In the United States, widespread winter effects of snow, ice, wind and plummeting temperatures made travel from mid-southern states to the East Coast dangerous early Monday morning, with schools and government offices closed in several states. It was closed.
Snow and ice covered major roads in parts of Kansas, western Nebraska and Indiana, and the state’s National Guard was called in to help stranded motorists. At least 20 centimeters of snow was expected to fall and wind gusts of up to 72 km/h were expected.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning affecting 60 million people from Kansas and Missouri to New Jersey.
“The snowiest areas in the region could experience the heaviest snowfall in at least a decade,” the Bureau of Meteorology said.
At least 600 drivers were stranded in Missouri over the weekend, authorities said. Hundreds of car crashes have been reported in Virginia, Indiana, Kansas and Kentucky, where a state trooper was treated for non-life-threatening injuries after being hit by his patrol car.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who declared a state of emergency, said government buildings would be closed on Monday.
“For people who don’t need to be out on the streets, we’re seeing too many shipwrecks, so I’m asking you to please stay indoors,” the governor said.
Virginia State Police reported at least 135 crashes as the storm entered the state Sunday. In Charleston, West Virginia, where several inches (centimeters) of snow had fallen by Sunday night, authorities urged drivers to stay home.
A polar vortex of super-cold air is usually trapped around the North Pole, spinning like a top. But sometimes it escapes or spreads to the United States, Europe, and Asia. At that time, many people experience severe colds.
Research shows that the rapid warming of the Arctic is partly responsible for the polar vortex’s elongation and increased migration.
The storm is then predicted to move into the Ohio Valley, where severe traffic disruptions are expected. It is expected to reach the mid-Atlantic states from Sunday into Monday, bringing bitter cold temperatures as far south as Florida.
Severe thunderstorms with the possibility of tornadoes and hail are possible before the storm system’s cold front moves through the lower Mississippi River basin, the National Weather Service warned.
The governors of Missouri and neighboring Arkansas have declared states of emergency, but forecasters warned that whiteout conditions could make driving dangerous or impossible and increase the risk of stranding.
Kansas City International Airport suspended afternoon flight operations Sunday due to ice. By the time the runway reopened, dozens of flights were delayed, including a chartered plane transporting the Kansas City Chiefs.
Several businesses across Kansas City have closed, and a school district outside Independence, Missouri, said it may have to cancel classes for one or more days.
Dangerous, bone-chilling cold and wind chill are expected to spread across the eastern two-thirds of the country starting Monday, forecasters said. As the polar vortex extends from the highlands of the Arctic, temperatures could be 12 to 25 degrees F (7 to 14 degrees C) below normal.
Washington, D.C., braced for heavy snow and bitter cold on Monday, when the U.S. Congress is scheduled to meet to formally certify Republican Donald Trump’s election as president.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News on Sunday that the weather will not prevent lawmakers from doing their jobs.
Temperatures hovered in the teens (-7 to 10 degrees Celsius) in Chicago on Sunday, while temperatures dropped to below 11 degrees (-11 to 7 degrees Celsius) in International Falls, Minnesota, on the Canadian border.
After a mostly mild start to winter, northeastern states are likely to experience several days of cold weather, said John Palmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine.
Palmer said the cold front will hit the eastern United States as far south as Georgia, with parts of the East Coast likely to experience single-digit low temperatures.
