First main US winter storm of 12 months hammers Mid-Atlantic states

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The primary main winter storm of the brand new 12 months barreled into the U.S. mid-Atlantic states on Monday, closing down federal places of work and public colleges in Washington, D.C., after dumping a foot of snow in components of the Ohio Valley and Central Plains.

Greater than 5 inches (12.7 cm) had fallen within the nation’s capital by noon on Monday, in accordance with the U.S. Nationwide Climate Service, with as much as 12 inches in some surrounding areas of Maryland and Virginia. The snow was forecast to proceed earlier than the system pushes out to sea on Monday night.

Extreme journey disruptions have been anticipated throughout the storm’s path, and officers urged drivers to remain off the roads if potential. Governors in a number of states, together with Kansas, Kentucky, Arkansas, West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland, have declared states of emergency. 

Within the wake of the storm, dangerously frigid Arctic air was filling the void, bringing freezing rain and icy circumstances to a swath of the nation stretching from Illinois to the Atlantic coast. The unusually chilly temperatures are anticipated to linger for the remainder of the week.

The Central Plains, the place the storm dumped heavy snow over the weekend, have been already in a deep freeze. Components of Kansas skilled bitter chilly wind chills, with values from 5 to virtually 25 levels Fahrenheit beneath zero (minus 15 to 32 levels Celsius) in a single day. The chilly air will persist, with daytime highs solely within the mid teenagers to decrease 20s.

The airport in Kansas Metropolis recorded 11 inches (28 cm) of snowfall, the best for any storm in additional than 30 years, the Nationwide Climate Service mentioned. The Missouri State Police mentioned it had responded on Sunday to greater than 1,000 stranded motorists and 356 crashes, together with one fatality.

In Washington, even because the storm struck, Congress met to formally certify Republican Donald Trump’s election as president. However federal places of work within the nation’s capital have been closed. 

Within the metropolis’s Meridian Hill Park, a whole bunch gathered for a large snowball battle, organized by the so-called Washington DC Snowball Combat Affiliation. The combatants – many carrying ski goggles for cover – fired volleys of frozen projectiles, as one canine tried to catch the ammunition in its mouth.

“I didn’t come right here to make pals!” Jack Pitsor, who lives throughout the road from the park, shouted with amusing earlier than launching a snowball towards enemy traces.

Faculty districts in quite a few states shut down on Monday as a result of storm, together with public colleges in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Washington and Philadelphia.

The storm additionally left greater than 330,000 properties and companies within the central and southern U.S. with out energy on Monday, information from PowerOutage.us confirmed.

As of 1:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT), practically 1,900 flights inside, into and out of the US had been canceled, in accordance with the FlightAware.com monitoring service. Amtrak canceled dozens of trains on the busy Northeast Hall line between Boston and Washington.

The three airports serving the D.C. space – Reagan Nationwide, Baltimore/Washington Worldwide and Dulles – have been all open, with crews working to clear airfields of snow, however have been seeing many flights delayed or canceled.

Virginia State Police responded to 300 automobile crashes between midnight and 11 a.m., whereas the Maryland State Police acquired 123 crash experiences between 1 a.m. and 11 a.m., spokespeople for the 2 businesses mentioned. One man died in southeast Virginia after dropping management of his pickup truck round midnight, with police citing each alcohol and the climate as components, native media reported.