The next round of bitter cold and snow will hit the southern US
The next round of bitter cold was set to envelop the southern U.S. on Tuesday, after the first significant winter storm of the year blasted a huge swath of the country with ice, snow and wind.
The immense storm system brought disruption even to areas of the country that usually escape winter's wrath, downing trees in some Southern states, threatening a freeze in Florida and causing people in Dallas to dip deep into their wardrobes for hats and gloves.
By early Tuesday, wind chill temperatures could dip as low as minus 10.5 C from Texas across the Gulf Coast, according to the National Weather Service. A low-pressure system is then expected to form as soon as Wednesday near south Texas, bringing the potential of snow to parts of the state that include Dallas, as well as to Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
The polar vortex that dipped south over the weekend kept much of the country east of the Rockies in its frigid grip Monday, making many roads treacherous, forcing school closures, and causing widespread power outages and flight cancellations.
Ice and snow blanketed major roads in Kansas, western Nebraska and parts of Indiana, where the National Guard was activated to help stranded motorists. The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for Kansas and Missouri, where blizzard conditions brought wind gusts of up to 72 kph. The warnings extended to New Jersey into early Tuesday.
A Kentucky truck stop was jammed with big rigs forced off an icy and snow-covered Interstate 75 on Monday just outside Cincinnati. A long-haul driver from Los Angeles carrying a load of rugs to Georgia, Michael Taylor said he saw numerous cars and trucks stuck in ditches and was dealing with icy windshield wipers before he pulled off the interstate.
'It was too dangerous. I didn't want to kill myself or anyone else,' he said.
The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole, but it sometimes plunges south into the U.S., Europe and Asia. Studies show that a fast-warming Arctic is partly to blame for the increasing frequency of the polar vortex extending its grip.
Temperatures plunge across the country
The eastern two-thirds of the U.S. dealt with bone-chilling cold and wind chills Monday, with temperatures in some areas far below normal.
A cold weather advisory will take effect early Tuesday across the Gulf Coast. In Texas' capital of Austin and surrounding cities, wind chills could drop as low as minus 9.4 C.
The Northeast was expected to get several cold days.
Transportation has been tricky
Hundreds of car accidents were reported in Virginia, Indiana, Kansas and Kentucky, where a state trooper was treated for non-life-threatening injuries after his patrol car was hit.
Virginia State Police responded to at least 430 crashes Sunday and Monday, including one that was fatal. Police said other weather-related fatal accidents occurred Sunday near Charleston, West Virginia, and Monday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Kansas saw two deadly crashes over the weekend.
More than 2,300 flights were canceled and at least 9,100 more were delayed nationwide as of Monday night, according to tracking platform FlightAware. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport reported that about 58% of arrivals and 70% of departures had been canceled.
A record of more than 20 centimeters of snow fell Sunday at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, leading to dozens of flight cancellations that lingered into Monday. About 10 centimeters fell Monday across the Cincinnati area, where car and truck crashes shut at least two major routes leading into downtown.
More snow and ice are expected
In Indiana, snow covered stretches of Interstate 64, Interstate 69 and U.S. Route 41, leading authorities to plead with people to stay home.
'It's snowing so hard, the snow plows go through and then within a half hour the roadways are completely covered again,' State Police Sgt. Todd Ringle said.
Tens of thousands are without power
Many were in the dark as temperatures plunged. More than 218,000 customers were without power Monday night across Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina, according to electric utility tracking website PowerOutage.us.
In Virginia's capital city, a power outage caused a temporary malfunction in the water system, officials said Monday afternoon. Richmond officials asked those in the city of more than 200,000 people to refrain from drinking tap water or washing dishes without boiling the water first. The city also asked people to conserve their water, such as by taking shorter showers.
City officials said they were working nonstop to bring the system back online.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Voice of America
09-03-2025
- Voice of America
New York governor declares state of emergency for wind-driven brush fire on Long Island
Fast-moving brush fires fanned by high winds burned through a large swath of land on New York's Long Island on Saturday, spewing thick gray smoke into the sky and prompting the evacuation of a military base and the closure of a major highway. Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency and said state agencies were responding to the fires around the Pine Barrens, a wooded area that is home to commuter towns east of New York City. She said homes, a chemical factory and an Amazon warehouse were at risk and more evacuations may be needed. 'This is still out of control at this moment,' Hochul told Long Island TV station News 12. 'We're seeing people having to be evacuated from the Westhampton area.' Officials said three of the four fires were fully contained, with the fire in Westhampton 50% contained. Two commercial buildings were partially burned, but officials said homes were not in the line of fire. One firefighter was flown to a hospital to be treated for burns to the face. 'Our biggest problem is the wind,' Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said. 'It is driving this fire.' Videos posted to social media showed flames shooting into the air and columns of black smoke rising above roads. Air National Guard helicopters dropped water on the flames. The Town of Southampton issued a warning in the afternoon against starting recreational fires due to the wildfire risk. That came around the time that the videos began appearing. In a statement, Hochul said the National Guard was providing support by helicopter and working with local law enforcement. 'Public safety is my top priority, and I'm committed to doing everything possible to keep Long Islanders safe,' she said. In her comments to News 12, Hochul declined to estimate the extent of the flames, saying only that they were growing rapidly. Rough satellite data indicated that fire and smoke stretched roughly 3 kilometers along Sunrise Highway, according to NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System. Police closed a section of the highway, which is a thoroughfare to the East End of Long Island. The fires raged near the Francis S. Gabreski Airport, from which the National Guard launched at least one helicopter. One of the commercial buildings that partially burned was near the airport. Personnel at the base evacuated as a precautionary measure starting around 1:45 p.m., spokesman Cheran Cambell said in a statement.
