ATLANTA (AP) — Bread was flying off the shelves, salt was being loaded into trucks and utility workers were nervously watching forecasts Thursday as a huge…
Bread was flying off the shelves, salt was being loaded into trucks and utility workers were nervously watching forecasts Thursday as a huge winter storm that could bring catastrophic damage, widespread power outages and bitterly cold weather was barreling toward the eastern two-thirds of the U.S.
The massive storm system is expected to bring a crippling ice storm from Texas through parts of the South, potentially around a foot (30 centimeters) of snow from Oklahoma through Washington, D.C.; New York and Boston and then a final punch of bitterly cold air that could drop wind chills to mius-50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-46 Celsius) in parts of Minnesota and North Dakota.
Forecasters are warning the damage, especially in areas that get a large amount of ice, could rival a hurricane. About 140 million people were under winter storm or cold weather watches or warnings — and in many places both.
The storm was expected to begin Friday in New Mexico and Texas and then the worst of the weather will move east into the Deep South before heading up the coast and thumping New England with snow.
Cold air streaming down from Canada caused Chicago Public Schools to cancel classes Friday. Wind chills predicted to be as low as minus-35 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-37 Celsius) could cause frostbite within 10 minutes making it too dangerous to walk to school or wait for the bus.
The cold punch coming after means it will take a while to thaw out, an especially dangerous prospect in places where ice and snow weighs down tree branches and powerlines and cuts electricity, perhaps for days. Roads and sidewalks could remain icy well into next week.
Freezing temperatures are expected all the way to Florida and lows in the North and Midwest will get about as cold as possible, even down to minus 25 or 30 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 32 to minus 34 degrees Celsius), forecasters said.
