(AP) — A powerful winter storm that dumped heavy snow and glazed roads with ice across much of Texas and Oklahoma lumbered eastward into southern U.S. states Friday, prompting governors to declare states of emergency and shuttering schools across the region.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders mobilized the National Guard to help stranded motorists. School was canceled for millions of children across a wide tract of southern states from Texas to Georgia and as far east as South Carolina.
Some of the heaviest snowfall was expected Friday across the northern half of Arkansas and much of Tennessee, with totals in some parts of those states ranging from 6 to 9 inches (about 15 to 22 centimeters), according to the National Weather Service.
Farther south and east into Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain made travel treacherous.
The storm dumped as much as 7 inches (about 18 centimeters) in some spots in central Oklahoma and northern Texas before pushing into Arkansas.
Snow that began falling in metro Atlanta before dawn led to hundreds of flights being cancelled and hundreds more delayed at Atlanta’s airport, according to flight tracking software FlightAware. With radar showing much of the heaviest precipitation in Georgia concentrated in a band near Atlanta’s airport, controllers declared a ground stop before 8 a.m., meaning no planes could land or take off. Atlanta, a major hub for Delta Air Lines, is the world’s busiest airport. Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency for Georgia.
Other airports with significant delays and cancellations included those in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dallas-Fort Worth and Nashville.
The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole, but it sometimes ventures south into the U.S., Europe and Asia. Some experts say such events are happening more frequently, paradoxically, because of a warming world.
The cold snap coincided with rare January wildfires tearing through the Los Angeles area.
Snow, sleet hammers Texas, Oklahoma
Paul Kirkwood, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said the storm that swept through the Dallas area will create a “swath of snow” impacting parts of Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urged residents to avoid driving if possible. Roads could be dangerous as 75,000 fans were expected Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington for the college football championship semifinal between Texas and Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
Southern discomfort
As much as 8 inches (about 20 centimeters) of snow could fall in parts of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia through Saturday, the weather service said. Snow and ice were likely to accumulate across metro Atlanta on Friday, making roadways treacherous and possibly causing power outages.
Public school systems across metro Atlanta and north Georgia called off in-person classes for Friday, with more than 1 million students getting a snow day or being told to stay at home to learn online.
After a disastrous snowstorm in 2014 that left thousands of Atlanta-area workers and schoolchildren stranded overnight away from home, officials in Georgia were quick to cancel in-person classes and close offices Friday. More than 1 million public school students across northern Georgia were told to stay home.
Many schools canceled classes Friday in Alabama’s northern half, where state roads were largely covered in snow or ice and some were already impassible, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Friday morning.
Tennessee also faced a state of emergency. Heavy, wet snow has been steadily falling since late Thursday in Memphis, where the state’s largest school district, Memphis-Shelby County Schools with more than 100,000 students, closed all schools Friday. Tours at Graceland, Elvis Presley’s former home-turned-museum, were canceled Friday, a spokeswoman said.
With up to 8 inches (20.3 centimeters) of snow forecast in Memphis, officials opened two 24-hour warming centers to shelter people from the cold.
The Carolinas prepare
Parts of South Carolina prepared for the first wintry weather in three years. The state Department of Transportation dusted off its brine and salt supply and began treating interstates and other major highways from Columbia north on Thursday. School systems in those areas either will close early or all day Friday or hold online learning days.
Gov. Josh Stein declared a state of emergency for North Carolina. The approaching storm prompted the cancellation of a public outdoor inauguration ceremony for Stein and other statewide elected officials in Raleigh on Saturday.
A boil-water order for Virginia’s capital
Richmond, Virginia, was under a boil-water advisory as officials worked to restore the water reservoir system, which was shut down Monday after a storm caused a power outage, Mayor Danny Avula said.
The city of more than 200,000 was distributing bottled water at 11 sites and delivering it to older residents and others unable to get to those locations, officials said.
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