Winter storm intensifying in the south, threatening snow, ice and extreme impacts

CNN
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Snow, freezing rain and rain will hit the southern plains on Thursday as a powerful winter storm intensifies and begins its trek across the south.

The storm’s footprint will only become more expansive as it delivers disruptive weather across a nearly 1,400-mile swath of the South over the weekend amid the coldest air of the season, threatening major to extreme impacts in a region that is poorly adapted for winter weather.

Wintry precipitation began in parts of West and North Texas early Thursday morning and expanded into North Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas by afternoon, while heavy rain developed farther south.

States of emergency have been declared by governors and officials in Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina and dozens of counties in Oklahoma and Alabama as state agencies prepare for storm impacts.

Snow piled up in the morning in northern Texas and southern Oklahoma. At least 4 inches of snow had fallen by early afternoon in an area just north of the Dallas-Ft. Worth the metroplex and across the southern Oklahoma border. An inch or two of snow fell as far north as Oklahoma City.

The sloppy weather made for treacherous travel with several reports of jackknife tractor trailers and stuck cars in both North Texas and southern Oklahoma. All southbound lanes of Interstate 35 in southern Oklahoma turned into a parking lot near Davis after being shut down by a crash.

It also caused problems for the major travel hub that is the Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport. More than 2,000 flights in and out of the United States had been canceled by Thursday afternoon, with Dallas-area airports accounting for nearly 40% of those cancellations, according to FlightAware.

The Dallas Independent School District — the second largest in Texas — announced the closings of all schools and offices Thursday and Friday because of the storm, according to their website. Schools are also closed in the nearby Plano Independent School District.

Frigid temperatures will increase power demand in Texas, but grid conditions are expected to be normal, ERCOT — the operator responsible for the state’s electric grid — said in a weather watch issued Wednesday. The state’s grid failed during 2021’s catastrophic winter storm and prolonged deep freeze, resulting in the deaths of more than 200 people.

Snow, sleet and freezing rain will expand across more of the southern Plains and into the Mississippi Valley through Thursday evening.

Arkansas’ Little Rock School District also closed all schools and offices Thursday and Friday. Snow will arrive in the city in the early afternoon before spells of sleet and rain mix overnight, creating treacherous travel conditions.

Any amount of ice is dangerous; just a thin layer — even a tenth of an inch — can turn paved surfaces into skating rinks, causing people to slip and vehicles to slide out of control, like what happened over the weekend in the central United States. Ice can also weigh down power lines and cause outages.

At least moderate impacts from the storm are expected in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas given the threat of snow and ice, according to Winter Storm Severity Index. A few areas could experience major or even extreme impacts from this storm, meaning significant disruptions to daily life and hazardous travel conditions.

The storm will track further east Thursday night and Friday, bringing messy winter weather to much of the South. Small shifts in its track are still possible and can alter snow and ice outcomes.

The snow will be heaviest from northeast Texas and southeast Oklahoma to Tennessee and parts of the southern Appalachians. Several inches of snow could fall across this area, eclipsing half a foot in places, especially in central Arkansas.

Northern Mississippi and northern Alabama and Georgia could record 3 inches or more of snow from Thursday night into Friday night. Some of these areas may start out as snow, but change to an icy mix as warmer air moves into the area.

This will likely be the case in Atlanta, which hasn’t had at least an inch of snow in nearly seven years, but has a small chance of it with this storm. Precipitation will begin as a brief flurry of snow early Friday morning, but will quickly mix with sleet and freezing rain. This icy mess of precipitation will continue, with rain mixing into the overnight hours at times.

“Plan for hazardous travel conditions,” the National Weather Service office servicing Atlanta warned Thursday, noting that travel could become difficult-to-impossible Friday into Saturday.

All city of Atlanta government offices will be closed Friday, and the city has opened several warming centers, according to a Wednesday news release. The city also began pre-treating roads Thursday, ahead of the storm. A number of school districts in the metro Atlanta area will be closed Friday.

Precipitation will quickly expand eastward Friday night as the storm approaches the Atlantic coast, and a mix of snow and ice will reach the Carolinas. Charlotte, North Carolina, hasn’t recorded measurable snow — at least 0.1 inch — in nearly two years, but will likely break that snow drought before this weekend.

A separate storm dipping south out of Canada late Friday will work with the southern storm to pull moisture north and spread precipitation to much of the Midwest and East.

A quick round of snow totaling 1 to 3 inches or less is possible from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Friday night into early Saturday morning. The storm will quickly exit the US on Saturday morning, leaving gusty winds in its wake, particularly in the Northeast.

CNN’s Alexandra Skores contributed to this report.