Major US Winter Storm Affecting 110 Million People
Storm stretches from Texas to New England, bringing ice, snow, cold
The U.S National Weather Service says a massive winter storm is stretching more than 3,200 kilometers from southwestern Texas to the far northeastern state of Maine, bringing ice, snow and freezing temperatures and impacting more than 110 million people. Forecasters said the storm was bringing snow, sleet and freezing rain to Midwestern and Southern states, where temperatures were expected to be 20 to 40 degrees below average. Heavy snow was expected from the southern Rockies to northern New England, while forecasters said heavy ice buildup was likely from Texas to Pennsylvania. The online nationwide electric power monitoring group Poweroutage.US reported more than 115,000 people were without power in Tennessee, 70,000 in Texas and more than 24,000 in Arkansas, largely because of ice accumulation. The storm has impacted U.S. air travel nationwide. The air traffic monitoring website FlightAware.com reported 5,500 cancellations and 3,300 delays, with many concentrated in Texas. More than 1,100 flights departing from or scheduled to arrive at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport were canceled. The airport tweeted earlier that runways were being treated for snow and ice. More than 400 flights were canceled at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and more than 350 were canceled at Dallas Love Field. Thursday’s storm was hitting almost a year after a serious ice storm struck Texas, leaving more than 2.4 million people without power, some for days. More than 140 deaths were reported last year.