The winter storm unleashed a blanket of snow and ice on the East Coast on Monday, disrupting processes in much of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
In the coming days, a rush of Arctic air was expected to deepen the cold.
Overnight temperatures were expected to fall into the single digits across the Central Plains and the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys this week, The Weather Prediction Center warned. The Mid-Atlantic region was expected to be less cold, with daytime temperatures near freezing.
“It’s going to be very cold in the Central and Eastern US all week,” said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
He added that another winter storm is expected in Texas in about two days. State officials there opened an emergency response Monday evening.
Monday’s snowfall caused travel in and out of Washington, DC, where a foot of snow was expected overnight despite a quiet afternoon. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport closed its runways Monday evening to clear snow, and said it may not reopen until early morning.
The storm also closed public schools in the city on Monday, and they will remain closed on Tuesday, officials said.
Across the United States, more than 9,000 flights — including most of those scheduled for Reagan — were delayed or canceled as of Monday evening, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking service.
Amtrak canceled dozens of trains in the Northeast Corridor and other affected states, and driving conditions were hazardous from West Virginia to Delaware.
More than 200,000 people in the storm’s path, from Missouri to Virginia, were without power Monday afternoon, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us, though the number appears to be decreasing.
In Richmond, Va., a power outage affected water tanks, prompting city officials to issue a boil water advisory and warn that some residents will temporarily lose their water service.
Some Southern states received a mix of snow, sleet and snow on Monday, along with thunderstorms. In northern Kentucky and parts of southern West Virginia, snow accumulations were predicted to exceed a quarter of an inch, which could create hazardous conditions for drivers and pedestrians and could increase the risk of power outages.
Deadly snow that blasted the central regions.
The storm has been moving east from the Central United States, where snowy conditions in Kansas and Missouri have led to at least three deaths and created dangerous conditions for travelers.
The National Weather Service in Kansas City, Mo., reported that the international airport there received 11 inches of snow Sunday, the fourth largest one-day total in the city’s recorded history.
In Topeka, Kan., the Weather Service said Sunday night it expected a final total of 14.1 inches, which would be the third-highest one-day snowfall on record for the area.
People in the Kansas City area were huddled indoors, trapped by snow-covered roads and roads deemed too treacherous to walk. In some areas, lightning and thunder accompanied by strong winds as the storm moves through the region.
“This is a rare tropical storm for Kansas City,” Gary Lezak, the area’s longtime meteorologist, said Sunday. “It’s freakishly cold.”
It was also dangerous. In Kansas, west of Salina, a fire truck and several trailers and passenger cars overturned; an SUV skidded off a road near Wichita and rolled over a cliff, killing both occupants.
The cold continues.
The snow was expected to recede Tuesday morning, although light snow may continue through the day in parts of the Central Appalachians, followed by colder, warmer weather. Mr. Taylor of the National Weather Service said a cold weather advisory has been issued for as far as Florida.
From east of the Rockies to the East Coast, temperatures were forecast to be 10 to 12 degrees below the annual average.
And in Texas, where another storm threatened to revive long-standing concerns about the state’s power grid resilience, Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday activated emergency services to prepare for the cold weather.
“We’re looking at the next storm coming into Texas during the week – Wednesday through Thursday,” Mr. Taylor. “And then we saw a powerful winter storm that affected Dallas and maybe San Antonio and Austin.”
Christine Chung, Campbell Robertson, Ali Watkins again Yan Zhuang reporting contributed.
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