Winter storm cancels flights, makes roads treacherous
Winter storm warnings and weather advisories stretched from Texas to New York as snow, sleet and freezing rain snarled air traffic and brought havoc to roadways.
More than 50 million in the U.S. were under a winter weather warning or watch Tuesday, including 18 million under a wind chill advisory.
Almost 3,000 flights within, into or out of the U.S. were delayed or canceled before 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, and more than half of those were called off. In Texas, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field issued ground stops because of snow and ice. The National Weather Service said a band of sleet and storms was moving over the area.
“Expect road conditions to continue to worsen,” the Fort Worth office said in a tweet. “It is advised to NOT be on the roads today. If possible, please stay home. It’s messy out there.”
The same was true about 200 miles to the south in Travis County, where law enforcement officers were responding to a new crash every three minutes since 8 a.m., according to the Austin-Travis County Traffic Report Page. That included at least one fatality in Austin, the capital city’s fire department said.
Other airport developments:
⬤ In New York, LaGuardia Airport issued a brief ground stop early Tuesday from icy weather conditions that were causing “flight disruptions.” Planes began flying again, and delays were averaging almost an hour. Travelers were advised to check with airlines to determine the status of flights.
⬤ In North Carolina, Charlotte Douglas International Airport issued a ground stop because of fog and low visibility.
⬤ In Kentucky, Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport was briefly closed because of weather conditions.
Power outages; trooper injured
A winter storm warning was in effect in north Texas and western central Texas until noon on Wednesday, the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth said. The area was mostly expecting freezing rain and sleet. The Austin metro area was also under a winter storm warning until Wednesday. Authorities warned against any nonemergency travel.
Gov. Greg Abbott said about 7,000 power outages had been reported in the state, emphasizing they were because of downed trees or iced electrical lines, not the performance of the Texas power grid that buckled for days during a deadly winter storm in 2021.
A state trooper was hospitalized with serious injuries after being struck by a driver who lost control of the vehicle, said Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Ice storm warning expands
Areas under the ice storm warning in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee until noon Wednesday were expected to see ice accumulations of a quarter to one half inch, the weather service in Memphis said.
Travel was discouraged in those areas, and power outages and tree damage were expected from the icy conditions. Parts of east Arkansas, Northern Mississippi and west Tennessee were under the ice warning.
Interstate 40 in the Forrest City area of Arkansas had a coat of ice that made for “extremely hazardous” conditions early Tuesday, said the city’s fire department, which posted photos of semitrailer
trucks that had wrecked.
Division Chief Jeremy Sharp said the department had responded to more than 15 crashes early Tuesday, often after drivers going too fast reached an icy bridge. “They hit the ice and they start wrecking,” he told The Associated Press.
Treacherous road conditions
The National Weather Service warned that much of Tennessee was facing ice and sleet. Nashville schools delayed opening two hours late Tuesday because of hazardous road conditions when buses would be on the road.
“Roads and bridges/overpasses are very slick. Please use extreme caution,” the Memphis office tweeted. “If you don’t have to be out, please stay home. Accidents have been reported all over the area.”
Dangerous wind chills
Farther north, wind advisories were in effect in Wisconsin, Minnesota and other states across the Midwest and Plains. Wind chills dropped to 35 degrees below zero in some places. The temperatures can “cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes,” the National Weather Service warned.
Similar warnings extended into Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.