By Amy Graff

KANSAS – A fierce storm barrelling across the country toward the mid-Atlantic states pounded a vast area with a wintry mix of sleet, snow and freezing rain that the Weather Prediction Centre warned could bring “significant disruptions” to daily life and travel Sunday (5) and Monday (6).

The storm glazed roads in ice across Kansas on Saturday (4). The storm’s effects were expected to stretch more than 1,500 miles across a dozen states, from eastern Colorado to Maryland and Delaware.

Some 50 million people will be under winter weather advisories, watches and warnings over the course of the storm.

Power outages, downed trees and travel disruptions at airports and on roads were likely. In Kansas, up to 5,000 people were without power early Sunday.

In the most extreme situations, whiteouts fuelled by blizzards or blizzard conditions could make roads impassable and strand drivers, the National Weather Service said.

Several states in the path of the weather system — including Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri and Virginia — declared states of emergency, and Maryland declared a state of preparedness. The declarations were intended to improve the states’ responses to the storm through various means.

Gov. Eric Holcomb of Indiana planned to activate the National Guard to help with any highway rescues, said Jane Jankowski, his deputy chief of staff.

The storm was hitting as frigid air from Canada seeped into the United States.

As the storm system pushes offshore Monday, “brutally cold” air was expected to settle behind it, said Bob Oravec, a meteorologist with the prediction centre.

On Tuesday (7) morning, many places in the storm’s path could be faced with roads covered in snow and ice, including Washington, DC, where a procession was planned as part of former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral.

Heaviest snowfall in a decade expected in some spots

Nearly 4 million people across much of Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska were under a blizzard warning early Sunday that was scheduled to last until 3:00 a.m. Monday. Some places were forecast to receive their heaviest snowfall in a decade.

Forecasters warned of wind gusts in excess of 40 mph and snowfall surpassing 15 inches. Blizzard warnings are issued when heavy snow and wind speeds of 35 mph are forecast for three hours or more.

As a low-pressure system swept through Kansas and Missouri overnight, dozens of highway crashes were reported, including a snowplough that flipped on its side on an icy road. Officials warned that if drivers ventured onto the roads and became stuck, help could be hours away.

“MDOT crews and our Troopers are working around the clock, but even they too, are experiencing difficulty traversing the slick roadways,” the Missouri State Highway Patrol said on social media, with a photo of the overturned plough, referring to the state Department of Transportation.

In northern Kansas, a 100-mile stretch of Interstate 70 was closed overnight, according to authorities, and video taken of the interstate and posted to Facebook showed vehicles gliding across lanes in all directions, as if on an ice-skating rink.

The storm was forecast to bring snow to the mid-Atlantic

On Sunday, the system was pushing from the Central Plains and mid-Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley.

In an elongated area between northeast Missouri and the central Appalachian Mountains, heavy snow is expected with totals of 8 to 14 inches from Saturday into Sunday and Monday. Southern Illinois and Indiana are predicted to receive a few inches of sleet and freezing rain.

In Ohio, where the storm was expected to lurch into hilly areas in the southeast part of the state, thousands of miles of roads had been treated with salt by Saturday, said Matt Bruning, a spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Transportation.

The state expected to deploy more than 1,000 snowploughs at the height of the storm, he said.

To the south of the band of heavy snow, a stripe of freezing rain is predicted to fall from central Kansas into the central Appalachians through Monday, according to the prediction centre. Some regions may see ice accumulations exceeding half an inch.

“That rain will freeze on contact and turn to glaze — that’s what sticks to the trees, power lines, roads, cars, car windows, everything,” said Rich Bann, a meteorologist with the prediction centre.

After crossing the central Appalachian Mountains, most likely early Monday morning, the system will move into the mid-Atlantic.

Rain and thunderstorms are also expected to affect parts of the lower Mississippi Valley, from eastern Texas to Mississippi, throughout Sunday afternoon and evening. The prediction centre has issued a risk level of three — out of five — for severe thunderstorms in parts of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. The main concerns include damaging wind gusts, tornadoes and hail.

By daybreak Monday, snow will be falling across a large part of the mid-Atlantic region, including Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, and it is expected to continue through the day.

Baltimore is forecast to get 4 to 9 inches of snow and Washington 5 to 9 inches.

If the system shifts slightly north or south, the totals could go up or down “quite significantly in either direction,” said Kevin Rodriguez, a forecaster with the weather service.

By Tuesday, the snow will have ended in the mid-Atlantic, although some light snow may linger over the central Appalachians. Cold, gusty weather is forecast through the week, with afternoon highs in the 30s in the capital, and overnight lows in the 20s.

“It’s going to be pretty cold for a good part of the week,” Oravec said. From the eastern Rockies to the East Coast, temperatures will be about 10 to 12 degrees below the seasonal average.

-New York Times