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A huge, dayslong winter storm is trekking across the U.S. threatening to bring snow, sleet, ice, bone-chilling temperatures and extensive power outages.
DALLAS — Flight cancellations, power outages and states of emergency across large parts of the U.S. marked the beginning of a huge, dayslong winter storm threatening to bring snow, sleet, ice, bone-chilling temperatures to about half the population this weekend.
Forecasters warned that catastrophic damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival that of a hurricane.
As of 5 p.m. ET, more than 4,000 flights were canceled Saturday, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. More than 9,000 flights were called off for Sunday.
More than 180 million people were under watches or warnings for ice and snow, and more than 210 million were under cold weather advisories or warnings. In many places those overlapped.
At least 16 states have declared a state of emergency including Delaware, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, New York, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey and Kansas and then also Washington, DC.
The governors in Texas and Pennsylvania also signed disaster declarations to activate resources for residents.
Utility companies braced for power outages because ice-coated trees and power lines can keep falling long after a storm has passed.
“It’s going to be a big storm,” Maricela Resendiz said as she picked up chicken, eggs and pizzas at a Dallas store to get her, her 5-year-old son and her boyfriend through the weekend. Her plans: “Staying in, just being out of the way.”
Power outages hit Louisiana and Texas
Forecasters say the damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival that of a hurricane.
Around 120,000 power outages were reported in the path of the winter storm Saturday, including about 50,000 each in Texas and Louisiana, according to poweroutage.us.
In Shelby County, Texas, near the Louisiana border, ice weighed down on pine trees and caused branches to snap, downing power lines. About a third of the county’s 16,000 residents lost power on Saturday.
“We have hundreds of trees down and a lot of limbs in the road,” Shelby County Commissioner Stevie Smith said from his pickup truck. “I’ve got my crew out clearing roads as fast as we can. It’s a lot to deal with right now.”
There were reports of vehicles hitting fallen trees and trees falling onto houses in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, said Mark Pierce, a spokesperson for the local sheriff’s office.
“We got limbs that are dragging the ground,” Pierce said. “These trees are just completely saturated with ice.”
Early Saturday morning, freezing rain became become the dominant precipitation over Collin, Denton, Dallas and Tarrant counties in Texas. As of Saturday afternoon, more than 16,000 people were without power in north Texas. More than 45,000 outages were being reported for the entire state with thousands more in Louisiana and Arkansas.
Compounding the issues of ice on powerlines will be the wind gusts. Not only can the winds snap tree branches and topple trees, they could also cause powerlines to touch or fall with the weight of the ice.
Roadways in north Texas began getting snow covered Saturday morning as the storm settled in over the area.
As of Saturday afternoon, portions of Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas had already picked up as much as 8 inches of snow.
The northernmost part of Arkansas could see upwards of a foot or more of snowfall, while the middle part of Arkansas is expected to see anywhere from 2 to 4 inches of sleet. The southern portions of the state could see 0.75-inches of ice.
In Huntsville, Alabama, people woke up Saturday morning to snow- and ice-covered roads.
After sliding into the South, the storm was expected to move into the Northeast, dumping about a foot of snow from Washington through New York and Boston, the National Weather Service predicted.
The arctic cold is already settling into that region. A wind chill of 44 below registered in Rangeley, Maine, on Saturday morning.
Arctic air was the first piece to fall in place
Frigid air that spilled down from Canada prompted the cancellations of classes at schools throughout the Midwest. Wind chills as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit meant that frostbite could set in within 10 minutes, making it too dangerous to walk to school or wait for the bus.
In Bismarck, North Dakota, where the wind chill was minus 41, Colin Cross cleaned out an empty unit for the apartment complex where he works.
“I’ve been here awhile, and my brain stopped working,” said Cross, bundled up in long johns, two long-sleeve shirts, a jacket, hat, hood, gloves and boots.
Despite the bitter cold, a protest over an immigration crackdown went on as planned in Minnesota, with thousands demonstrating in downtown Minneapolis.
