A massive, dangerous winter storm is currently carving a path of destruction across the United States, stretching a staggering 2,000 miles from Texas to New England. Snow and dangerous ice are already falling in the south-central U.S. and spreading rapidly east, but new reports from the National Weather Service warn that the worst is yet to come.
Through Monday, this system will dump crippling amounts of ice and snow, followed by a blast of record-breaking cold air that could leave people shivering in the dark for days.
The situation is developing into a worst-case scenario for the South. Forecasters are calling for “catastrophic ice accumulation” that will weigh down trees and power lines until they snap.
While a quarter-inch of ice is enough to cause damage, parts of northern Louisiana, central and northern Mississippi, southern Tennessee, and the southern Appalachians could see over an inch of solid ice. This amount of freezing rain is devastating and will likely cause long-duration power outages, leaving hundreds of thousands without heat in subzero wind chills.
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The science behind the storm is a recipe for disaster. High pressure is pushing bitterly cold air down from Central Canada, while a low-pressure system hovers over the Gulf Coast, streaming moisture northward right into that freezing air.
A second storm system is also forming along the Southeast Coast, which will ride up towards the Mid-Atlantic through Sunday. The result is a significant, long-lasting storm that will bury the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast under heavy snow. Snowfall totals exceeding 12 inches are likely in these areas, making travel impossible. Just south of the heavy snow, a dangerous stripe of 1 to 3 inches of sleet will coat the ground.
Travel has already become a nightmare with over 9,000 flights canceled, but the roads are equally treacherous. The storm is producing large amounts of snow across more than a dozen states.
Light snow that began Friday in the Plains has intensified, with places like Maumelle, Arkansas, and Hays, Kansas, already reporting 6 inches on the ground. Further east, Memphis has seen snow mixed with sleet, while devastating freezing rain is falling from Texas into Georgia.
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Even freezing drizzle is turning roads into skating rinks, but the steadier rain expected in the Deep South will build up hazardous layers of ice on everything it touches.
The suffering won’t end when the precipitation stops. Frigid temperatures have crashed into the minus 30s near the Canadian border and are seeping south. Subzero cold has reached the Texas Panhandle, and single-digit temperatures are locked in all the way to Arkansas.
Once the storm passes, this extreme cold will stay in place, freezing the snow and ice solid.
This means communities from the Southern Plains to the Northeast will face prolonged hazardous travel and infrastructure problems well into next week. With wind chills dropping to dangerous levels, anyone left without power will be in a life-threatening situation.
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