Grounded flights and power outages as snow and ice sweep across US
Thousands of Americans were left stranded in airports and shivering in their homes Thursday by a massive winter storm stretching from North Texas to upstate New York, which brought freezing rain and more than a foot of snow to a wide stretch of the country.
More than 4,800 flights had been canceled and hundreds more delayed by Thursday afternoon, according to Flightaware, a tracking website. Dallas was particularly hard hit, with 65% of outgoing flights at its largest airport grounded until a runway could be reopened around lunchtime.
On an average day, the Federal Aviation Administration handles 45,000 flights, meaning the cancellations and delays Thursday affected more than 10% of U.S. air traffic.
Widespread, heavy snow and freezing rain were forecast from the Southwestern United States to New England on Thursday and into today, the National Weather Service said, while portions of the South could see flash flooding. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas called it “one of the most significant icing events that we’ve had in the state of Texas in at least several decades.”
Thursday afternoon, more than 142,000 customers in Tennessee, 40,000 customers in Texas and28,000 in Ohio had lost power, according to Poweroutage. us, a website that aggregates data from utilities.
In North Texas, 2-4 inches of snow and sleet were expected Thursday, with light accumulations of ice. Local officials urged motorists to stay off the roads in Dallas, and the Dallas and Fort Worth school districts, among the largest in the state, were closed for the rest of the week.
The storm arrived in Texas almost exactly a year after a weeklong freeze led
to the deaths of more than 200 people and caused widespread power outages. Abbott assured the state’s 29 million residents Thursday that the power grid was expected to hold.
“The power grid is performing very well,” he said. “There is plenty of power available at this time, as well as plenty of power expected for the remainder of today and early tomorrow.”
Unlike last year, temperatures in Texas were predicted to stay below freezing only for a couple of days. “This won’t last as long,” said Jason Dunn, a weather service meteorologist in Fort Worth.
In Kansas, residents woke up Thursday to single-digit temperatures, with wind chills as cold as 17 degrees below zero. Officials in rural southeast Kansas reported several accidents on roads and highways slicked with snow and black ice.
At least 5 inches of snow fell in Fayetteville, Ark., but temperatures in the teens kept it dry and fluffy, making for easy work for dozens of snow plows clearing major roadways. Arkansas was expecting significantly more snow, along with sleet and ice, and the weather service there said conditions could make travel “very hazardous or impossible.” Nearly 22,000 customers were without electricity Thursday afternoon.
Farther east, parts of western Tennessee and Kentucky were under an ice storm warning. In Memphis, Tenn., ice began accumulating Thursday, leading to traffic accidents, downed trees and power outages. And in Illinois, a portion of Interstate 57 was blocked for several hours early Thursday after multiple tractor-trailers jackknifed.
The conditions threatened to delay deliveries as truck drivers encountered harsh conditions along their routes. At a snowy Ohio truck stop off Interstate 75 between Dayton and Cincinnati, dozens of rigs sat idle Thursday.
Barry Nelson, 50, had driven an oil shipment from Houston to deliver to Monroe, Ohio, only to find the terminal closed because of the weather.
“They said to try back tomorrow, so I’m stuck here at least until then,” Nelson said.
The winter storm was expected to continue pushing east Thursday. Parts of Maine could record up to 18 inches of snow, and up to 18 inches were possible in parts of upstate New York.
“This newest storm is poised to hit us with everything in the weather arsenal — heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain,” Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York said Wednesday.