Millions of Americans were battered Monday by a massive winter storm that brought heavy snow, ice, high winds and subzero temperatures as it moved east from the center of the country and into the mid-Atlantic region, causing at least Four people died. The day before.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued winter storm warnings and advisories from Kansas and Missouri to New Jersey as moderate to heavy snow fell from the Ohio Valley to the Mid-Atlantic region.
A state of emergency has been declared in multiple states, including Kansas, Missouri, Maryland, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Arkansas, Washington, D.C., and parts of New Jersey, and authorities are telling people to stay home. , asked people to stay off the roads. A terrible storm broke out.
The storm dumped more than 6 inches of snow in many parts of the Mid-Atlantic region, including the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, Virginia, New Jersey and Delaware, with several more inches expected into Monday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. It is expected that evening.
A lull also began in some areas Monday afternoon, but the National Weather Service said more snow is expected late Monday afternoon or early evening in areas such as Virginia, Washington, D.C., and parts of Pennsylvania. he warned.
“Snow is expected to return near and south of metro Philadelphia tonight, with an additional 1 to 3 inches of snow possible,” the NWS for the Philadelphia and Mount Holly area said in a statement.
The NWS for the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area also announced Monday afternoon that snow is expected to “resume again across the region” from late Monday night until around 11 p.m., then end.
The storm hit the Midwest over the weekend, bringing heavy snow and ice to roads in areas such as Kansas and Missouri.
Kansas City International Airport received 11 inches (27 centimeters) of snow on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. This is the fourth-highest snowfall in a single day in Kansas City since records began in 1888.
In Topeka, Kansas, the National Weather Service reported 14.1 inches (36.8 centimeters) of snow, the third-highest single-day snowfall ever for the area.
Ohio recorded a record snowfall of 8.4 inches in Cincinnati on Sunday, breaking the record of 6.9 inches set in 1977. On Monday afternoon, 8.7 inches of snow was recorded in Wilmington, Ohio.
In Kentucky, 5 inches of snow fell in Lexington on Sunday, breaking the city’s previous single-day snowfall record, which was set in 1979 with 2.8 inches. As of 1 p.m. Monday, 10.4 inches of snow had fallen at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
On Sunday night, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported 1,043 motorists stranded, 356 crashes, 31 injuries and one death related to the storm.
Additionally, Missouri State Police announced one more person has died after being hit by a dump truck that skidded on a slippery road in Jackson County.
Two people were reportedly killed in a single-vehicle crash in Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sunday night, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.
On Monday, the National Weather Service announced that another 2 to 4 inches of snow is expected to fall in parts of the Ohio Valley and central Appalachians, causing continued disruption to transportation.
The National Weather Service recorded 18 inches of snow in Kansas on Monday morning, and several feet of snow in upstate New York.
As of 3:30 p.m. ET Monday, more than 200,000 customers were without power across Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia and Illinois, according to PowerOutage.us.
Additionally, more than 1,900 flights within the United States were canceled and more than 5,000 domestic and international flights were delayed, according to FlightAware.com.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has experienced the most cancellations ever, with 262 departures and 214 arrivals canceled as of 3:30 p.m. ET.
Many schools and government offices were closed on Monday in several affected areas, including Washington, Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland and Pennsylvania. School districts in some areas also canceled classes again on Tuesday.
Schools in Fayette County, Kentucky, will be closed until Wednesday due to the weather, the school district announced.
All federal offices in the Washington area were also closed Monday. But four years after Joe Biden’s supporters stormed the building in an attempt to overturn his loss, a joint session of Congress was held at the U.S. Capitol to vote for Donald Trump in the 2024 election. recognized victory.
Southern states such as Texas, Louisiana and Florida were also expected to experience wind chills and freezing temperatures in some areas Monday into Tuesday.
The storm is expected to quickly move east across the country and into the Atlantic Ocean Monday night, according to the NWS.
The frigid weather is thought to be caused by disturbances in the polar vortex, a large three-dimensional ring of strong winds. The polar vortex typically revolves around the North Pole, but in some cases it can extend into the United States, Europe, or even Asia.
A study shows that the rapid warming of the Arctic is partly responsible for increasing the frequency of polar vortices, which are expanding their range, the Associated Press reported.
