Foul weather continues to create complications
Travelers delayed; thousands remain without electricity
MINNEAPOLIS — Snow and cold snarled traffic and prompted another 1,650 U.S. flight cancellations on Monday, and tens of thousands of people were still without power because of the weather.
The storm covered parts of North Texas in ice over the weekend and then moved East. Below-zero temperatures crowned the top of the United States from Idaho to Minnesota, where many roads still had an inch-thick plate of ice, polished smooth by traffic and impervious to ice-melting chemicals, making intersections an adventure.
Many travelers wished they were home, and people in homes without power wished they were somewhere else.
Some of the most difficult conditions were in North Texas. More than 22,000 Dallas-area homes and businesses were still without power on Monday, according to electric utility Oncor. That was down from 270,000 on Friday. Dallas students got a snow day.
More than half of the nation’s flight cancellations on Monday were at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, dominated by American Airlines. About 650 travelers were stranded there Sunday night.
Nationally, there have been more than 6,100 flight cancellations since Saturday, according to FlightStats.com, including more than 2,800 by American or its American Eagle regional airline.
The storm dumped snow through the Mid-Atlantic region. Freezing rain prompted the federal government to allow workers to arrive up to two hours later than normal Monday or take unscheduled leave.
Power outages were reported in Virginia, parts of West Virginia, Maryland and the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area after the region was raked with freezing rain, wet snow and sleet. More than 15,000 customers in Maryland were without power, where the weight of the ice weakened tree limbs that then contacted power lines and other equipment. Some 109,000 customers were without power in Virginia.
Parts of northwest and southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia got snow, while sleet and freezing rain prevailed west and north of Richmond.
More wintry weather is in the forecast. The National Weather Service predicted a second storm for the Mid-Atlantic region, with 5 inches of snow possible Monday night.
At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, more than 100 flights were canceled, according to FlightStats.com, and crowds were sparse Monday as travelers made alternate plans. Some, though, were settling in for a long wait.
Pennsylvanians were bracing to shovel more snow from a modest storm early today, a day after an icy mix delivered the first punch, closing schools and causing headaches for morning commuters.
Starting at daybreak, forecasters are expecting around 3 to 5 inches in southeastern Pennsylvania including Philadelphia, and 1 to 3 inches in and around Harrisburg.
Farther west in the State College region, around 1 to 2 inches of snow are expected.
“This next wave that’s coming up from the Deep South will be able to produce all snow,” said meteorologist Barry Lambert, who works for the National Weather Service in State College. “It should be a fluffier snow, too.”
Lambert said the heaviest snow is expected in late morning, and the front should be through Pennsylvania by early to midafternoon.
PennDOT’s emergency operations center ramped up Monday evening. The department has 5,400 operators and 2,250 trucks available for snow removal plus a smaller fleet of contractors.
Daytime high temperatures are expected to remain more than 10 degrees below normal for this time of year, or below-freezing, so the white covering may be on the ground for the two weeks until Christmas.
And New Jerseyans should plan on having to cope with more snow and icy roads today. Forecasters expect the most snow, up to 5 inches or so, to fall in the Interstate 95 corridor.