Blizzard pretty, paralyzing for eastern U.S.
At least 9 killed in storm-related crashes before the worst hits
Snow slows down traffic Friday morning on Interstate 40 in Nashville, Tenn. A blizzard menacing the eastern United States started dumping snow as millions prepared for icy roads and possible power outages.
WASHINGTON — A storm that arrived postcard-pretty in the nation’s capital Friday was morphing into a painful, even paralyzing blizzard with gale-force winds pushing heavy snow and coastal flooding. One in seven Americans could get at least half a foot of snow by Sunday, and Washington could see snowdrifts more than 4 feet high.
The first flakes were lovely, but forecasters warned that much, much more was on its way.
Not that anyone will see the worst of it: Much heavier snow and wind gusting to 50 mph should create blinding whiteout conditions once the storm joins up with a low pressure system off the coast, said Bruce Sullivan, a forecaster at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md.
Wreck after wreck
Two feet or more of snowfall is forecast for Washington and Baltimore, and nearly as much for Philadelphia. New York City’s expected total was upped Friday to a foot or more. But Sullivan said “the winds are going to be the real problem; that’s when we’ll see possible power outages.”
The result could create snowdrifts 4 to 5 feet high, so even measuring it for records could be difficult, he said.
By evening, wet, heavy snow was falling in the capital, making downed power lines more likely, and yet many people remained on the roads, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said. “Find a safe place and stay there,” she beseeched.
Anyone trying to travel in this mess risks getting stuck for hours, marooned in odd places, or killed, authorities warned. At least nine people died in stormrelated incidents before the worst of the storm, including Stacy Sherrill, whose car plummeted off an icy road in Tennessee. Her husband survived after climbing for hours up a 300-foot embankment.
“They’re slipping and sliding all over the place,” said Kentucky State Police Trooper Lloyd Cochran — as soon as one wreck was cleared, other cars slammed into each other, causing gridlock for hours on interstate highways.
Conditions quickly became treacherous all along the path of the storm. Arkansas and Tennessee got 8 inches; Kentucky got more than a foot, and states across the Deep South grappled with icy, snowcovered roads and power outages. Two tornadoes arrived along with the snow in Mississippi.
States of emergency
The storm could easily cause more than $1 billion in damage, weather service director Louis Uccellini said.
All the ingredients have come together for a massive snowfall: The winds initially picked up warm water from the Gulf of Mexico, and now the storm is taking much more moisture from the warmer-than-usual Gulf Stream as it rotates slowly over the mid-Atlantic states, with the District of Columbia in its bull’s-eye.
In all, 82 million Americans will get at least an inch of snow, 47 million more than 6 inches, and 22 million Americans more than a foot, Ryan Maue at WeatherBell Analytics said Friday.
As food and supplies vanished from store shelves Friday, states of emergency were declared, lawmakers went home, and schools, government offices and transit systems closed early around the region. At least 7,600 flights were canceled, sporting events were called off, bands postponed concerts and NASCAR delayed its Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Broadway’s shows were still going on in New York, but as snow fell in Atlanta, people there were urged to stay home all weekend, rather than risk a repeat of the city’s 2014 “icepocalypse,” when a relatively mild winter storm caused days of commuter chaos.
In Washington, the federal government closed its offices at noon, and all mass transit was shutting down through Sunday. President Barack Obama, hunkering down at the White House, was one of many who stayed home.