A winter storm system is expected to disrupt travel from Missouri through the Mid-Atlantic states, including flood-ravaged areas of Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia, on Wednesday and Thursday. Image Courtesy of AccuWeather
Feb. 18 (UPI) — An estimated 110 million people in the central, southern and eastern United States are in the path of a large winter storm system making its way across the United States.
Some areas are forecast to see between 6 and 12 inches of snowfall in the Central-South and parts of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states while freezing rain, sleet and hail could make travel treacherous in southern states, AccuWeather said Tuesday in a news release.
After that storm passes through, a second storm with bitterly cold arctic air is following behind the first storm system that will cause local temperatures to drop to between 15 and 30 degrees below average through Friday, according to AccuWeather.
“This February frenzy pattern of relentless winter storms will bring yet another round of snow and ice to the Plains, Midwest and mid-Atlantic,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said in a news release shared with UPI.
“Slippery and hazardous conditions could shut down highways, delay or cancel thousands of flights, close schools and disrupt business and supply chain operations,” Porter added.
He said the winter storm arrives on the heels of a stormy weekend that brought deadly flash flooding to parts of Kentucky and tornadoes and severe thunderstorm damage was reported across Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and Georgia.
Winter Storm Kingston is coming
The storm system is serious enough that The Weather Channel has named it Winter Storm Kingston and is enabling people to track its progress online.
The Weather Channel is forecasting light to moderates snow from the Central Plains to the Ozarks and freezing rain in parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas that will move across parts of Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia.
Winter storm warnings are in effect in all states from Kansas to the East Coast, including parts of Virginia and North Carolina, that are within the storm’s predicted path.
Winter weather advisories are in effect in the Central Plains and along the edges of the storm system as it generally moves across the central area of the nation.
Up to 7.1 inches of snow accumulation has been recorded in Hot Springs, S.D., and up to 7 inches in Hutchinson, Kan., through the late afternoon hours on Tuesday.
Snow is expected in the Appalachians and mid-Atlantic states with a potential for ice storms in North Carolina and snow in the Tennessee Valley on Wednesday.
Winter storm will disrupt flood recovery
The winter storm system will be especially disruptive in parts of Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia where deadly flash flooding and torrential rains pummeled those states over the weekend.
At least 15 died, including 12 in central and eastern Kentucky and two in Virginia. Another person is missing in West Virginia as of Tuesday morning, CNN reported.
Two more died from hypothermia in Jefferson County, Ky., Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said during a news conference Tuesday morning.
“That should tell all of us the weather conditions areas dangerous as that water is,” Beshear said.
The winter storms are expected to drop between 3 and 6 inches of snow on flood-ravaged areas of Kentucky and West Virginia, where rescue crews are scrambling to save as many people as possible before the storm hits those areas.
More than 4,000 customers are without power while many others with power run the risk of damaged equipment making it dangerous to heat some homes, Beshear said.
“If you cannot safely power your home by the middle of today, you need to be looking at a shelter option,” Beshear said. “You need to make sure you’re safe.”
The winter storms are expected to bring below-average temperatures to about three-fourths of the nation with some temperatures dropping to as much as 50 degrees below average during what is the coldest month of the year in most states.