Since the beginning of January, the US has been hit with a winter storm ranging from the Midwest states such as Nebraska or Iowa to more Southern states such as Kentucky and Tennessee. This storm has brought on snow that has reached anywhere from 4-8 inches and temperatures of 25-35 degrees below average.
An article written at NBC News by Marlene Lenthang and Kathryn Prociv talks about how the winter storm, or two winter storms, have put 29 million people under alert for freezing conditions to come. In the article, it discusses how the previous weather was the beginning. Two more storms are coming that might bring snow, freezing rain, and arctic cold this week. It says how there are more than 96 million Americans from coast to coast who received winter watches, warnings and advisories and how 26 million Americans ranging from Missouri to West Virginia were sent advisories about the weather, which warn about light snow, travel hazards and slick roads. Although these warnings and watches were sent coast to coast, the main places of worry are the Central Plains, the Midwest, the Ohio Valley, and the mid-Atlantic. The first storm was said to take shape over the central Plains, with rains and light icing across states like Arkansas and Oklahoma and then it was said to make its way towards states like Kentucky and Maryland on Tuesday, February 11th, with moderate levels of snow. The mid-Atlantic was said to get the most snow total, with anywhere from 3 to 6 inches and 8 inches can’t be ruled out. Places like D.C. and Baltimore are forecast to get 4 to 6 inches of snow, whereas Philadelphia could get 2 to 3 inches. The southern side of the storm is said to bring on the possibility of heavy rains and has predicted about 1 to 3 extra inches of rain. Cities like Shreveport, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Asheville, North Carolina have all been given a warning about possible floods due to the heavy rains.
Another article written at NBC by Patrick Smith, Doha Madani and Phil Helsel talks more about the extreme cold and the travel warnings that have been sent out all over the country. In cities like New York City or Washington D.C, people without shelter have been advised to stay somewhere else while the severe weather alerts continue to come in. On Tuesday, February 11th, more than 5 inches of snow had fallen at the US Capitol and by 6:30 p.m a snow emergency was issued. In some states in the central Plains, such as Kansas, up to 10 inches of snow is possible, with large amounts expected to be along the North of Interstate 70. In Kansas City, Missouri, it was forecast that they might get anywhere from 3 to 7 inches of snow on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning. In the mid-Atlantic states, snow was already falling by Tuesday afternoon. In Charlottesville, Virginia, it snowed around 4 ½ inches all before 5 that night and it snowed 8 inches in Augusta County. In some parts of Appalachia, it’s said that freezing rain was possible. Although the weather is bad on the East Coast, it isn’t being spared for the West Coast. In Utah, there have been stark warnings about avalanches, which have taken the lives of four people this year. Drew Hardesty of the Utah Avalanche Center told NBC affiliate KSL of Salt Lake City that a skier triggered a 200 foot wide avalanche Monday on Mount Superior and that thankfully no one was reported missing or hurt. “It’s been a very dangerous year. As of Saturday, that was our fourth avalanche fatality this year,” Hardesty said. “We average just a little over two. It’s been a very dangerous and unstable snowpack really since Thanksgiving.”
In one last article, written by Emily Mae Czachor at CBS News, it talks about where the storms were going and provides images of maps. In the first image it provides, it shows the East coast and South getting most of the snow and rain and cities like New York City, Washington, D.C and Cincinnati getting snow and cities like Raleigh, Nashville and Atlanta getting most of the rain. In the second image, it shows the 2nd storm and the cities it affects. Some of the cities that are affected by snow in this image are Chicago, Kansas City and Des Moines with parts of Pennsylvania being affected by freezing rain. Some of the cities that are affected by rain are Cleveland, Cincinnati, Nashville, Atlanta, Raleigh, and Washington, D.C. The last image the article provides shows the winter weather alerts and where they occurred. In cities such as Detroit, Chicago and Witicha, they received winter storm watches. In cities like Kansas City, Washington D.C, Roanoke, and Louisville, they received blizzard warnings. Lastly, in cities like Denver, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Des Moines, and Philadelphia, they received winter advisories.