Voice of America
09-03-2025
- Voice of America
Wind-driven brush fire in New York 50% contained
Fast-moving brush fires burned through a large swath of land on New York's Long Island on Saturday fanned by high winds, spewing gray smoke and prompting the evacuation of a military base and the closure of a major highway. Officials said three of the four fires were fully contained while the other one, in Westhampton, was 50% contained. Two commercial buildings were partially burned, but officials said homes were not in the line of fire. One firefighter was flown to a hospital to be treated for burns to the face. "Our biggest problem is the wind," Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said. "It is driving this fire." New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency and said state agencies were responding to the fires around the Pine Barrens, a wooded area that is home to commuter towns east of New York City. "This is still out of control at this moment," Hochul told Long Island TV station News 12. "We're seeing people having to be evacuated from the Westhampton area," she said, adding that more evacuations may be needed. Hochul said homes, a chemical factory and an Amazon warehouse were at risk. Videos posted to social media showed flames shooting into the air and columns of black smoke rising above roads. Air National Guard helicopters dropped water on the flames. The Town of Southampton issued a warning in the afternoon against starting recreational fires due to the wildfire risk. That came around the time that the videos began appearing. In a statement, Hochul said the National Guard was providing support by helicopter and working with local law enforcement. "Public safety is my top priority, and I'm committed to doing everything possible to keep Long Islanders safe," she said. In her comments to News 12, Hochul declined to estimate the extent of the flames, saying only that they were growing rapidly. Rough satellite data indicated that fire and smoke stretched roughly 3 kilometers (2.5 miles) along Sunrise Highway, according to NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System. Police closed a section of the highway, which is a thoroughfare to the East End of Long Island. The fires raged near the Francis S. Gabreski Airport, from which the National Guard launched at least one helicopter. One of the commercial buildings that partially burned was near the airport. Personnel at the base evacuated as a precautionary measure starting around 1:45 p.m., spokesman Cheran Cambell said in a statement.
Voice of America
05-03-2025
- Voice of America
Powerful US storms kill 2 and bring threats from critical fire weather to blizzard conditions
Powerful storms killed two people in Mississippi, tore the roofs off an apartment building and a nursing home in a small town in Oklahoma and threatened more communities across the nation Tuesday with wide-ranging weather. The large storm system also brought blinding dust storms to the Southwest, blizzards with whiteout conditions to the Midwest and fears of wildfires elsewhere. In Irving, Texas, a tornado with winds up to 177 kph struck, while another touched down in the 16,000-resident city of Ada, Oklahoma, according to preliminary information from the National Weather Service. There were also two tornadoes in Louisiana's northern Caddo Parish and at least five in eastern Oklahoma. High winds forced some changes to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, which moved up and shortened the two biggest parades, to wrap them up before the bad weather moved in. The weather didn't stop Shalaska Jones and her 2-year-old daughter from waving at passing Mardi Gras floats and hoping to catch one of the coveted coconuts thrown to the crowd. 'We was coming out, rain, sleet or snow,' Jones said. The alarming weather could be one of the first big tests for the National Weather Service after hundreds of forecasters were fired last week as part of President Donald Trump's moves to slash the size of the federal government. Former employees said the firing of meteorologists who make crucial local forecasts nationwide could put lives at risk, though it was too soon to know the impact on forecasts and warnings for this storm. Deaths from storms in Mississippi Two people died due to the severe weather, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves posted on the social platform X, without going into detail. WAPT-TV reported that one person died from a falling power line in Madison County, while a driver in the same county was killed by a tree falling on his car. Hundreds of thousands left without power Storms that swept through Texas and Oklahoma brought high winds and rain, overturning tractor-trailers and damaging roofs. More than 178,000 customers were without power in Texas, about 23,000 in Louisiana, another 18,000 in Mississippi, about 88,000 in Alabama, more than 16,000 in Oklahoma and more than 23,000 in Tennessee, according to More outages were expected as a line of storms raced across Mississippi and Louisiana and headed for Alabama, producing gusts of 113 kph, the weather service said. Central Plains and Midwest brace for blizzard conditions Blizzard conditions were forecast that could make travel treacherous. Schools will be closed Wednesday in several southern Minnesota districts with about 13 to 28 centimeters of snow expected. More concerning were winds forecasted to gust over 80 kph and stay high. The National Weather Service in the Twin Cities said on X Tuesday night that travel was not advised over a large portion of southern Minnesota. 'It's tough to find a @MnDOT road camera that isn't covered in ice or blocked completely by blowing snow,' the post said. South Dakota was expected to receive up to 12.7 centimeters of snow in some areas, and by Tuesday evening, high winds had already deteriorated road conditions. Jay Jones, who works at Love's Truck Stop in Sioux Falls, said he saw garbage cans flying around as winds gusted around 80.5 kph. Parts of Interstate 29 heading north to North Dakota were shut down. 'It looks really bad out there,' Jones said, adding that he walked to work and would have to 'have to tough it out' on his way home.
