Blizzard warnings covered the central United States on Sunday as a formidable winter storm rolled across the country. Heavy snow and significant freezing rain will snarl travel across major hubs from Kansas City to Philadelphia into the beginning of the week.
This is the first major storm of the year for many communities in the path of the storm. Washington, D.C., could see its largest one-day snowfall in several years on Monday.
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Airline tracking company FlightAware reported Sunday afternoon that more than 1,100 flights were cancelled in the U.S. as a result of the blizzard and its ripple effects through the country’s air travel network.
Additional cancellations were likely on Monday as the hazardous weather affects busy airports around Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.
Cold air sagging south out of Canada will bring a sustained and widespread cold snap to the U.S., which could reach Florida with temperatures near the freezing mark by the middle of the week.
A low-pressure system that developed over the central Plains on Saturday tapped into ample Gulf moisture and that Arctic chill to whip up a disruptive winter storm across the middle of the U.S.
This storm has a little bit of everything—including very heavy snowfall, a significant ice storm from prolonged freezing rain, and an outbreak of severe thunderstorms across areas struck by deadly storms just last weekend.
Forecasters issued blizzard warnings across portions of Kansas and Missouri on Sunday as heavy snows and fierce winds led to whiteout conditions throughout the region. These were the first blizzard warnings issued in the region since 2019.
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Winter storm warnings spread east to the Atlantic seaboard, including Cincinnati, Washington, and Baltimore. Communities under the warning can generally expect 15-25 cm of snow, with some areas possibly exceeding 30 cm through Monday.
This is likely going to be Washington’s largest snowstorm in nearly three years after a prolonged snow drought along the U.S. East Coast. The city could pick up 15-25 cm of snow from this system.
If the forecasts come to pass, this would be the largest one-day snowstorm they’ve seen at Washington-Dulles International Airport since 19.6 cm of snow fell on Jan. 13, 2019. It’s been nearly 9 years since they’ve had 20+ cm of snow from one storm.
At the same time, a significant ice storm is in progress from southern Illinois through eastern Kentucky as prolonged freezing rain blankets the region. Disruptive freezing rain is also possible throughout portions of Virginia and North Carolina into Monday.
Some areas could see more than 20 mm of ice accretion through Monday, which could lead to widespread power outages and tree damage. Data collected by PowerOutage.US showed there were nearly 100,000 power outages across Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky as of 6:30 p.m. EST on Sunday.
Calmer conditions are expected behind the storm, but temperatures will remain downright frigid. Readings are expected to come in 5-15+ degrees below seasonal through the middle of the week—especially in areas where there’s a thick snowpack on the ground.
Louisville, Kentucky, could reach -23°C on Wednesday night, with temperatures below freezing for five full days.
The chilly weather will reach deep into Florida by midweek, sending single-digit readings as far south as the Everglades.