Ice alert: Winter storm hits many US states, over 60 million under heavy snow

A severe winter storm swept across the United States this weekend, leaving over 60 million Americans under winter weather alerts from the Dakotas to Delaware. 

The storm, which began Saturday evening, is expected to persist into Monday, bringing significant snow and ice across regions from Kansas to the East Coast.

According to ABC News, among the hardest-hit areas is upstate New York, where some locations near and north of Utica have already received more than three feet of snow due to ongoing lake-effect snowfall.

The storm followed Interstate 70 to St. Louis, bringing heavy snow and icy conditions from Saturday night into Sunday. By Sunday, cities across the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic regions braced for hazardous travel conditions as the storm progressed eastward.

Roads in Nebraska and Kansas were coated with ice by Saturday, with snow forecast to follow. The Kansas City International Airport temporarily closed its airfield on Saturday afternoon due to ice accumulation.

”Work will continue overnight to keep the airfield clear,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas announced on X.

As icy conditions spread, power outages were anticipated in areas with the greatest accumulation of snow and ice. Also, parts of the South, including Louisiana, Mississippi, and southern Arkansas, faced damaging winds, hail, and the potential for tornadoes.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency on Friday, urging residents to adjust post-holiday travel plans. 

“Given the current projected size of the storm, if your post-holiday travel plans have you leaving Sunday, I encourage you to adjust those plans to leave on Saturday,” Youngkin advised.

In Kentucky, Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency on Saturday, opening warming centres across the state. “If we lose power, beginning on Tuesday, especially for some of our most vulnerable Kentuckians, it’s going to get cold enough to where you may well need one of these warming centres,” he said.

The storm’s effects are likely to extend into Washington, D.C., by Sunday night, creating a dangerous Monday morning commute across much of the mid-Atlantic region. Cities like Baltimore and Philadelphia could see snow accumulations exceeding five inches.

By the middle of next week, a portion of the polar vortex is expected to cause temperatures to plunge 10 to 25 degrees below normal across the eastern half of the country. The bitter cold will bring sub-zero wind chills from the Midwest to the Northeast, with sub-freezing temperatures reaching as far south as Florida.

Tribune Online earlier reports that Monica Garrett, a meteorologist with CNN, warned that over 70% of the United States population will face freezing temperatures next week as Arctic air sweeps across the country.

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