On Sunday, tens of millions of Americans prepared massive winter stormIt is expected to bring the heaviest snowfall and coldest temperatures in more than a decade to parts of the country.
Kansas, Arkansas, Kentucky and Virginia have declared states of emergency as the storm moves east after hitting the central United States, driven by a polar vortex. Southern states including Mississippi and Florida are also warning of dangerously cold and hazardous weather conditions, according to the National Weather Service.
Polar vortices are regions of low pressure and cold air that spin like wheels around the Earth’s two polar regions. At times, the Arctic polar vortex swings, with lobes surging southward, blanketing parts of North America in harsh temperatures.
As the storm moves eastward, about 60 million people in 30 states from the Plains to the mid-Atlantic are under weather warnings as a developing low-pressure system could bring heavy snow and severe freezing over the next three days.
travel disruption
Kansas City International Airport briefly closed Saturday as crews cleared the runway, delaying dozens of flights, including a charter plane carrying the Kansas City Chiefs, according to the Associated Press.
An 18-mile stretch of Interstate 70 in Kansas was closed until early Sunday due to a blizzard that could bring up to 14 inches of snow and wind gusts up to 40 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
The service is forecasting historic precipitation in parts of Kansas and Missouri, predicting more than 15 inches of snow from northeastern Kansas to north-central Missouri, the region’s largest snowfall in a decade.
The National Weather Service warned of “significant disruptions to daily life,” including “hazardous or impossible driving conditions and widespread lockdowns,” making travel “very difficult or impossible” through Sunday.
Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis treated roads and prepared warming centers ahead of the storm.
Scattered snow showers will develop across the northern plains Saturday afternoon into evening. More than 2 million people were under blizzard warnings Sunday morning across much of Kansas and much of Missouri, according to the weather service.
Such warnings remind residents that visibility may be reduced to 1/4 mile or less with sustained winds of at least 35 mph.
Severe weather risks are expected for the lower Mississippi River on Sunday, with 7 million people at risk from tornadoes, damaging winds and hail in cities such as Jackson, Mississippi; and Baton Rouge, Shrevepo, Louisiana. Special and Lake Charles.
Forecasters warned that millions of Americans would face record low temperatures as the storm pushed east.
The mid-Atlantic and central Appalachians will see snow overnight into Monday morning. These showers will continue into Monday and end by Tuesday morning as the system moves offshore.
Major cities such as Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia are bracing for snow and icy weather Sunday into Monday, with parts of Virginia expected to receive 5 to 12 inches of snow.
Meanwhile, severe thunderstorms could hit southern states unaccustomed to freezing temperatures, including Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
There were an estimated 7,000 weather-related flight delays across the country on Saturday.
Denver International Airport, located on the western end of the low-pressure system, ranked first in the world for flight delays, with nearly half of all flights departing Saturday late, according to FlightAware.
Major airlines including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines are waiving change fees ahead of potential flight disruptions.
Following this system, temperatures are expected to drop significantly across the eastern two-thirds of the country. Starting Sunday, maximum temperatures will be 10 to 25 degrees below average and continue through Friday. Highs will be in the single digits and teens across the Plains and Midwest, and in the upper 20s to upper 30s across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
The most extreme temperatures will occur in the northern plains, with nighttime lows dropping to -20°C and wind chill values ​​around -40°C.
