Large winter storm prompts travel cancellations and emergency warnings across the US

Much of the United States braced for an intense winter storm this weekend, with government officials urging people to stay home across nearly half the nation and airlines canceling thousands of flights. Forecasters said the storm, which started in the Rockies and is moving east, is expected to reach New York, Washington and other major East Coast cities by Sunday.

Officials warned the dangerous mix of freezing rain, heavy snow and extreme cold could halt transit, knock out parts of the power grid and leave millions stuck inside for days. Caitlin Dirks, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Memphis, described the forecast ice totals as “historic.” The New York Times coverage noted shortages of rock salt in cities including New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and that power providers warned of long outages.

The National Weather Service warned of “catastrophic ice accumulation” south of the primary snow band. Ken Graham, the NWS director, said, “This is a dangerous storm,” and the outlet reported the system could affect nearly 200 million people; Flight Aware said more than 9,000 weekend flights were canceled.

Forecasters said the storm’s evolution remains largely unchanged as it crawls east and advised checking local maps for the “most likely scenario” of snowfall while noting high-end and low-end outliers.

Key Topics

World, National Weather Service, New York, Washington, Rock Salt, Power Grid