A dangerous winter storm hit the United States on Sunday, where millions of people in the eastern half of the country are threatened by blizzards and some localities will record the heaviest snowfall in a decade, meteorologists predict.
More than 60 million people are in the path of the storm, which is expected to sweep the eastern half of the United States with arctic air through Monday and cause major travel disruptions. The National Weather Service (NWS) has warned of the risk of ice, snow and strong winds from western Kansas to the coastal states of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, over a strip of territory 2,400 kilometers wide.
“A disruptive winter storm”
“A disruptive winter storm will affect the Central Plains through the Mid-Atlantic through Monday, with widespread heavy snow and ice accumulations”specifies the NWS in its latest bulletin. The agency warned that areas from northeastern Kansas to north-central Missouri would experience “the heaviest snowfall in ten years”. Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and more severe due to human-caused climate change.
The first major storm of 2025 has already caused the temporary closure of Kansas City International Airport on Saturday, “due to rapid ice accumulation”. Flights then resumed after the runways were cleared, said Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas. Some locations in the eastern states of New York and Pennsylvania will face heavy snow from the Great Lakes, which could total 61 centimeters, according to the NWS.
A blizzard is expected across the Central Plains early Sunday, making travel “extremely dangerous, with impassable roads and a high risk of motorists becoming stranded”predicts the NWS. The United States capital, Washington, could be covered in a snowpack of 12 centimeters or more, with up to 25 cm in surrounding areas. Temperatures are expected to plunge in some places below 18 degrees Celsius, with strong gusts of wind making the situation worse.
Severe thunderstorms are expected in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Freezing rain and sleet are forecast from Kansas, and east to Kentucky and Virginia, with potential for downed trees and power lines. The governors of Kentucky, Missouri and Virginia declared states of emergency in their states.
