A major winter storm has been sweeping eastward from the central United States since Sunday, affecting millions of residents. The bad weather has already claimed five lives, and led to flight cancellations, school closures and road accidents.
More than 50 million people are affected, with around 300,000 still without power as of Monday afternoon. At the same time, 2,300 flights were canceled and thousands more delayed, according to the Poweroutage.us and FlightAware sites.
Five people have died since Sunday in accidents linked to the dire conditions, according to local media, including three in the central states of Missouri and Kansas.
30 cm of snow in Washington
In Washington, a blanket of white covers the streets. In places, up to 30 cm of snow is expected, the National Weather Service (NWS) said. The sidewalks and parks of the federal capital are the playground for snowball fights, some residents even put on skis.
The two main airports in the federal capital, Dulles and Ronald Reagan, have been forced to cancel more than 500 flights since 6 a.m. (11 a.m. GMT).
400 km to the north, New York City and its large suburbs of Long Island and Westchester also began to see roads and roofs of buildings covered with the first flakes. This currently represents no more than one cm in Central Park, the green – and white for the occasion – lung of Manhattan, and on the runways of JFK and LaGuardia airports in Queens and Brooklyn, according to the NWS.
Thunderstorms and tornadoes expected in the Southeast
Weather services had warned of the amount of snow expected to fall, particularly in Ohio and the Appalachian Mountains from the southeast to the northeast, warning against any “dangerous” travel on snow-covered and icy roads.
“The snow turned to ice, leading to power outages and more dangerous road conditions. Transportation safety teams are working hard to clear roads for utility crews and emergency responders to travel,” said East-Central Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, urging residents to stay at their home. He, along with the governors of Missouri, Virginia and Maryland, declared a state of emergency.
Videos posted by The Weather Channel show vehicles skidding on icy roads and tractor-trailers ending up in roadside barriers in Kansas.
According to the country’s weather services, thunderstorms accompanied by hail and potential tornadoes could hit the southeastern states. These powerful winds could cause property damage and “extended power outages,” the NWS warned. In the center and east of the country, temperatures are expected to drop to -18°C in places with strong gusts of wind.
Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and more severe due to human-caused climate change.
