Snowstorm threatens East Coast; D.C., Baltimore under blizzard warnings
Updated 8:13 AM ET, Fri January 22, 2016
(CNN) Latest developments:
• Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal issues a state of emergency for 21 counties.
•
More than 4,500 flights have reportedly been canceled for Friday and
Saturday ahead of the expected storm, according to the flight-tracking
website flightaware.com.
• Amtrak also announced a modified schedule in the Northeast because of the impending storm.
•
Gov. Tom Wolf has declared a state of emergency in Pennsylvania,
joining Tennessee, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. "We cannot
control the weather, but we can all be prepared for whatever the weather
brings us," he told reporters Thursday.
Communities on the East Coast braced Thursday for what could be the winter's biggest storm yet.
About
75 million people are in the storm's path, with nearly 30 million under
blizzard watches or warnings. Severe weather, including tornadoes,
could hit Gulf states, and some of the country's most populous cities
could see blizzard-like conditions.
There
could be winds as strong as 60 mph, coastal storm surges and flooding
on top of whatever precipitation will fall. And it could be a lot.
"It's not out of the question that some localized areas receive over 2 feet of fresh snow," CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward said.
Washington
could see the most. Starting Friday afternoon and into Saturday night,
up to 30 inches could fall in the nation's capital.
Warm-up act
A
relatively light dusting left the Washington metro area a slippery mess
along mostly untreated roads Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
Washington
Mayor Muriel Bowser asked everyone to stay off the roads so crews could
treat them. She apologized on Thursday for the city's "inadequate
response."
"We
believe that we did not provide adequate resources at a time when it
could (have made) a difference in last evening's commute," she told
reporters. "We should have been out with more resources."
Virginia
State Police untangled 767 accidents and responded to 392 calls for
disabled vehicles Wednesday night and early Thursday. And north of
Washington in Beltsville, Maryland, a man walking along U.S. Route 1 in
treacherous conditions died after a snowplow hit him, said Maryland
State Police Sgt. Christopher Hohenstein.
Commutes turned into hours-long affairs. Many driver didn't get home until well after midnight.
Even the commander in chief had to reckon with the wintry mix. Video shows President Barack Obama's motorcade using hazard lights Wednesday as it made its slippery way from Joint Base Andrews to the White House. Obama was unable to fly on Marine One because of the weather.Thursday morning's drive was similarly frustrating, as some icy spots lingered, and commuters left early to allow plenty of time for the ride in.
Hope is to be 'overprepared,' then 'underwhelmed'
This dusting may be nothing, compared with the much larger, more powerful system on the way.
States
from Oklahoma east to the Atlantic Coast hunkered down Thursday as ice
and snow rolled through. Ward, the CNN meteorologist, warned that 1 to 2
feet of snow could fall "from eastern Kentucky across West Virginia,
Virginia, Maryland and into southern Pennsylvania and New Jersey."
Garth Brooks' concerts have been postponed
Friday and Saturday at Baltimore's Royal Farms Arena "for the safety of
all fans and all personnel involved." The postponement is among dozens
of cancellations of shows, classes and more because of the storm.
For
many, it's still up in the air what will fall: Little Rock, Arkansas,
for instance could see rain, sleet and even snow thunder overnight in
addition to heavy snow, according to the National Weather Service.
Tennessee got hit early, with the Knox County Sheriff's Office reporting
the death of a 19-year-old man after his car slid off the road
Wednesday "due to weather and speeding." North Carolina saw two deaths
late Wednesday in crashes along snow-covered roads.
Both
states are expecting more bad weather -- with several inches of snow
and sleet likely in Knoxville, Tennessee, significant icing in
Charlotte, North Carolina, and up to 8 inches of snow in Asheville,
North Carolina.
North Carolina Gov.
Pat McCrory said his state is doing "everything we can" to get public
safety personnel ready in case the worse-case scenarios come true.
Several schools, churches and courts around North Carolina had been
ordered closed Friday, according to CNN affiliate WRAL-TV. The Panthers Pride Rally scheduled for Friday in Charlotte was canceled.
"Our goal with this potential winter storm ... is to be overprepared and hopefully underwhelmed," McCrory said.
Transportation troubles
More
than 3,000 flights have reportedly been canceled for Friday and
Saturday ahead of the expected storm, according to the flight-tracking
website flightaware.com.
American
Airlines said it was canceling all flights Friday in Charlotte and that
it would cancel operations in Washington and Baltimore on Saturday.
It also canceled flights Saturday in Philadelphia.
United
Airlines announced it would suspend flights at its Washington Dulles
International Airport hub and other mid-Atlantic airports starting
Friday afternoon.
Amtrak
also announced a modified schedule in the Northeast because of the
storm, while the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro)
said the Metrorail system would be closed all day Saturday and Sunday.
"This
is not a storm that anyone should take lightly, and I would urge all
residents to plan to get to a safe place before the storm arrives Friday
afternoon," said Metro General Manager/CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld.
"The
actions we are taking today are all in the interest of our customers'
and employees' safety, and will help us return to service once the storm
passes and the snow is cleared."
Shelves cleared around Washington area
Strong
gusts, combined with accumulating snow or ice, could knock out power to
many amid subfreezing temperatures -- a prospect that Washington's
mayor called "my biggest concern."
Nearly 2 feet of snow fell in February 2010's "Snowmageddon" storm, which cut power to hundreds of thousands in the region.
For
the weekend storm to be of historic proportions, snow accumulations in
Washington would have to top 28 inches. That would exceed the calamitous
"Knickerbocker Storm"
of 1922, which dumped 28 inches and killed nearly 100 people when the
roof of a theater by that name collapsed under the weight of snow.
As
of midday Thursday, the greater Washington metro area -- from
Fredericksburg, Virginia, northward, incorporating all of Maryland --
was under a blizzard warning.
"Heavy
snow and blowing snow will cause dangerous conditions and will be a
threat to life and property," the National Weather Service warned.
"Travel is expected to be severely limited if not impossible during the
height of the storm Friday night and Saturday."
Bowser, Washington's mayor, has declared a state of emergency, closed schools for Friday and given the OK to move any vehicle found on a snow emergency route.
Residents aren't taking any chances either, clearing beer, bread and milk from grocery store shelves ahead of the storm.
Heaters,
shovels and sleds sold at a frenzied pace at Strosniders Hardware in
Silver Spring, Maryland. Ice melt chemical? Gone, too. "They know (the storm is) coming," manager Roy Washington told CNN affiliate WJLA-TV. "They hear the forecast, and they want to be prepared for it."
Washington
appears to be in the storm's bull's-eye, but most of the Mid-Atlantic
states -- and a few points west -- will also take a hit. There's more
uncertainty for Philadelphia and New York, though the latter city's
mayor has ordered some 4,800 sanitation workers charged with clearing
streets to go on to 12-hour shifts Friday.
The forecast there calls for snow to start falling overnight Friday, with 7 to 15 inches possible by the end of the weekend.
"The men and
women of the Sanitation Department and all our agencies are getting
ready right now," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "We're bracing for the
first big storm of the winter."
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