ATLANTA (AP) — A winter storm that dropped heavy snow and glazed roads throughout the U.S. South was maintaining its icy grip on much of the region into the weekend.
Power outage numbers around Atlanta crept up Friday night as meteorologists warned of accumulating freezing rain. More than 110,000 customers were without electricity, mostly in the Atlanta area.
“As our crews anticipated based on the forecast, additional freezing rain and falling trees have caused power outages as the sun has gone down,” Georgia Power said via social media.
“Conditions overnight remain challenging with icy roads and winds, but as long as it is safe — we will be working,” the utility said.
Georgia transportation officials urged people to stay off the roads until midday Saturday, and snow and ice was also forecast to continue in the Carolinas, Virginia and the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys.
Earlier this week the storm brought heavy snow and slicked roads across much of Texas and Oklahoma before moving east. Arkansas and North Carolina mobilized National Guard troops for tasks such as helping stranded motorists, and governors in multiple states declared states of emergency.
School was canceled for millions of children from Texas to Georgia and as far east as South Carolina, giving them a rare snow day.
The storm piled up more than a year’s worth of snowfall on some cities.
As much as a foot (about 31 centimeters) fell in parts of Arkansas, and there were reports of nearly 10 inches (about 25 centimeters) in Little Rock, which averages 3.8 inches (9.7 centimeters) a year.
More than 7 inches (about 18 centimeters) fell at Memphis International Airport in Tennessee since late Thursday. The city usually sees 2.7 inches (6.9 centimeters) a year. City officials in Memphis were also concerned that wet roads would freeze overnight.
The wintry mix of sleet, snow and ice has made travel treacherous in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Sleet and snow that fell in South Carolina and North Carolina was changing to freezing rain.
For kids home from school Friday, the wet snow also packed into a pretty good snowball.
In Atlanta, Mikayla Johnson, 12, was making snow angels and snow figures.
“My first thought was, ‘Wow!’” said Mikayla, who was outdoors with her father, Nate. “We haven’t had snow since I was, like, 4 — good snow, at least. So I was really happy.”
The storm dumped as much as 7 inches (about 18 centimeters) in some spots in central Oklahoma and northern Texas.
Snow began falling in metro Atlanta before dawn Friday, leading to hundreds of flights being cancelled and hundreds more delayed at the world’s busiest airport, according to flight tracking software FlightAware.
Four passengers were injured after a Delta plane bound for Minneapolis aborted takeoff that morning, according to the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. One passenger was hospitalized, while three people were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
The incident contributed to further delays, although Delta said it was unclear whether the weather had anything to do with the flight aborting its takeoff. The airline said there was an indication of an engine issue.
Other airports with significant delays and cancellations included those in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dallas-Fort Worth and Nashville, Tennessee.
The storm could continue to affect air traffic, the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday night.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urged residents to avoid driving if possible, even as some 75,000 fans were expected Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington for the college football championship semifinal between Texas and Ohio State.
The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole, but it sometimes ventures south into the U.S., Europe and Asia. Some experts say such events are happening more frequently, paradoxically, because of a warming world.
The cold snap coincided with rare January wildfires tearing through the Los Angeles area.
Southern discomfort
As much as 8 inches (about 20 centimeters) of snow was forecast in parts of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia through Saturday, the National Weather Service said.
Officials urged drivers to give plows space after a semitrailer hit a Tennessee Department of Transportation truck in Smith County.
Parts of South Carolina were seeing their first wintry weather in three years. The state Department of Transportation treated interstates and other major highways from Columbia northward, but vehicles were slipping off icy Interstate 95 south of the city.
A public outdoor inauguration ceremony Saturday in Raleigh, North Carolina, for Gov. Josh Stein and other elected officials was canceled. The storm’s trajectory overlapped with much of the western North Carolina area impacted by Hurricane Helene last year.
In Richmond, Virginia. Mayor Danny Avula said officials brought in extra resources to monitor the city’s water treatment facility, which suffered a multiday outage following a snowstorm earlier in the week, including a new backup battery and additional water filters.
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Loller reported from Nashville, Tennessee. Associated Press reporters Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Jeff Martin in Kennesaw, Georgia; Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, North Carolina; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville; Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City; Isabella O’Malley in Philadelphia; Olivia Diaz in Richmond, Virginia; and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; and Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, contributed.
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Read more of the AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment.
