The primary vital winter storm of the yr is endangering a 2,100-mile swath of the nation from the Northwest and Plains via the mid-Atlantic and East Coast, bringing a mess of life-threatening hazards throughout main metropolitan areas, together with heavy snow, near-blizzard circumstances and crippling ice accretions that would result in prolonged energy outages.
The storm system labored its method via the northern Rockies and central Plains through the first half of the weekend, hours after slamming the West Coast and even spawning the primary twister of the yr in California.
Freezing drizzle arrived in Wichita, Kansas, on Saturday morning, turning roadways right into a sheet of ice and giving a preview of the complications that loom because the storm strikes east.
“We cannot stress this enough, law enforcement is working many, many accidents across metro Wichita,” NWS Wichita meteorologists pleaded on X. “Please stay home!”
Troopers labored to close down elements of Interstate 70 in Kansas attributable to a collection of crashes, which put a pressure on assets.
“I-70 – Salinas, Saline, Dickenson, Lincoln, Russel County — all those counties on I-70 have significant crashes happening,” mentioned Trooper Ben Gardner with the Kansas Freeway Patrol.
Greater than 64 million residents have been positioned underneath winter climate alerts, together with Winter Storm Warnings and Ice Storm Warnings, with main impacts anticipated between interstates 50 and 70.
Dozens of counties in Kansas and Missouri are underneath Blizzard Warnings on Sunday attributable to visibilities dropping to lower than a quarter-mile with loads of blowing snow.
Salina and Wichita are each included within the alerts, the place winds gusting upwards of fifty mph are attainable via early Monday.
It’s the first time in a number of years that elements of the Wichita and Kansas Metropolis metros have been positioned underneath a Blizzard Warning.
South of the heavy band of snow, ice is anticipated to be problematic and will accumulate to almost an inch from southern Missouri via Kentucky and into West Virginia. The heavy glaze will possible result in energy outages, and because of the nature of the terrain, outages might final for an prolonged interval.
Arctic air following the winter storm will hold a big a part of the northern tier of the nation beneath freezing for a number of days, inflicting extra hardships for these unprepared for the winter wallop.
In preparation for the occasion, governors in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky and Virginia declared states of emergency. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of preparedness prematurely of the winter storm.
Greatest snowfall occasion of season to date
Snowfall totals are anticipated to method a foot for communities in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and elements of West Virginia – making this winter blast essentially the most vital occasion of the season and, for some areas, maybe the most important snowfall in over a decade, in accordance with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Heart.
Remoted greater quantities are anticipated within the Appalachians and alongside the Nice Lakes, the place the terrain’s affect shall be in full impact.
Many cities and cities within the path of the storm system have issued snow emergencies, as crews deal with main roadways and put together for round the clock snow elimination efforts.
“This is the big one,” Chief Security and Operations Officer Becky Allmeroth, with the Missouri Division of Transportation, informed FOX Climate on Friday. “We are messaging out ahead of time, letting motorists know that our travel is going to be just about impossible on some of our major interstates: Interstate 70, because of the volume of snow, and Interstate 44 – that’s really the prime bull’s-eye right now for some of those heavier amounts of ice.”
Between 5 and eight inches of snow is anticipated throughout the metro areas of St. Louis, Louisville and Lexington, with even greater quantities attainable round Indianapolis and Kansas Metropolis. The snowfall is even anticipated to achieve Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., the place 3-6 inches is feasible via Monday night, with remoted greater quantities.
“I think Monday is going to be a snow day for a lot of (school) districts,” FOX Climate Storm Specialist Mike Seidel mentioned. “All the way from Kansas, all the way east into (Washington) D.C., Baltimore and even Atlantic City.”
Important quantities of ice might knock out energy
South of the heavy snowfall, an ice storm appears possible, with hours of freezing rain anticipated, the FOX Forecast Heart mentioned.
Ice accretions of a minimum of a half-inch are anticipated in elements of southern Missouri, southern Illinois and into the Appalachians, doubtlessly resulting in widespread tree injury and long-lasting energy outages.
“When you get a half-inch of ice, you’re going to have power outages,” Seidel mentioned. “Especially as that storm cranks up and moves by, we’re going to have a strong wind … and that is going to lead to more issues because you’ve got all the ice on the limbs and the limbs are getting blown around, and they will tend to crack and take out power lines.”
As a result of ice accretion, the airfield at Kansas Metropolis Worldwide Airport (MCI) was closed to inbound and outbound flights for a number of hours on Saturday. Kansas Metropolis Mayor Quinton Lucas mentioned on X that crews have been capable of deal with the airfield surfaces, runways and taxiways at MCI and have been capable of reopen the ability to renew flights late Saturday afternoon.
A mixture of mechanical points and the climate appeared to trigger the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs to be delayed at MCI for hours earlier than taking off for Denver for his or her match in opposition to the Broncos on Sunday.
Main airways, together with Delta, United, Southwest and American, have been permitting vacationers to regulate schedules forward of the winter storm, however the efforts didn’t stop lengthy strains from forming at ticket counters amid 1000’s of delays and cancellations over the weekend.
In contrast to earlier winter climate occasions this season, there doesn’t seem like a lot heat air on the horizon, which implies a lot of the snowfall will keep on the bottom all through a good portion of the month.
“A lot of times after a storm, yeah, it gets cold for (one or two) days,” Seidel mentioned. “This arctic outbreak is going to come in and sit here all week … so whatever falls is going to stick around.”
Extreme thunderstorm danger throughout South
On the nice and cozy aspect of the storm system, thunderstorms are anticipated to develop on Sunday and Monday in parts of the South.
A few of these storms are anticipated to satisfy extreme standards, with gusty winds and the potential for tornadoes.
NOAA’s NOAA Storm Prediction Heart has issued a Stage 3 out of 5 danger for extreme storms for elements of northern Louisiana, western Mississippi and southeastern Arkansas, with a Stage 2 danger stretching from East Texas to far western Alabama.
These thunderstorms are anticipated to impression areas lately affected by a twister outbreak in late December.
Extreme thunderstorms throughout the South aren’t uncommon through the winter months, because the area is in its twister season.