A fierce storm barreling 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 Center warned could bring “significant disruptions” to daily life and travel on Sunday and Monday.
The storm glazed roads in ice across Kansas on Saturday and then moved into Missouri. On Sunday, roadways in southern and central Illinois and Kentucky were blanketed in snow and ice.
Some 50 million people will be under winter weather advisories, watches and warnings over the course of the storm. The effects of the storm are expected to stretch more than 1,500 miles across a dozen states, from eastern Colorado to Maryland and Delaware.
The Kansas City International Airport closed on Sunday and nearly all flights were canceled because of ice accumulation, a spokeswoman for the airport said. About 275 flights were canceled at St. Louis Lambert International Airport on Sunday afternoon.
In Missouri, more than 30,000 customers were reported without power, and in Kentucky nearly 20,000 customers were without power, according to poweroutage.us, a website that tracks power failures.
Several businesses across the Midwest closed early on Sunday ahead of the storm, including some locations of Schnucks, a regional grocery chain.
Several states in the path of the weather system — including Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia and West Virginia — have declared states of emergency, and Maryland declared a state of preparedness. The declarations are 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 is hitting as Arctic air from Canada seeps into the United States.
As the storm system pushes offshore on Monday, “brutally cold” air will settle behind it, said Bob Oravec, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.
Heaviest snowfall in a decade expected in some spots
Nearly four million people across much of Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska were under a blizzard warning early Sunday that was scheduled to last until 3 a.m. on Monday. Some places were forecast to receive their heaviest snowfall in a decade.
Washington’s Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a snow emergency on Sunday that will be active through the end of the day on Tuesday as the district preps for the storm barreling east.
Forecasters warned of wind gusts in excess of 40 miles per hour and snowfall surpassing 15 inches. Blizzard warnings are issued when heavy snow and wind speeds of 35 m.p.h. 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 snowplow 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 plow, referring to the State Department of Transportation.
The Missouri Highway Patrol on Sunday reported 285 car crashes, with 27 people injured.
In northern Kansas, a 100-mile stretch of Interstate 70 was closed overnight, according to the 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.
“Last night was brutal,” said Chris Morris, vice president of Signature Landscape, which provides commercial plowing services. “All the highways had accidents everywhere and the worst is still to come in terms of snowfall.”
“It’s going to be the toughest storm that I’ve ever encountered and I’ve been doing this more than 20 years,” he added. “We’re basically getting a year’s worth of snow in 24 hours. This is going to be a record one for sure.”
By Sunday, with blizzard conditions across much of the Kansas City metro area, residents hunkered down as roads and sidewalks become impassable.
Cathy Maxwell, 71, was nursing a bruised hip and head after slipping on her porch while attempting to take her dog out.
“I just touched the brick steps and immediately my feet went out from under me,” Ms. Maxwell said. “The snow is blowing so hard, it just pelts you in the face. It is the worst snowstorm I’ve seen in years.”
The storm is 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 eight 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.
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 Weather Prediction Center. Some regions may see ice accumulations exceeding half an inch.
“That rain will freeze on contact and turn to glazing — that’s what sticks to the trees, power lines, roads, cars, car windows, everything,” said Rich Bann, a meteorologist with the Prediction Center.
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 four to nine inches of snow and Washington five to nine inches.
By Tuesday, the snow will have ended in the Mid-Atlantic. 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,” said Mr. Oravec of the Weather Prediction Center. From the eastern Rockies to the East Coast, temperatures will be about 10 to 12 degrees below the seasonal average.
Reporting was contributed by Sara Ruberg, Nazaneen Ghaffar, Yan Zhuang and Carey Gillam, who reported from Kansas City.
