After punishing several states with sleet, snow, blizzards and freezing rain, a major winter storm will finish making its way from the central United States and Midwest to the nation’s capital by Monday morning.
Kansas was particularly hard hit. Much of the state was under winter storm and blizzard warnings Sunday. In the Kansas City metropolitan area, residents huddled indoors amid snow and ice covered sidewalks, and roads were deemed too dangerous for travel.
On Sunday morning, rapidly falling snow accumulated more than four inches in two hours. As the storm moved across the region, some areas experienced lightning and loud thunder, as well as winds of up to 35 mph.
“This is a rare blizzard for Kansas City,” Gary Lezak, a longtime meteorologist in the area, said Sunday. “It is extremely cold. There are still 12 hours left in this storm as the blizzard is intensifying.”
The storm caused several accidents over the weekend. A fire truck, several tractor-trailers and passenger vehicles were overturned west of Salina, Kan. Many trucks fell into ditches as icy roads became impassable.
On Sunday morning, Ben Gardner, a trooper with the Kansas Highway Patrol, shared It was reported on social media that he was at the I-135 and I-70 interchange in Saline County, where Kansas Department of Transportation crews and emergency responders were battling dangerous weather and road conditions.
“If you don’t need to travel, please stay home,” he urged.
National Weather Service caution The storm is expected to bring up to 15 inches of snow (the highest accumulation in a decade), reducing visibility to dangerous levels and making travel “extremely dangerous.”
The Mid-Atlantic is bracing for snow and freezing rain.
On Monday, the storm will shift toward the Mid-Atlantic, where moderate to heavy snowfall is expected to disrupt travel and daily routines. pittsburgh It was expected that there would be snowfall before the morning and evening journeys.
The severity of the weather forecast center’s winter storm will not be as high as Sunday. medium impactHazardous driving conditions, including inclement weather, are expected in parts of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, West Virginia and southern Pennsylvania.
Several states are in the storm’s path – including arkansas, kansas, kentucky, missouri, Virginia, West Virginia and parts of new Jersey – declared a state of emergency, and maryland Has declared the state of preparedness. The declarations are intended to improve states’ responses to storms through various means.
Both Baltimore and Washington, D.C., are expected to see three to five inches of new snow accumulation on Monday.
There will be widespread light freezing rain with snow from Kentucky to the Mid-Atlantic, creating hazardous conditions and the potential for power outages.
Early Monday, more than 60,000 customers were without power in Kentucky and 50,000 customers lost power in Indiana. PowerOutage.usA tracking website.
Cold weather persists.
By Tuesday morning, the snow is expected to taper off, although parts of the Central Appalachians may continue to experience light snowfall. Cool, blustery weather is forecast for the next days, with afternoon highs in the 30s and nighttime lows in the 20s.
“It will be very cold for a large part of the week,” said Bob Oraveck of the Weather Prediction Center. From the eastern Rockies to the East Coast, temperatures will be about 10 to 12 degrees below seasonal averages.
yan zhuang Contributed to the reporting.