A wintry mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain continued to affect the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic regions on Wednesday, while California braced for a potentially severe storm that could lead to widespread flooding in areas recently impacted by wildfires.
Significant snowfall, with accumulations nearing 14 inches (25 centimeters), was anticipated in parts of Virginia and West Virginia, according to the National Weather Service. Ice accumulation could reach over a third of an inch (8.4 millimeters) in Stanleytown, Virginia, and a quarter of an inch (6.3 millimeters) in Glendale Springs, North Carolina.
In California, an atmospheric river, a concentrated plume of moisture capable of transporting significant amounts of water vapor from the tropics northward, was projected to arrive late Wednesday, posing a high risk of urban flooding across central and Southern California, the weather service reported.
The snowstorm that began in the mid-Atlantic on Tuesday caused numerous accidents on slick roads and led to widespread school closures. By Tuesday night, nearly 12,000 people in Virginia experienced power outages, according to PowerOutage.us.
“Stay home and off the roads tonight, Virginia,” urged the Virginia Department of Transportation on social media Tuesday night, accompanied by a meme featuring Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz” stating, “There’s no place like home.”
In areas of Baltimore and Washington, snowfall rates reached an inch (2.5 centimeters) per hour, according to the weather service. All Washington public schools were closed Wednesday due to inclement weather.
Appalachian Power, serving 1 million customers across West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee, reported deploying 5,400 workers to restore power on Tuesday.
Approximately 65 Virginia National Guard soldiers were positioned along Interstate 95 and state Route 29 corridors, and in southwest Virginia, to support storm response efforts, according to guard officials. An additional 20 soldiers and Virginia Defense Force members provided supplementary assistance.
Winter storm warnings were in effect from northwest North Carolina to southern New Jersey, with the snow and ice mix expected to transition to all rain Wednesday afternoon as temperatures rose.
Meanwhile, a separate storm system was predicted to bring heavy snowfall to a region extending from Kansas to the Great Lakes, beginning Tuesday night, the weather service stated. The Kansas Legislature canceled Wednesday’s meetings due to weather conditions, and Governor Laura Kelly closed state offices in Topeka.
Hundreds of accidents
In Virginia, where Governor Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency and schools and government offices were closed Tuesday, state police reported 700 accidents and numerous injuries on Tuesday. However, spokesperson Matt Demlein clarified that a definitive link to weather conditions could not be established for all incidents.
In southern West Virginia, multiple crashes temporarily closed several major highways Tuesday. Smith’s Towing and Truck Repair responded to at least 15 calls, primarily from tractor-trailer drivers who became stranded on Interstate 64 in Greenbrier County near the Virginia border, according to dispatcher Kelly Pickles.
“Basically they just get sucked over into the median or they go off of the interstate just a little bit on the right-hand side,” she explained. “And they just don’t have enough power in their vehicles to get back onto the road due to the icy conditions.”
‘Skating rinks instead of roads’
Paige Williams, owner of Downtown Books in Lexington, Virginia, closed her store Tuesday due to the weather. She planned to reopen Wednesday, expressing confidence in Lexington and Rockbridge County’s road clearing efforts.
However, with temperatures fluctuating around freezing Tuesday night and Wednesday, the anticipated rain presented uncertainty regarding road conditions.
“It’s just going to depend on where those temperatures go,” Williams noted. “Rain can clear things off. And rain can also freeze. And then you have a lot of skating rinks instead of roads.”
Bitter cold temperatures
An Arctic air mass extended from Portland, Oregon, to the Great Lakes.
The temperature reached a low of minus 31 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 35 Celsius) in Butte, Montana, on Tuesday morning. Over the past two winters, at least five individuals in Butte have perished due to cold exposure, according to Brayton Erickson, executive director of the Butte Rescue Mission.
Advocates for the homeless in Butte, a city of approximately 35,000, distributed sleeping bags, jackets, mittens, and other cold weather gear to those in need, Erickson stated.
“When it gets this cold, we kind of pull out all the stops,” Erickson said.
In Oregon’s Multnomah County, officials extended a state of emergency until at least Thursday. Five emergency shelters were scheduled to open Tuesday night through Wednesday afternoon. Wind chill values were forecast to reach 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 12 Celsius) in Portland midweek, the weather service reported.
California rains
The atmospheric river was expected to impact California beginning late Wednesday, reaching its peak on Thursday, according to Miles Bliss, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. In addition to flooding, heavy snowfall was anticipated in the Sierra Nevada.
Over 700,000 sandbags had been deployed across central and Southern California, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
—Associated Press journalists from across the U.S. contributed to this report.