‘Big, crazy storm’ not going away quietly
A storm that left at least nine people dead and more than 400,000 without power this weekend was pushing its way into Canada on Sunday, but holiday travelers may still face slick roads as the system brings heavy rain to the Southeast.
The storm that brought high winds, ice, snow and rain to a wide swath of the Southeast before roaring north will affect sections of the USA through today, said Frank Strait, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather.
The icy weather could still make roads hazardous from the upper Midwest to northern New England.
“The main part of the storm is pulling away into Canada now and taking some of the snow with it,” Strait said. But a lingering cold front could stretch from Virginia to Pensacola, Fla., causing heavy downpours before the system finally begins to weaken.
While roadways may be slippery, prospects brightened for airline passengers this holiday week. No flights scheduled for today into, out of or within the USA had been canceled as of Sunday afternoon, according to Daniel Baker of flight-tracking website FlightAware .com. That was in contrast to the more than 700 flights canceled Sunday and more than 11,000 de- layed across the nation.
The weather should calm by Christmas Eve, but the Midwest and East Coast likely will see colder temperatures than normal.
The weekend storm was a study in extremes. Its northern edge featured sleet and freezing rain that sparked travel advisories in New York and New England. Snow fell from Wisconsin to Oklahoma. On the other hand, many Eastern cities saw record-high temperatures.
“It’s a big, crazy storm of contrasts,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Paul Walker said.
The storm was also deadly. Five people were killed in flooding in Kentucky, and a woman died after a tornado with winds of 130 mph struck Saturday in Arkansas. Ice and snow in Oklahoma were blamed for three traffic deaths on slick roads.
In Michigan, ice and strong winds left nearly 300,000 homes and businesses in the dark Sunday. New York City, however, reached 70 degrees Sunday. The previous record, set 15 years ago, was 63.