Winter Storm Threatens Eastern U.S.

By Rich McKay
(Reuters) – Millions of Americans from the Plains to the East Coast faced the threat of blizzards, heavy snow, treacherous ice, and freezing rain through Monday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) on Saturday.

Governors in Kentucky and Virginia declared states of emergency ahead of the winter storm.
“The storm is still taking shape,” said meteorologist Rich Bann of the NWS’s Weather Prediction Center. “But this thing has multiple hazards from heavy snows in the Plains to significant icing covering roads farther south.”

Bann noted that over 60 million people in the U.S. were affected by winter weather warnings, watches, or advisories this weekend.
A swath extending eastward from Nebraska and Kansas through Ohio, Indiana, southwestern Pennsylvania, and northwestern Virginia could see snowfall ranging from 1 inch (2.54 cm) to 1 foot (30 cm). Ice accumulation poses a risk of downing power lines and causing widespread outages.

A wintry mix of freezing rain and ice will impact southern Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee on Sunday, creating hazardous road conditions and potentially downing power lines.
“It’ll be nearly impossible to drive in some areas,” Bann warned.

The Kansas City International Airport in Missouri temporarily closed on Saturday afternoon due to rapid ice accumulation, as reported by officials on social media.

Bann indicated that the storm should move past the East Coast into the Atlantic Ocean by late Monday, but a new surge of Arctic air will bring frigid conditions to the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. by the middle of next week.