The next severe cold snap in the United States was expected in the South on Tuesday, after the first significant winter storm of the year slammed a large swath of the country with ice, snow and wind.
The immense storm system caused disruptions even in areas that normally escape winter’s wrath. It knocked down trees in some southern states, threatened a freeze in Florida and caused people in Dallas to dig deep into their closets for hats and gloves.
Early Tuesday morning wind chills were expected to be around minus 10.5 degrees Celsius (around 15 degrees Fahrenheit) from Texas along the Gulf Coast, according to the National Weather Service. A low pressure system is then expected to form starting Wednesday near southern Texas that raises the possibility of snow to parts of the state such as Dallas, as well as Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
The polar vortex that moved south over the weekend kept much of the country east of the Rocky Mountains under its cold grip Monday, making many roads dangerous, forcing schools to close and causing power outages. widespread power outages and flight cancellations.
Ice and snow covered major highways in Kansas, western Nebraska and parts of Indiana, where the National Guard was activated to help stranded motorists.
The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for Kansas and Missouri, where blizzard conditions caused wind gusts of up to 45 miles per hour (72 kilometers per hour). The warnings extended into New Jersey through early Tuesday.
A truck stop in Kentucky was packed Monday with large trucks forced off an icy, snow-covered Interstate 75 near Cincinnati.
Michael Taylor, a long-haul driver from Los Angeles taking a shipment of rugs to Georgia, said he saw many cars and trucks stuck in ditches and dealt with frozen windshield wipers before exiting the interstate.
“It was too dangerous. “I didn’t want to kill myself or anyone else,” he said.
The polar vortex of ultracold air usually revolves around the North Pole, but sometimes descends southward in the United States, Europe and Asia. Studies show that the rapid warming of the Arctic is one of the factors causing the polar vortex to expand more frequently.
Temperatures drop across the country
The easternmost two-thirds of the United States faced biting cold and wind chills on Monday, with temperatures well below normal in some areas.
A cold weather advisory was scheduled to go into effect early Tuesday along the Gulf Coast. In the Texas capital, Austin, and surrounding cities, wind chills could drop to -9.4ºC (15ºF).
The Northeast was expected to have several cold days.
Transportation has been complicated
Hundreds of car accidents were reported in Virginia, Indiana, Kansas and Kentucky, where a state trooper was treated for non-life-threatening injuries after his patrol car was hit.
Virginia State Police responded to at least 430 crashes on Sunday and Monday, including one that was fatal. Police said other weather-related fatal crashes had occurred on Sunday near Charleston, West Virginia, and on Monday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Kansas had two deadly crashes over the weekend.
More than 2,300 flights were canceled and at least 9,100 more were delayed nationwide as of Monday night, according to tracking platform FlightAware. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport reported that approximately 58% of arrivals and 70% of departures had been canceled.
A record more than 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow fell Sunday at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, causing dozens of flight cancellations that continued into Monday. About 4 inches (10 cm) fell in the Cincinnati area on Monday, as car and truck crashes cut off at least two major routes into the city center.
More snow and ice expected
In Indiana, snow covered stretches of Interstate 64, Interstate 69 and U.S. Route 41, prompting authorities to plead with people to stay home.
“It’s snowing really hard, the snow plows go by and then within half an hour the roads are completely covered again,” State Police Sergeant Todd Ringle said.
The Central Atlantic region had been estimated to receive 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) of additional snow on Monday. Dangerously cold temperatures were expected ahead, with overnight lows below -12°C (single digits Fahrenheit) by midweek across the Central Plains and the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys.
In North Texas, 2 to 5 inches (5 to 13 cm) of snow was expected starting Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Snow could also hit Oklahoma and Arkansas, with accumulations of more than a few inches (10 cm) in some places.
Classes canceled in several states
Class cancellations were widespread, with the start of classes on Monday canceled or delayed in districts in Indiana, Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri and Kansas. Among them were Jefferson County Public Schools in Kentucky, which canceled classes and other school activities for its nearly 100,000 students.
Classes were also suspended in Maryland, where Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency on Sunday and announced that state government offices would also close on Monday. Government offices also closed Monday in Kentucky, where Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency.
Tens of thousands are without electricity
Many were left in the dark as temperatures fell. More than 218,000 customers were without power Monday night in Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina, according to the electric utility tracking website PowerOutage.us.
In Virginia’s capital city, a power outage caused a temporary failure in the water system, officials said Monday afternoon. Richmond officials asked residents of the city of more than 200,000 to refrain from drinking tap water or washing dishes without boiling the water first. The city also asked people to save water, for example by taking shorter showers.
Local authorities said they were working tirelessly to get the system back up and running.
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