Major winter storm begins dumping snow across the mid-Atlantic

A major winter storm slammed into the mid-Atlantic region Monday, snarling morning commutes and daily routines with heavy snow and freezing rain.

Dangerous driving conditions were expected from West Virginia to Delaware, the Weather Prediction Center said, with up to 12 inches of snow expected in some areas, including Washington.

Air and train travel was disrupted, and more than 350,000 people across the path of the storm were without power Monday morning, from Missouri to Virginia, according to the utility tracking website PowerOutage.us.

An additional 2-4 inches of snow is likely over portions of the Ohio Valley, where travel disruptions will continue. The storm had already dumped at least 5 inches of snow in the Washington metro area as of 10 am Monday, after sweeping across the Midwest over the weekend.

The Federal Aviation Administration warned that snow could cause delays at airports across the East Coast and Midwest. By Monday morning, more than 3,000 flights in the United States had been canceled or delayed, with the Washington metro area airports most affected, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking service.

More than 60 per cent of the flights scheduled to depart from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Monday were canceled.

In Missouri, which was hit over the weekend, more than 40 per cent of the departures at St. Louis Lambert International Airport were canceled. Airlines, including Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines, have issued travel waivers allowing customers to rebook their travel.

Train travel was also affected: Dozens of Amtrak trains were canceled along the Northeast corridor Monday.

Several states in the path of the storm — including Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and parts of New Jersey; as well as Washington, D.C. — have declared states of emergency. The declarations are intended to improve the states’ responses to the storm through various means.

Farther south, a mix of sleet, freezing rain, and significant ice accumulations is anticipated Monday. In northern Kentucky and parts of southern West Virginia, ice buildup is expected to surpass 0.25 inches, creating treacherous conditions and the potential for power failures.

Deadly snow blasts Midwestern states

The storm was moving east from the Midwest, where blizzard conditions in Kansas and Missouri led to at least three deaths and hazardous conditions for travelers.

The National Weather Service in Kansas City, Missouri, reported that Kansas City International Airport had received 11 inches of snow Sunday, the fourth-largest single-day total in the city’s recorded history. In Topeka, Kansas, the weather service said late Sunday it expected a final total of 14.1 inches, the third-highest single-day snowfall recorded in the area.

In the Kansas City metropolitan area, residents hunkered indoors amid ice- and snow-covered driveways, and roads deemed too treacherous for travel. Some areas experienced lightning and booming thunder along with wind gusts of up to 35 mph as the storm moved across the region.

“This is a rare blizzard for Kansas City,” Gary Lezak, a longtime meteorologist in the area, said Sunday. “It is insanely cold.”

The storm caused numerous crashes over the weekend. West of Salina, Kansas, a fire truck, multiple tractor-trailers, and passenger vehicles overturned, including one incident in which an SUV slid off the road near Wichita and rolled down an embankment, killing both occupants.

Several trucks went spiraling into ditches as icy roads became impassable, and pileups snarled interstates across the Midwest region. The Missouri Highway Patrol reported more than 150 storm-related crashes in the state as of Sunday evening, including at least one crash that killed a 61-year-old man.

Cold weather lingers

By Tuesday morning, the snow is expected to taper off, although light snow may continue over parts of the Central Appalachians. Cold, gusty weather is forecast for the following days.

The Weather Prediction Center warned that nighttime temperatures were expected to fall into single digits to near zero across the Central Plains and into the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. Daytime highs in these areas are projected to stay below freezing, while the mid-Atlantic will see slightly less cold conditions, with daytime temperatures near freezing.

“It’s going to be pretty cold for a good part of the week,” said Bob Oravec of the Weather Prediction Center. From the eastern Rockies to the East Coast, temperatures will be about 10 to 12 degrees below seasonal averages.