassable roads, flight cancellations, and extreme cold across much of the southern and eastern United States.
The deep snow — more than a foot (30 centimeters) deep and stretching 1,300 miles (2,100 kilometers) from Arkansas to New England — brought traffic to a standstill, flights were canceled and schools were canceled on a massive scale Monday.
The storm surge is expected to reach 2 feet (60 centimetres) in some of the hardest-hit places.
In Falmouth, Massachusetts, about an hour’s drive south of Boston, snow was falling in sheets and shutting down the city.
Local minister Nell Fields had to get out of the house so she could let her dog out. Seven inches (18 cm) have fallen, and there is still much more to come.
“I feel like the universe has put a pretty big pause on us with all the snow,” Fields said.
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.”
Meanwhile, bitter cold followed in the storm’s wake. Overnight, the entire Lower 48 states are expected to see the coldest average low temperature — minus 9.8 degrees (minus 12.3 degrees Celsius) — since January 2014.
Florida’s record warmth was the only thing keeping that average from getting much colder, said Ryan Mau, a former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who calculates national averages based on National Weather Service data.
From Montana to the Florida Panhandle, the weather service posted cold weather advisories and extreme cold warnings with temperatures in many places dropping to zero (-18 degrees Celsius below zero) and even colder. Winds made conditions even colder and overnight hail threatened to refreeze roads early Monday in a harsh repeat of the weekend’s poor travel weather.
Even with the rains ending in Mississippi, “that doesn’t mean the danger is behind us,” Gov. Tate Reeves said in a news conference on Sunday.
Freezing rain that dumped snow on roads and brought down trees and branches on roads and power lines was the main danger in the south over the weekend. In Corinth, Mississippi, heavy machinery manufacturer Caterpillar Inc. asked employees at its remanufacturing site to stay home Monday and Tuesday.
Reeves said it was indeed Mississippi’s worst ice storm since 1994, with the largest ice-melting chemicals ever deployed — 200,000 gallons (750,000 liters) — as well as salt and sand to treat icy roads. He urged people not to drive anywhere unless absolutely necessary. “Please reach out to friends and family,” Reeves added.
At some point Sunday morning, about 213 million people were under some type of winter weather warning, authorities said. Hundreds of thousands of Customers were without powerAccording to poweroutage.uswith Tennessee and Mississippi being hit hard.
About 12,000 flights were canceled on Sunday, and about 20,000 flights were postponed, according to the flight tracker. Flightaware.com. Airports in Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, North Carolina, New York and New Jersey were among those that felt the brunt of the storm, and its effects are expected to continue until Monday.
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. Two men died of hypothermia due to the storm in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, according to the state health department.
In Massachusetts, the Rev. Fields held a church service despite the storm, saying the weather was in some ways a gift.
“I’m sorry things got disrupted, but it gave us some silence and maybe use this time to reflect on what’s really important, which is community and taking care of each other,” Fields said.
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Brumback reported from Atlanta. Walker reported from New York. Reporting was contributed by Kristen Hall and Jonathan Mathis in Nashville, Tennessee, Philip Marcelo in New York, Ed White in Detroit, Jeff Martin in Kennesaw, Georgia, Mead Grover in Fort Collins, Colorado, Jessica Hale in Las Vegas, and Seth Bornstein in Houston.
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