Winter Storm Fern brings snow and ice across more than 2,000 miles of the US

Businessinsider reports that Winter Storm Fern struck the US this weekend, stretching over 2,000 miles from New Mexico to Maine and threatening nearly 180 million people from the Southwest to New England.

The National Weather Service said the storm caused widespread travel disruptions. Aviation analytics firm Cirium reported over 10,000 flight cancellations over the weekend and nearly 2,000 cancellations on Monday morning, with more than half of American Airlines flights and over 75% of JetBlue flights canceled on Sunday. Ice and sleet accompanied heavy snow: the National Service Prediction Center said parts of the country received over 0.5 inches of ice, ice-storm warnings remained in effect, and poweroutage.us tracked nearly a million customers without power by Sunday night.

Departments of transportation in several states, including New York and Texas, urged residents to avoid roadways through Monday and authorities encouraged many Americans to skip the morning commute. Cities canceled in-person classes for Monday — New York City cited "extreme cold" and moved to remote learning — while crews continued clearing snow and spreading salt and calcium chloride to improve road traction.

Key Topics

World, Winter Storm Fern, National Weather Service, Cirium, American Airlines, Jetblue