A significant winter storm persisted in the United States on Sunday morning, bringing sleet, freezing rain, and snow from southern states to New England. The harsh weather conditions resulted in frigid temperatures, extensive power outages, and hazardous road conditions.
The National Weather Service warned that the ice and snowfall would persist into Monday across most of the country, accompanied by very low temperatures, leading to lingering “dangerous travel and infrastructure impacts” for several days. Heavy snowfall was anticipated from the Ohio Valley to the northeast, while the threat of “catastrophic ice accumulation” loomed from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the mid-Atlantic and the southeast.
Meteorologist Allison Santorelli described the storm as unique due to its widespread nature, affecting areas spanning from New Mexico and Texas to New England, covering a distance of about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers). By Sunday morning, approximately 213 million people were under various winter weather warnings, with nearly 840,000 customers experiencing power outages, a number that continued to rise.
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia declared weather emergencies, as per the Department of Homeland Security. Secretary Kristi Noem urged Americans to take precautions, emphasizing the need to stock up on fuel and food to weather the extreme cold together. Utility crews were working diligently to restore power as quickly as possible.
The Department of Energy issued emergency orders to ensure backup generation resources were available to prevent blackouts in Texas and the mid-Atlantic region. The National Weather Service forecasted extensive ice accumulation in the southeast, with potentially “crippling to locally catastrophic impacts.” Record cold temperatures and dangerously cold wind chills were expected to extend into the Great Plains region by Monday.
Flight cancellations soared to over 10,000 on Sunday, with an additional 8,000 delays reported, following more than 4,000 flight cancellations on Saturday. Major airports in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Raleigh-Durham, New York, and New Jersey were heavily impacted. Even after the storm subsides, the danger persists due to the anticipated bitter cold that could impede efforts to restore power and infrastructure.
In Nashville, ice accumulations exceeding half an inch led to widespread power outages, with icicles hanging from power lines and falling tree limbs. Authorities urged residents to stay home in hazardous conditions, with utility crews forced to halt operations due to the perilous situation. Treacherous icy roads also posed risks in north Georgia.
The closure of a Waffle House restaurant in Cherokee County, Georgia, due to icy conditions was highlighted as a sign of severe weather, following the informal “Waffle House Index” used to gauge the impact of weather disasters in the southern United States.