Up to 35cm Snowfall Forecasted in Kansas and Missouri
Traffic Paralysis... 1,500 Flights Canceled
A winter storm accompanied by blizzards and cold waves struck North America, resulting in the highest snowfall in the past decade in the central and eastern United States on the 5th (local time), according to AP News and CNN.
Some areas in Kansas received 25 cm of snow, and Louisville, Kentucky recorded 19.5 cm of snowfall, the highest since 1910. In parts of Kansas and northern Missouri, snowfall is expected to reach up to 35 cm.
Main roads in western Kansas, western Nebraska, and parts of Indiana were covered with snow and ice, and the National Guard was deployed to rescue drivers stranded on the roads. Interstate 70, a major highway running from the Missouri border to central Kansas, was closed due to heavy snowfall. Missouri police reported searching for about 600 drivers stranded by the snowstorm and responding to 285 accidents. Virginia police reported 135 accidents on the 5th, with some injuries reported.
The eastern region was also affected, with 15 to 30 cm of heavy snow falling from Ohio to Washington, D.C.
Transportation networks, including air and rail, were paralyzed. On the 5th, 20 train services were canceled, with 40 on the 6th and more than 2 on the 7th expected to be canceled.
According to the flight tracking site FlightAware, as of 8:05 PM on Sunday, over 1,500 flights across the United States were canceled, and more than 7,100 flights were delayed. Especially at Kansas City International Airport, 94% of departing flights and 90% of arriving flights were canceled.
The ultra-cold polar vortex usually rotates around the Arctic. When this vortex expands southward, severe cold waves hit the United States, Europe, and Asia. According to research cited by AP News, the rapid warming of the Arctic is one of the causes of the increased frequency of vortex occurrences.
According to the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS), as of the 5th, 63 million people live in areas under winter weather advisories or warnings.
Hundreds of schools in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Washington, Philadelphia, and other cities were closed. Governors of states including Kansas, Kentucky, Arkansas, West Virginia, and Virginia declared states of emergency.
The NWS forecasted that on the 6th, temperatures in about two-thirds of the eastern United States could drop 7 to 14 degrees below average. Some areas are expected to experience cold waves below minus 18 degrees Celsius.
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