winter

Snow and ice covered large swaths of the US on Sunday, causing flights to be canceled, making driving dangerous and reaching areas as far south as the Texas Gulf Coast, where it was expected. snow and sleet overnight.

“Usually we don’t have that much cold air in this far south,” said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Forecast Center.

The storm has prompted officials in Houston, where temperatures were in the 70s (20 degrees Celsius) earlier this week, to advise residents to prepare for power outages and dangerous roads that could be similar to those experienced. after a Category 5 hurricane.

As it rained Sunday in the Houston area, the temperature hovered around zero degrees. “This rain will turn into freezing rain, sleet and snow overnight tomorrow into the wee hours of the morning,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Josh Lichter.

Chenard said significant ice and up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of snow were expected in parts of the southern plains through Monday.

Winter weather conditions are affecting much of the US, but it is rare for them to spread this far south, Chenard said.

The Dallas area was covered in snow Sunday morning, with flakes still falling, and as high as 6 inches (15 centimeters) was forecast.

With the winter conditions falling on Valentine’s Day, florists kept busy even when the snow fell.

In Fort Worth, where it was already icy and snowy, Gordon Boswell Flowers’ general manager said delivery drivers were trying to finish before conditions worsened Sunday afternoon.

“It’s freezing and snowing and they’re asking for more snow,” said Cheri Kirkman.

Despite the weather, he said there were still some people going to collect gifts. “We have many invented, ready to go,” Kirkman said.

Drivers move down a highway during a winter storm Sunday, February 14, 2021, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo / Sue Ogrocki)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who issued a disaster declaration for all 254 counties in the state, warned Saturday: “All of Texas is facing an extremely dangerous winter storm.”

Abbott, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson have activated each of the National Guard units to assist state agencies with tasks including rescuing stranded drivers.

In a statement Sunday night, President Joe Biden also declared an emergency in Texas and ordered federal assistance to aid state and local response efforts. The declaration allows the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts and provide assistance, equipment and resources to those affected by the storm.

The weather was affecting operations at airports throughout the area, with more than 760 flights canceled at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and at Dallas Love Field, most of the nearly 200 flights by Southwest Airlines, the main airline in the United States. airport, were canceled.

American Airlines said about 345 of its flights were canceled at DFW airport, its hub, in the early hours of Sunday afternoon. The airline said the storm was also affecting its flights across the region, with operations reduced and canceled at airports in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Officials discouraged travel in winter conditions. In the early hours of Sunday afternoon, the Texas Highway Patrol had reported multiple multi-car crashes in West Texas, including one that involved 25 vehicles and closed a portion of westbound Interstate 20.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said a portion of the Turner Turnpike was closed due to a multi-vehicle accident, while the Oklahoma Department of Transportation said the southern corridor of Interstate 35 was mostly covered in snow in the left lane and conditions were expected to deteriorate.

The National Weather Service said Sunday that the forecast as of early Tuesday calls for 20 to 30 centimeters (8 to 12 inches) of snow in central Oklahoma, and 10 to 20 centimeters (4 to 8 inches) in an area that stretches from eastern Texas to the Ohio Valley in the northeast.

In Memphis, Tennessee, the snow had started to fall, and although the main roads were still passable, lines were forming at grocery stores as people scrambled to stock up.

In Mississippi, sleet in Jackson and other central parts of the state left roads and bridges slippery. Bill Parker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson, said up to three-quarters of an inch of ice could accumulate in central Mississippi, creating the possibility of power outages or falling tree limbs.

Parts of Kentucky and West Virginia that are still reeling from an ice storm last week are expected to get up to a quarter inch (0.6 centimeters) of ice or up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow by Tuesday. About 19,000 customers were left without power in southern West Virginia and about 9,000 in eastern Kentucky on Sunday because of the storm that passed Wednesday and Thursday.

Utilities have warned of the possibility of additional power outages due to falling tree limbs. Hundreds of utility crews and contractors were traveling Sunday to be on site if additional outages occurred.

In Texas, the Texas Electrical Reliability Council, which manages the flow of electrical power in the state, asked customers to reduce their electricity use as much as possible through Tuesday, including closing blinds to reduce the amount of heat that is lost through the windows and avoid the use of large appliances.

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