WASHINGTON:
A winter storm swept across a large area of the United States on Sunday, bringing snow, ice, and freezing temperatures. Approximately 60 million people across over a dozen states, from Kansas to New Jersey, were under winter weather warnings and advisories.
The storm was advancing towards the mid-Atlantic, where Washington, D.C., was preparing for significant snowfall and severe cold on Monday. This coincided with the scheduled meeting of the US Congress to formally certify Republican Donald Trump’s election as president.
Despite the harsh conditions, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson assured Fox News on Sunday that lawmakers would proceed with their duties. However, the Office of Personnel Management announced that federal offices in the capital would remain closed.
Kansas and parts of northwestern Missouri were experiencing blizzard conditions, according to the National Weather Service. Snow and ice rendered roadways hazardous, prompting officials to advise against travel.
Interstate 70, a major highway in Kansas, was closed throughout Sunday due to the treacherous conditions. In Missouri, state police combed over 50 miles of a closed section of Interstate 29 to assist stranded motorists. By late Sunday afternoon, troopers had responded to nearly 600 stranded vehicles and 285 crashes, according to updates shared on X.
Snowfall totals ranging from six to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) were forecast for areas spanning southern Ohio to Washington. Anticipating the storm’s impact, hundreds of schools, including those in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Washington, and Philadelphia, preemptively announced closures for Monday.
Northern Kentucky and southern West Virginia faced freezing rain and sleet, resulting in “hazardous ice accumulations,” the weather service reported. Simultaneously, the storm’s rear brought severe thunderstorms with the potential to generate tornadoes in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
The storm disrupted air travel, with hundreds of flights cancelled, including over 275 each in Kansas City and St. Louis, as reported by FlightAware, an aviation tracking service. Governors in Kansas, Kentucky, Arkansas, West Virginia, and Virginia declared states of emergency in response to the severe weather.
Although the storm was expected to move offshore by Monday night, an arctic air mass would follow, bringing exceptionally low temperatures. Daytime temperatures on Monday and Tuesday were forecast to be 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit below average, stretching from the Great Plains to the East Coast, the National Weather Service warned.
