A truck is jackknifed as one other spins its wheels on a slushy offramp off Interstate 285 northeast of downtown Atlanta on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025.
AP Photo | Jeff Amy
A winter storm that dropped heavy snow and glazed roads all through the U.S. South was sustaining its icy grip on a lot of the area into the weekend.
Power outage numbers round Atlanta crept up Friday night time as meteorologists warned of accumulating freezing rain. More than 110,000 clients had been with out electrical energy, largely within the Atlanta space.
“As our crews anticipated based mostly on the forecast, extra freezing rain and falling bushes have brought on energy outages because the solar has gone down,” Georgia Power stated by way of social media.
“Conditions in a single day stay difficult with icy roads and winds, however so long as it’s protected — we will likely be working,” the utility stated.
Georgia transportation officers urged folks to remain off the roads till noon Saturday, and snow and ice was additionally forecast to proceed within the Carolinas, Virginia and the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys.
Earlier this week the storm introduced heavy snow and slicked roads throughout a lot of Texas and Oklahoma earlier than transferring east. Arkansas and North Carolina mobilized National Guard troops for duties corresponding to serving to stranded motorists, and governors in a number of states declared states of emergency.
School was canceled for thousands and thousands of kids from Texas to Georgia and as far east as South Carolina, giving them a uncommon snow day.
The storm piled up greater than a 12 months’s price of snowfall on some cities.
As a lot as a foot (about 31 centimeters) fell in elements of Arkansas, and there have been studies of almost 10 inches (about 25 centimeters) in Little Rock, which averages 3.8 inches (9.7 centimeters) a 12 months.
More than 7 inches (about 18 centimeters) fell at Memphis International Airport in Tennessee since late Thursday. The metropolis normally sees 2.7 inches (6.9 centimeters) a 12 months. City officers in Memphis had been additionally involved that moist roads would freeze in a single day.
The wintry mixture of sleet, snow and ice has made journey treacherous in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Sleet and snow that fell in South Carolina and North Carolina was altering to freezing rain.
For youngsters house from faculty Friday, the moist snow additionally packed into a reasonably good snowball.
In Atlanta, Mikayla Johnson, 12, was making snow angels and snow figures.
“My first thought was, ‘Wow!'” stated Mikayla, who was open air along with her father, Nate. “We have not had snow since I used to be, like, 4 — good snow, at the very least. So I used to be actually glad.”
The storm dumped as a lot as 7 inches (about 18 centimeters) in some spots in central Oklahoma and northern Texas.
Snow started falling in metro Atlanta earlier than daybreak Friday, resulting in a whole lot of flights being cancelled and a whole lot extra delayed on the world’s busiest airport, in keeping with flight monitoring software program FlightAware.
Four passengers had been injured after a Delta aircraft sure for Minneapolis aborted takeoff that morning, in keeping with the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. One passenger was hospitalized, whereas three folks had been handled on the scene for minor accidents.
The incident contributed to additional delays, though Delta stated it was unclear whether or not the climate had something to do with the flight aborting its takeoff. The airline stated there was a sign of an engine situation.
Other airports with vital delays and cancellations included these in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dallas-Fort Worth and Nashville, Tennessee.
The storm may proceed to have an effect on air site visitors, the Federal Aviation Administration stated Friday night time.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urged residents to keep away from driving if potential, at the same time as some 75,000 followers had been anticipated Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington for the school soccer championship semifinal between Texas and Ohio State.
The polar vortex of ultra-cold air normally spins across the North Pole, but it surely typically ventures south into the U.S., Europe and Asia. Some specialists say such occasions are taking place extra ceaselessly, paradoxically, due to a warming world.
The chilly snap coincided with uncommon January wildfires tearing by means of the Los Angeles space.
Southern discomfort
As a lot as 8 inches (about 20 centimeters) of snow was forecast in elements of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia by means of Saturday, the National Weather Service stated.
Officials urged drivers to provide plows house after a semitrailer hit a Tennessee Department of Transportation truck in Smith County.
Parts of South Carolina had been seeing their first wintry climate in three years. The state Department of Transportation handled interstates and different main highways from Columbia northward, however automobiles had been slipping off icy Interstate 95 south of the town.
A public outside inauguration ceremony Saturday in Raleigh, North Carolina, for Gov. Josh Stein and different elected officers was canceled. The storm’s trajectory overlapped with a lot of the western North Carolina space impacted by Hurricane Helene final 12 months.
In Richmond, Virginia. Mayor Danny Avula stated officers introduced in additional assets to watch the town’s water remedy facility, which suffered a multiday outage following a snowstorm earlier within the week, together with a brand new backup battery and extra water filters.
