A massive winter storm system is sweeping across the United States, affecting an estimated 110 million people in the central, southern, and eastern regions.
According to a news release issued by AccuWeather on Tuesday, freezing rain, sleet, and hail could make travel dangerous in southern states, while other regions in the Central-South, as well as portions of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states, are expected to receive between 6 and 12 inches of snowfall.
Following that storm, AccuWeather predicts that a second storm with extremely cold arctic air will follow behind the first storm system, bringing local temperatures down to 15 to 30 degrees below normal through Friday.
“This February frenzy pattern of relentless winter storms will bring yet another round of snow and ice to the Plains, Midwest and mid-Atlantic,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter stated.
“Slippery and hazardous conditions could shut down highways, delay or cancel thousands of flights, close schools and disrupt business and supply chain operations,” Porter continued.
A massive winter storm system is sweeping across the United States, affecting an estimated 110 million people in the central, southern, and eastern regions.
According to a news release issued by AccuWeather on Tuesday, freezing rain, sleet, and hail could make travel dangerous in southern states, while other regions in the Central-South, as well as portions of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states, are expected to receive between 6 and 12 inches of snowfall.
Following that storm, AccuWeather predicts that a second storm with extremely cold arctic air will follow behind the first storm system, bringing local temperatures down to 15 to 30 degrees below normal through Friday.
According to him, the winter storm follows a violent weekend that saw tornadoes and severe thunderstorm damage recorded throughout Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Georgia, as well as fatal flash floods in certain areas of Kentucky.
Kingston, a winter storm, is approaching
The weather channel has christened the storm system Winter Storm Kingston and is allowing people to follow its development live because it is so severe.
According to the Weather Channel, there will be freezing rain in certain areas of Oklahoma and Arkansas, as well as light to moderate snow from the Central Plains to the Ozarks that will spread to sections of Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia.
All states inside the storm’s forecast path, from Kansas to the East Coast, including portions of Virginia and North Carolina, are under a winter storm warning.
As the storm system typically passes across the country’s center, winter weather advisories are in force throughout the Central Plains and around its outskirts.
Through Tuesday afternoon, snow accumulation in Hot Springs, South Dakota, has reached 7.1 inches, while in Hutchinson, Kansas, it has reached up to 7 inches.
With the possibility of ice storms in North Carolina and snow in the Tennessee Valley on Wednesday, snow is predicted throughout the Appalachians and mid-Atlantic states.
Flood recovery will be hampered by winter storms
Parts of Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia, which were hit by devastating flash flooding and heavy rains over the weekend, will be most affected by the winter storm system.
At least 15 people perished, including two in Virginia and 12 in central and eastern Kentucky. As of Tuesday morning, there is still another missing person in West Virginia.
At a press conference Tuesday morning, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said that two additional people had perished in Jefferson County, Kentucky, due to hypothermia.
“That should tell all of us the weather conditions areas dangerous as that water is,” Beshear stated.
Rescue workers are rushing to save as many people as they can before the winter storms approach flood-affected counties of West Virginia and Kentucky, where 3 to 6 inches of snow are predicted to fall.
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According to Beshear, over 4,000 customers are without power, and many more who do have it face the risk of having their equipment broken, which makes it unsafe to heat certain houses.
“If you cannot safely power your home by the middle of today, you need to be looking at a shelter option,” Beshear stated. “You need to make sure you’re safe.”
