Snow, ice blast US; winter storms forecasted nationwide

As snow and ice continued to wreak havoc throughout the U.S. into Saturday evening, a 3rd of the U.S. was bracing for wintry climate, together with subzero temperatures, energy outages and icy roads, forecasted to proceed via early subsequent week.

More than 100 million individuals have been below a winter climate advisory, the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center mentioned, whereas snow and ice blanketed the nation coast-to-coast Saturday. Much of Texas was in deep freeze, icy roads brought about pileups in Tennessee, and officers in some states warned residents to remain off the roads as a lot as potential.

“A very active weekend is ahead for winter weather as large parts of the U.S. experience concerns for extreme cold temperatures, heavy snow and ice,” the climate group said on Twitter. “Coast to coast from the Pacific Northwest to the Mid-Atlantic, there is an array of winter weather headlines in effect. Stay safe!”

Across eight states – together with Oregon, Nevada, Washington, Kentucky, North Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia – greater than 700,000 individuals have been with out energy Saturday night, in accordance with Poweroutage.us.

Ice storm warnings have been in impact for parts Oregon, Maryland and Virginia, the place accumulations might attain 1 / 4 to a half inch, the NWS mentioned.

“Power outages and tree damage are expected due to the ice. Travel could be nearly impossible. The combination of the icing forecast and the snow and ice already on trees will make for a very dangerous situation,” the NWS mentioned.

The outages within the Northwest might lengthen for some all through the weekend, mentioned Elizabeth Lattanner, a spokeswoman for PGE, one of many main electrical energy suppliers within the area.

Many ice-laden timber in Oregon snapped below the wintry weight, falling on energy strains and inflicting some transformers to blow out in showers of blue and orange sparks. By midday on Saturday, greater than 1,200 PGE energy strains have been down, Lattanner mentioned.

“The weather that set in yesterday and continued overnight has left extensive damage with hundreds of thousands of Oregonians without power,” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown wrote on Twitter, saying that she had declared a state of emergency throughout the Portland area within the Willamette Valley,

Las Vegas was coping with one other climate occasion Saturday afternoon: NWS issued a severe thunderstorm warning within the Clark County area, warning of potential wind gusts as much as 70 mph, pea sized hail and blowing mud. Multiple energy outages have been reported all through the area.

In Nashville, icy roads caused a traffic pile-up involving 21 vehicles and causing at least 12 minor injuries on Interstate 24 Saturday morning, in accordance with the Nashville Metro Police Department. Claudia Arakas, 22, was taking her cat to the vet when she slammed on the breaks, however her automotive didn’t cease.

“I didn’t have much control, but I took my foot off the gas and tried to do my best to steer. I can’t even tell you how I managed to get out,” Arakas mentioned. “I was watching cars crash in front of me, while also maneuvering – oh my gosh, it was insane.”

The Nashville Fire Department, which dispatched not less than 15 emergency automobiles to the pile-up, mentioned a number of motorists have been transported to native hospitals. Despite a tense scene that appeared life-threatening, authorities didn’t report any fatalities.

Brutal winter climate exhibits no indicators of letting up:Snow, ice, bitter cold to continue from coast to coast

The U.S. is enduring one of its busiest winter weather patterns “in decades,” forecasters mentioned Friday. A bitterly chilly arctic air mass draped throughout a lot of the nation is fueling winter storms nationwide. Heavy snow and ice blasted the Pacific Northwest earlier Saturday, and parts of the Plains, the South and the Mid-Atlantic are anticipated to see extra snow and freezing rain into early subsequent week.

A main winter storm is predicted to develop over the Southern Plains Sunday into Monday with a big space of snow, sleet, and freezing rain anticipated, the NWS mentioned. Texas and parts of the South could see record-shattering cold over the following few days. Saturday morning, components of Texas saw “thundersleet,” the NWS mentioned, warning that heavy freezing rain and sleet have been anticipated to build up.

According to Weather.com, the approaching storm will convey significantly worse climate situations than what was seen early Thursday morning in Texas, when at least six people were killed and 65 others hospitalized – together with entrance line well being care staff simply getting off their shifts – in a large chain-reaction crash that concerned greater than 100 automobiles on an icy interstate.

Some of the individuals injured within the crash have been well being care staff. One Fort Worth nurse, Rebecca Benson, crawled from her crushed automotive and walked as much as a mile in freezing climate to get to work to complete a shift, in accordance with native news outlets.

In Austin, Texas, first responders have confronted a whole lot extra emergency calls than normal in latest days, according to local KXAN-TV.

“Y’all, it is COLD!” the Austin Fire Department wrote on Twitter Friday. “The roads are wet and slippery, and let’s be honest ― we Texans aren’t all that great at driving under these conditions. So if you can stay home, please do so!”

The departments of transportation of Texas and Virginia issued related calls.

“Please please please stay home if possible. If you must drive, reduce your speed and increase your following distance,” the Texas Department of Transportation said on Twitter late Friday.