‘Significant icing’ and treacherous travel conditions slam the Southeast
(CNN)A brutal winter storm walloping much of the Southeast has brought a trio of rare sights: freezing rain, snow and ice. And the Northeast is up next.
Winter weather alerts Sunday stretch over 1,400 miles from Mississippi to Maine — covering as many as 80 million people, CNN meteorologists said.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued an ice storm warning for parts of South Carolina from Sunday through early Monday, with temperatures likely to remain below freezing until the start of next week.
“Significant amounts of ice accumulations will make travel dangerous or impossible,” the NWS office in Greenville said Sunday. “Travel is strongly discouraged.”
In North Carolina, more than 41,000 homes and businesses lost power due to ice and wind, Gov. Roy Cooper said.
“North Carolina is now feeling the effects of a winter storm that will continue to move through the state today,” Cooper said Sunday.
“As much as eight to 12 inches of snow has fallen in some counties, and significant icing is causing trouble in the central part of the state,” Cooper said. “Conditions vary across North Carolina and are dangerous in many areas.”
At least 25 North Carolina counties have declared a state of emergency, and Cooper said some counties are prepared to open shelters to house those who do not have power or heat.
Road conditions are “treacherous” across North Carolina, state transportation secretary Eric Boyette said. At least 200 collisions have been reported, and crews are working “around the clock” to clean roads,” he said.
The NWS warned that ice accumulations will become very dangerous along and east of I-85 including Spartanburg, South Carolina, all the way up to Salisbury, North Carolina. This includes the entire metro Charlotte area.
Charlotte could get up to a foot of snow in the foothills and up to a half-inch of ice, forecasters said. Raleigh is expected to get up to 2 inches of snow and possibly a quarter-inch of ice.
Freezing roads in northern Georgia have led to perilous conditions, the National Weather Service in Atlanta said.
“We are getting reports of numerous accidents across north GA from the ATL metro east,” the agency said in a Twitter post. Please, please, take it easy out there. Roads are beginning to freeze up as very cold air continues to filter in.”
Snowfall rates could top one inch per hour from northeast Georgia into the western Carolinas and far eastern Tennessee, the Storm Prediction Center said. Heavy snow is also possible in western Virginia.
The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast are under the gun
Forecasters say the storm will move up the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions on Sunday and Monday.
“The highest snowfall totals are expected along the spine of the Appalachians as well as across the lower Great Lakes,” the National Weather Service said Sunday.
From the Mid-Atlantic through New England, “precipitation is forecast to begin as snow before changing over to ice/sleet and eventually rain with the approach of the storm center,” the NWS said.
Some snow will fall in major metro areas, but a change to rain will hold down the accumulations. Washington could get 2-4 inches, while Philadelphia could get 1-2 inches. New York and Boston are expected to get about an inch each.
But heavier snow is expected elsewhere.
“As is common with this storm track, the Shenandoah Valley back toward the Alleghenies will be the likely winners in terms of highest snowfall totals,” NWS Baltimore said Saturday.
“7 to 10 inches is possible, but over a foot is not out of the question where heavier bands form.”
Snowfall intensity in the region may be heavy enough to evade significant icing, but NWS Baltimore warned untreated surfaces could still lead to dangerous travel conditions where ice accumulates.
The majority of accumulating snowfall will occur Sunday afternoon through Monday morning.
Interior cities such as Charleston, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Syracuse and Burlington, Vermont, will see the heaviest snow.
Coastal flooding also expected
Alongside the snowfall potential, strong winds from the east associated with the storm system could cause major coastal flooding of up to 3 feet above ground in some areas along the Northeast coast during high tide.
Parts of New York City, Long Island and some areas of Connecticut are under coastal flood warnings, forecasters said.
The timing of winds shifting from the east to the south will largely determine the severity of flooding, with moderate flooding potential if winds shift prior to high tide.
“Widespread moderate to locally major flooding of vulnerable areas is possible near the waterfront and shoreline, including roads, parking lots, parks, lawns, and homes and businesses with basements near the waterfront,” the NWS in New York said Saturday.
Inundation could cause road closures and structural damage along the Atlantic coastline.
CNN’s Allison Chinchar, Chad Myers, Dave Hennen, Monica Garrett, Haley Brink and Claudia Dominguez contributed to this report.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/16/weather/winter-storm-ice-snow-sunday/index.html
