A strong winter storm brought heavy snows to parts of the Southeast. On Sunday, snow was expected to accumulate to about a foot in Northeastern areas. Damageful ice could be found in the Carolinas, Mid-Atlantic States, making travel dangerous and power outages possible.
Some governors in the South declared states of emergency Friday. Areas such as central Mississippi had received six inches of snow while parts of Tennessee and Alabama were treated with a mix of snow and freezing rain. National Weather Service said.
“This storm is going to be pretty significant in terms of generating travel impacts, outages and things of that nature,” said Rich Otto, a meteorologist with the Weather Service.
According to PowerOutage.us which aggregates data from all Utilities across the United States, Georgia had nearly 90,000. South Carolina had almost 95,000 customers without power and North Carolina had 35,000.
On Sunday, more than a quarter inch of ice was expected in the Piedmont region of North and South Carolina.
Forecasters predicted that the storm system could bring more snow to certain areas, including the Appalachians and parts of upstate New York. Mr. Otto stated that parts of the upper Midwest, and northwest Pennsylvania could see snow up to two feet high.
Mr. Otto stated that the storm will move toward the Northeast Sunday afternoon. It will remain inland, which means that cities closer to the coast, such as Boston and Washington, will receive the most heavy rain.
He said that significant flooding was possible in some parts of eastern Long Island and coastal New England Sunday night and Monday morning.
Ben Gelber, a meteorologist at WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio, said on Saturday that “more people will be impacted by this storm than any winter storm we’ve had this season.”
Mr. Otto stated that possible ice accumulations will be more severe in the Carolinas. The North Carolina Department of Transportation urged motorists to avoid the roads on Sunday. posting picturesMany streets are covered in snow and other ice.
Meteorologists stated that the majority of freezing precipitation in the South would be felt in northeastern Georgia and the Carolinas on Sunday.
According to the Associated Press, crews from Mississippi were busy clearing snow from the roads on Sunday morning. Mississippi Department of Transportation.
Friday, Gov. Ralph S. Northam, Governor of Virginia, was elected Friday. Brian Kemp of Georgia and Governor. Roy Cooper of North Carolina declared all three states of emergency.
“This upcoming weather system is likely to include additional downed trees, more electrical outages and significant impacts on travel conditions,” Mr. Northam said in his declaration, issued on his last full day in office. Virginia transportation officials were caught off-guard by a storm that left hundreds of drivers stranded on Interstate 95 south in Washington.
Mr. Northam warned that wind gusts could reach up to 70 miles per hours along the coast from the storm.
Source: NY Times
