People push a car stuck in the snow near St. Louis, Missouri. Photo: AccuWeather
A northern polar winter storm with heavy snow, ice and severe weather descended on more than a dozen US states over the weekend with flights grounded and chaos on the highways.
US commercial weather forecaster AccWeather says a three-pronged storm with snow, ice and severe weather wreaked havoc across the central US on Sunday (local time).
As it shifts east toward the mid-Atlantic, it threatens to cause widespread disruptions and highway chaos.
The forecaster says Interstate 70 was one of many roads in Kansas that closed over the weekend as ice turned into heavy snow amid blizzard warnings.
All state highways were closed in northeastern Kansas on Sunday, the Kansas Department of Transportation said. Kansas Highway Patrol said motorists may be stuck on the roads for a long time as the weather made it extremely difficult for emergency responders to reach them.
“We see far too many wrecks out there for people that do not have to be on the roads, so I want to ask: stay inside. Stay safe with your family,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.
There were more than 1000 flight cancellations and over 3000 flight delays at airports across the US on Sunday, AccuWeather said.
Moist air ignited severe thunderstorms from eastern Texas through Mississippi, the same area that was struck by deadly storms and tornadoes at the end of December, the forecaster said.
A tornado reportedly touched down in southern Arkansas while strong winds caused damage in areas of eastern Texas and northern Louisiana.
As the winter storm heads east, it could spread heavy snow across part of the Mid-Atlantic.
“AccuWeather snow experts are increasingly concerned about dangerous travel impacts from heavy snow across parts of the mid-Atlantic, including Washington DC and the Baltimore metropolitan areas,” said AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter.
“We’ve seen similar situations in the past catch people off guard who aren’t prepared for the impacts, leading to ‘highway chaos’ including multiple-vehicle pileups and traffic jams.”
Six to 12 inches of snow is forecast to fall from southern Ohio and West Virginia, through northern Virginia, most of Maryland into Delaware and southern New Jersey.
