Jan. 9 (UPI) — Winter Storm Cora is bearing down on the southern United States on Thursday evening, bringing a brutal blast of frigid winter air with snow, ice and extreme temperatures, which is cutting a 1,400 mile long swath of potentially dangerous weather from Texas to the Carolinas.
Officials have declared states of emergency in Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia and North Carolina. Thirty-seven counties in Oklahoma and Alabama have emergency declarations in place, some imposed ahead of the storm as they brace for the impacts of the severe weather.
Snow and ice will continue to accumulate in Texas and Oklahoma and from Virginia to the Carolinas, forecasters predicted.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein issued a statewide state of emergency Thursday night as Charlotte and the rest of the state prepare for snow, sleet and ice from the approaching storm.
“This storm will likely bring significant impacts from snow, sleet and freezing rain,” Stein said in a statement. “North Carolinians should pay close attention to their local weather forecast and make sure they are prepared with what they need at home before Friday afternoon.”
Residents of Atlanta are bracing for a rare snowstorm expected on Friday. The storm should to be less severe than originally forecast, but sleet, freezing drizzle and a quarter inch of ice could combine to make travel treacherous, according to the National Weather Service.
Middle Tennessee is also bracing for frigid winter weather, with forecasters predicting as much as 8 inches of snow in and around Nashville.
Residents of the northern suburbs of Dallas-Ft. Worth have already seen as much as 5 inches of snow and 1 1/2 inches have officially fallen at Dallas-Ft. Worth/DFW Airport as of Thursday afternoon. They’re expecting more Thursday night into Friday.
“We’ve got some cabin fever and the kids are eager to get out and get some food and see some friends,” Roy McClung, who lives with his family in the Dallas suburb of Flower Mound, told UPI in a phone interview.
“This isn’t common,” he continued. “It’s been a few years since we’ve had a big snow. I haven’t left the house because of the roads.
“We don’t have the infrastructure to treat them and Texans don’t know how to drive in the snow,” he added. “The schools are closed so the kids played football in the front yard Buffalo Bills style.”
Conditions were more serious in 2021 when a crippling winter storm claimed the lives of 200 people after the Texas power grid failed amid a prolonged deep freeze. The state said it has since made improvements to the electricity infrastructure to keep failures from happening again.
Residents of Lexington, Ky., are still digging themselves out from a recent storm that dumped more than 8 inches of snow in the area along with a half inch of ice. Meanwhile, Cora is bearing down, threatening to batter the town with more wintery conditions. That will hamper crews’ efforts to clear roads and bridges.
“Generally, we are still working on the heavily traveled roads. We do get into the neighborhoods to address hazardous stop sign approaches that have been reported,” said Susan Straub, a spokeswoman for the city of Lexington. “We will also focus on school bus routes.”
Like most cities, Lexington dictates that snow is removed from larger, more arterial roadways and emergency routes first, then smaller side streets and neighborhood roads as time, resources and weather permit.
The National Weather Service issues a winter storm warning when at least six inches of snow are expected in a 12-hour period, or at least 8 inches of snow in 24 hours are expected.
States have been preparing for Cora since the middle of the week.