DALLAS — A powerful winter storm that dumped heavy snow and glazed roads with ice across much of Texas and Oklahoma moved eastward into southern U.S. states on Friday, prompting governors to declare states of emergency and closing schools throughout the region.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders mobilized the National Guard to assist stranded motorists. Millions of children in southern states ranging from Texas to Georgia and as far east as South Carolina had their school days cancelled.
According to the National Weather Service, some of the heaviest snowfall was expected Friday across the northern half of Arkansas and much of Tennessee, with totals ranging from 6 to 9 inches (about 15 to 22 centimeters).
Further south and east, in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain made travel hazardous.
Before moving into Arkansas, the storm dumped up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) of rain in some areas of central Oklahoma and northern Texas.
Snow began falling in metro Atlanta before dawn, canceling hundreds of flights and delaying hundreds more at Atlanta’s airport, according to flight tracking software FlightAware.
With radar showing much of Georgia’s heaviest precipitation concentrated in a band near Atlanta’s airport, controllers declared a ground stop before 8 a.m., preventing planes from landing or taking off. Atlanta, Delta Air Lines’ major hub, is the world’s busiest airport. Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency in Georgia.
Other airports experiencing significant delays and cancellations included those in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Nashville.
The polar vortex of ultra-cold air typically revolves around the North Pole, but it can occasionally travel south into the United States, Europe, and Asia. According to some experts, such events are becoming more frequent as the world warms.
The cold snap coincided with rare January wildfires raging throughout the Los Angeles area.
Snow, sleet hammers Texas, Oklahoma
According to Paul Kirkwood, a National Weather Service meteorologist, the storm that passed through Dallas will leave a “swath of snow” in Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott urged residents to avoid driving whenever possible. Roads could be dangerous as 75,000 people gathered at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Friday for the Cotton Bowl college football championship semifinal between Texas and Ohio State.
Southern discomfort
The weather service predicted that parts of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia could receive up to 8 inches (about 20 centimeters) of snow by Saturday. Snow and ice were expected to accumulate throughout metro Atlanta on Friday, making roads treacherous and potentially causing power outages.
On Friday, public school systems in metro Atlanta and north Georgia canceled in-person classes, with more than 1 million students receiving a snow day or being instructed to learn online from home.
Following a disastrous snowstorm in 2014 that left thousands of Atlanta-area workers and schoolchildren stranded overnight away from home, Georgia officials quickly canceled in-person classes and closed offices on Friday. More than a million public school students in northern Georgia were told to stay home.
Many schools in Alabama’s northern half canceled classes on Friday, with state roads largely covered in snow or ice and some already impassable, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
Tennessee also declared a state of emergency. Memphis-Shelby County Schools, the state’s largest school district with over 100,000 students, closed all schools on Friday due to heavy, wet snow that began falling late Thursday. Tours at Graceland, Elvis Presley’s former home turned museum, were canceled Friday, according to a spokeswoman.
With up to 8 inches (20.3 centimeters) of snow expected in Memphis, officials opened two 24-hour warming centers to protect residents from the cold.
The Carolinas prepare
Parts of South Carolina braced for the first wintry weather in three years. On Thursday, the state Department of Transportation dusted off its brine and salt supplies and began treating interstates and major highways from Columbia north.
Schools in those areas will either close early or for the entire day on Friday, or they will hold online learning days.
Governor Josh Stein declared a state of emergency in North Carolina. The approaching storm forced the cancellation of a public outdoor inauguration ceremony for Stein and other statewide elected officials in Raleigh on Saturday.
A boil-water order for Virginia’s capital
Richmond, Virginia, was under a boil-water advisory as officials worked to restore the water reservoir system, which had been shut down Monday due to a storm-related power outage, according to Mayor Danny Avula.
Officials said the city of more than 200,000 was distributing bottled water at 11 locations and delivering it to elderly residents and others who couldn’t get to them.