In Oklahoma, Department of Transportation workers treated roads with salt brine, the Highway Patrol canceled troopers’ days off and National Guard units were activated to help stranded drivers.
The federal government put nearly 30 search and rescue teams on standby. Officials had more than 7 million meals, 600,000 blankets and 300 generators placed throughout the area the storm was expected to cross, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
President Donald Trump had approved emergency declarations for at least a dozen states by Saturday with more expected to come. The Federal Emergency Management Agency pre-positioned commodities, staff and search and rescue teams in numerous states, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.
“We just ask that everyone would be smart – stay home if possible,” Noem said.
The U.S. Postal Service also issued a service alert to notify the public about expected disruptions to processing and delivery for mail and packages. The agency directed people to a website for tracking updates.
Ice could take down power lines, and pipes could freeze
After the storm passes, it will take a while to thaw out. Ice can add hundreds of pounds to power lines and branches and make them more susceptible to snapping, especially if it’s windy.
In at least 11 Southern states from Texas to Virginia, a majority of homes are heated by electricity, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
A severe cold snap five years ago took down much of the power grid in Texas, leaving millions without power for days and resulting in hundreds of deaths. Gov. Greg Abbott vowed that will not happen again, and utility companies were bringing in thousands of employees to help keep the lights on.
In Atlanta, where temperatures could dip to 10 degrees and stay below freezing for 36 hours, M. Cary & Daughters Plumbing co-owner Melissa Cary ordered all the pipe and repair supplies she could get. She predicted that her daily calls could go from about 40 to several hundred.
“We’re out there; we can’t feel our fingers, our toes; we’re soaking wet,” Cary said. “I keep the hot chocolate and soup coming.”
Northeast braces for possibly heaviest snow in years
Boston declared a cold emergency through the weekend, and Connecticut was working with neighboring New York and Massachusetts in case travel restrictions are needed on major highways.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont urged people to go grocery shopping now and “stay home on Sunday.”
Philadelphia announced schools would be closed Monday. Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. told students, “It’s also appropriate to have one or two very safe snowball fights.”
Hunkering down
Whittni Slater, who has been sleeping in his car in Detroit, got scared when he saw the weather forecast and searched for a place to stay. On Thursday night, he slept on one 80 cots set up in a gymnasium at the Pope Francis Center.
“It was very welcoming, very warm,” Slater said the next day.
But in Charleston, West Virginia, visitors and vendors at the three-day Hunting and Fishing Show were not too worried. Ron Blymire was focused on selling South Africa safari trips and not on navigating the roads back home to Columbus, Ohio.
“I have a four-wheel-drive truck, and as long as I’m patient and take my time, I’m not concerned about getting stranded or stuck or anything like that,” he said.
Some universities in the South canceled classes for Monday, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Mississippi’s main campus in Oxford.
At the University of Georgia, in Athens, sophomore Eden England stayed on campus to ride things out with friends, even as the school encouraged students to leave dorms and go home because of concerns about losing power.
“I’d rather be with my friends,” England said, “kind of struggling together if anything happens.”
Impact on sporting events
An NBA game, an NHL contest and dozens of college basketball games across a wide swath of the country have been reshuffled because of the winter storm.
In the NBA, the start time of the Washington Wizards’ game at the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday was moved to noon.
The NHL said Saturday’s game in Nashville between the Predators and the Utah Mammoth would start two hours earlier.
The Atlantic Coast Conference moved up the start times for three men’s basketball games on Saturday: Wake Forest at Duke, North Carolina at Virginia, and Virginia Tech at Louisville. On the women’s side, Wake Forest’s home game against Virginia Tech and Virginia’s home game against N.C. State were shifted from Sunday to Saturday, while North Carolina moved up its Sunday game against Syracuse to a noon EST start.
In the Big 12, the Oklahoma State men’s game against No. 9 Iowa State was moved up by one hour on Saturday, while the LSU at Arkansas men’s matchup in the Southeastern Conference was pushed several hours earlier. On the women’s side, Arkansas’ home game against Texas was postponed to Feb. 19.
Megnien and Amy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers around the country contributed.
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