Icy storm freezes US from north to south and leaves thousands without power

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/17/icy-storm-freezes-us-thousands-without-power

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An icy winter storm has coated the south and east in sleet, freezing rain and snow, cancelling flights, meetings of state legislatures, and schools – and left hundreds of thousands of houses in the dark.

Forecasters say the regions won’t enjoy a thaw any time soon – another Arctic front is expected in the middle of the week.

From Monday into Tuesday, the storm was the first major winter event of the season in the south, dumping upwards of a foot of snow in West Virginia, Illinois and Missouri. The storm dumped more than 9in in Virginia, closing federal government offices in Washington DC. The heaviest snow is expected Tuesday morning in the capital.

In Oklahoma, Missouri and Mississippi, a half-inch of freezing rain coated the region, weighing down tree branches and power lines.

In Kentucky, more than a foot of snow had fallen in some parts of the state, and three-quarters of an inch of freezing rain in parts of Tennessee, prompting lawmakers in both states to call off the legislative session. North Carolina governor Pat McCrory shut down all non-mandatory state government in Wake County.

Related: Bitter cold leaves site of Philadelphia fire encased in ice – pictures

By Tuesday morning, more than 1,200 flights had been canceled and 400 delayed across the country, mostly in the south.

Airports in Richmond and Williamsburg, Virginia, and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina had as many as half their outgoing flights canceled. Delays and cancellations spread across the country, from Nashville, Tennessee to LaGuardia airport in New York City, and Philadelphia international airport as well.

Power outages also mounted across the south. In north-east Georgia, Georgia Power had already restored 100,000 customers’ power, but was still working on 82,000 more. More than 115,000 customers were without power in North and South Carolina, according to Duke Energy, as of 8.20am on Tuesday.

As far south as South Carolina, freezing rain advisories were still in effect on Tuesday morning, and winter weather advisories were in effect in New York, where a few inches of snow hindered the city’s morning rush hour.

Forecasters aren’t predicting a thaw any time soon. The north-east was experiencing unusually cold temperatures, despite January 2015 being the warmest on-record since 2012 (and “pleasant” weather in the west), according to the National Weather Service.

“Incredibly, another Arctic front will arrive to the east coast by Wednesday night, and this will bring some truly frigid conditions with it,” National Weather Service forecaster David Hamrick said in a statement on Tuesday. “Some places from the Carolinas to the Mid-Atlantic may see some of the coldest weather since the mid-1990s! Numerous record low temperatures are expected.”