17 million under winter storm warnings from Texas to NY
Snow forecast across the South, Midwest
A winter storm warning stretching from the Southwest to the Midwest was in effect Tuesday – impacting more than 17.7 million people, according to the National Weather Service.
Heavy snow was forecast in states across the central U.S. this week. With dropping temperatures, some areas also saw rainfall turn into snow early Tuesday.
Parts of central Indiana can expect up to 6 to 10 inches of snow Tuesday night into Wednesday afternoon,according to weather service office in Indianapolis. And northwest Arkansas could see 8 to 9 inches of snow through early Wednesday, the weather service office in Little Rock said.
Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories moved East throughout the day Tuesday and by 3 p.m. EST, the warnings remained in effect for parts of nine states: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and New York.
In addition, almost 41.6 million people were under a winter weather advisory Tuesday afternoon, the weather service said, and a winter storm watch spread across multiple states in the Northeast.
High and dangerous winds, with threats of potential tornadoes, were also seen in the South.
Here’s what you need to know in preparation for the storms:
Snow forecast for Tuesday
In addition to Indiana and Arkansas, states across the U.S. were forecast to see snow Tuesday and in the coming days.
⬤ In parts of Oklahoma, Weather Service Norman forecast 4 to 8 inches of snow for Tuesday.
⬤ Snowfall predictions reached up to 6 to 9 inches in some areas of southcentral Missouri for Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, according to the weather service office in St. Louis.
⬤ And in parts of central Illinois, 5 to 9 inches of snow were forecast Tuesday into Wednesday.
Winter storm watch extends into Northeast
Also on Tuesday, a winter storm watch extended into the Northeast U.S. – notably parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
As of Tuesday morning, more than 100,000 electric customers were without power in those states, the majority of which were in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, according to tracker PowerOutage.us.
Monday’s snowfall in Maine, New Hampshire; more to come
Heavy snow has already fallen in much of the Northeast, with storm totals exceeding one foot of snow in some areas as of Monday.
Parts of Maine and New Hampshire saw snowfall totals ranging from 2 to 17 inches in the system that plowed through the region earlier this week, the weather service office in Portland, Maine reported Monday night.
Some areas could see an additional 6 inches or more in the coming days, the Portland weather service office said Tuesday, noting that precipitation will “gradually switch to rain from south to north by Thursday morning.”
The weather service in Boston also noted that more snowfall was expected across New England on Wednesday, with 4 to 6 inches expected in parts of northern Massachusetts from Wednesday into Thursday.
“This next storm will pack a ‘front end punch,’ with most accumulation occurring overnight,” weather service Boston said.
Winter weather leads to car crashes, deaths
Heavy snowfall has also led to dangerous travel conditions – and fatal car crashes.
In New Hampshire, state police said they had responded to 90 “crashes and vehicles that have gone off the road” between 5 a.m. and 2 p.m. EST on Monday. White out conditions and snow-covered roadways created “hazardous traveling conditions,” police said.
Amid Monday’s and Sunday’s winter weather, fatal car crashes have been reported in several areas across New England.
⬤ On Sunday evening, a 31-year-old Massachusetts man died in a wrongway crash on Interstate-290, Massachusetts State Police said.
⬤ And in Rhode Island, a 25-year-old woman died in an Interstate-95 crash early Monday, NBC Boston and the Boston Globe reported.