Snow, freezing rain pummel mid-atlantic while California is preparing for probable flooding

Snow, gossip and freezing rain was expected to continue pumping the central appalachers and mid -Atlantic states on Wednesday, while California managed a storm that could flood areas ravaged by the recent fires.

Especially heavy snowfall – up to almost 14 inches (25 centimeters) – was expected in parts of Virginia and West Virginia, according to National Weather Service. ICE accumulations could reach more than one -third of an inch (8.4 millimeters) in Stanleytown, Virginia and a quarter inch (6.3 millimeters) in Glendale Springs, North Carolina.

In California, An Atmospheric river – A long band with water vapor that can transport moisture from the tropics to several northern areas – expected to move in late Wednesday, which is probably flooding urban areas over central and southern California, according to the weather service.

The blizzard blowing in the mid -Atlantic states on Tuesday caused accidents on icy roads and getting school closures. By Tuesday night, nearly 12,000 people in Virginia had lost the flow, according to Poweroutage.us.

“Stay at home and away from roads tonight, Virginia,” Virginia Department of Transportation, published on social media on Tuesday night, along with a meme of Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz”, who says, “There’s no place as at home. ”

In parts of Baltimore and Washington, an inch (2.5 centimeters) of snow dropped every hour, according to Weather Service. All public schools in Washington were closed Wednesday due to the weather.

Appalachian Power, serving 1 million customers in West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee, said Tuesday that it had 5,400 workers dedicated to restoring power.

About 65 Virginia National Guard soldiers were on facilities along the Interstate 95 and the State Route 29 Corridors and in southwestern Virginia to support the storm response, watched officials said. Another 20 soldiers and members of the Virginia Defense Force were in support roles.

Winter Storm warnings stretched from northwestern North Carolina to southern New Jersey, and the snow-and-ice mixture was expected to be all rain by Wednesday afternoon as temperatures climb.

Meanwhile, a separate storm system was expected to dump heavy snow in an area that extends from Kansas to the big lakes that start on Tuesday night, the weather service says. The Kansas legislator canceled Wednesday meetings because of the weather, and government manager Laura Kelly closed state offices in the capital, Topka.

In Virginia, where Prime Minister Glenn Youngkin declared an emergency and schools and government offices were closed on Tuesday, the State Police reported 700 accidents and dozens of injuries on Tuesday. Although Matt Demlein, a spokesman for Virginia State Police, said they cannot definitively say that everyone was weather -related.

In southern West Virginia, several crashes temporarily closed several major highways on Tuesday. Smith’s towing and truck repair responded to at least 15 calls, mostly from the tractor-trailer drivers who were stuck on the Interstate 64 in Greenbrier County near the Virginia border, said sender Kelly Pickles.

“Basically, they are just sucked into the median, or they go out of the intermediate state just a little on the right,” she said. “And they just don’t have enough power in their vehicles to get back on the road because of the icy conditions.”

Paige Williams, who owns books at the center of Lexington, Virginia, closed its store on Tuesday due to the weather. She hoped to reopen Wednesday and noted that Lexington and the surrounding Rockbridge County are reliable when it comes to clearing roads.

But with temperatures on each side of freezing on Tuesday night and Wednesday, the rain, which is supposed to follow, could make roads better or for worse.

“It will just depend on where these temperatures go,” Williams said. “Rain can clear things. And rain can also freeze. And then you have a lot of skating instead of roads. “

An Arctic air mass stretched from Portland, Oregon, to the great lakes.

The temperature tied on Tuesday morning in minus 31 degrees (minus 35 Celsius) in Butte, Montana, where at least five people during the last two winters died of cold exposure, said Brayton Erickson, CEO of Butte Rescue Mission.

Lawyers for homeless people in the city of about 35,000 were out on the streets distributing sleeping bags, jackets, mittens and other cold weather for all who needed them, according to Erickson.

“When it gets cold, we’re pulling all the stops,” Erickson said.

In Oregon’s Multnomah County, officials expanded an emergency through at least Thursday. Five shelters were set to open Tuesday night to Wednesday afternoon. Midtug Wind cooling Could dip to 10 degrees (minus 12 Celsius) in Portland, says Weather Service.

The atmospheric river was expected to arrive in California, which started late Wednesday and to reach Thursday, according to Miles Bliss, a meteorologist at National Weather Service. Along with floods, heavy snowfall was expected in Sierra Nevada.

More than 700,000 sand bags are arranged over central and southern California, according to California’s Water Resources Department.

___

Associated Press -Journalists from all over the United States contributed to this report.