A prolonged ice storm that affects parts in the Southern Plains and mid-South is scheduled to be in place until Wednesday, and bring the risk of power failures as well as tree damage and hazardous roads to various states.
The bigger picture: Around 3.3 million Americans were in the midst of an ice storm advisory on Tuesday morning, and 16.5 million being under warnings for winter storms in accordance with the National Weather Service. There were many more under different winter weather warnings, for example, advisories for wind chills.
The state of play: “A glancing blow of cold air from the Arctic coupled with an increase in humidity is setting the stage for a massive and hazardous ice storm,” the National Weather Service advised in an alert on its website.
“The most likely route of icing, accompanied by a mixture of sleet is expected to run from west-central Texas up to in the Tennessee as well as the Lower Ohio Valleys. The ice accretion rate from Texas to Mid South may approach a half-inch or more by Wednesday, causing delays in power and travel problems.”
Zoom in: The frigid air from the Upper Midwest and Great Plains is heading South and is battling moisture along a frontal border that is leading to this dangerous section of freezing precipitation.
The NOAA Weather Prediction Center forecast several days of snow that include light snow and freezing rain from Monday through Wednesday. The accumulation of ice could be more than 1/4 inch The prediction center stated.
The frozen snow “will result in trees being damaged and power outages in the most affected areas,” it added.
The severe weather has already caused hundreds of delays in flights and cancellations by the afternoon of Monday.
Ice freeze and winter storms U.S.
Winter storms and ice warnings about storms were in place across a variety of states, from Texas to Arkansas up to Kentucky as per the National Weather Service.
“Travel isn’t always possible in some regions,” the NWS said.
Sleet and freezing rain have been falling throughout Texas this morning. A large portion of the Dallas-Fort worth metropolitan area is currently subject to a winter-related storm watch up to Wednesday’s early morning.
Moderate to heavy snow which could be with thunder, is likely in both Arkansas as well as Oklahoma According to NWS’ Tulsa office.
Frosty rain and sleet are predicted in Kentucky as well, which will make “travel dangerous” until Tuesday morning, according to the NWS’ Paducah, Kentucky office.
A cold mix of precipitation is anticipated across 15 states from Monday through Wednesday According to NWS’s Weather Prediction Center.
More than a quarter inch of accumulation of ice is predicted in states like Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee the NWS announced.
Memphis has been placed under an ice-storm warning until noon Wednesday, with “significant Icing to be expected” and the ice accumulations expected to exceed one-quarter to one-half inch in accordance with the NWS Memphis office.
In the western part of Kentucky In western Kentucky, anywhere from one to two-tenths of an inch of accumulation of ice is anticipated as per the NWS’ Paducah office.
The temperatures could reach 20-30 degrees below average across The Great Plains and Intermountain West in the beginning of the week also, NOAA said. It is possible that the Dakotas as well as Minnesota could have temperatures that drop to minus-40 degrees.
Temperatures were in single digits on Monday after lunch across South Dakota cities Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Aberdeen.
Minneapolis as well as St. Paul, Minnesota was arid with temperatures in the single digits, too.
Airline delays and cancellations
Information: As of nine p.m. the previous Monday More than 5,100 flights in and out from the United States were delayed, with about 1,100 flights cancelled in accordance with data from FlightAware.
The majority of the flights came coming from Southwest Airlines and were out of Dallas Fort Worth International along with Dallas Love Field airports.
Southwest Airlines said travelers with flights that fly to, from or through certain cities in Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Oklahoma can change flights at no additional cost. This is applicable to flights departing from January. 30 through Feb. 1.
American Airlines also issued a waiver to DFW airport, which is applicable to flights beginning Jan. 29 through February. 2.
Axios’ Andrew Freedman contributed to this article.
