Meteorologists warn millions in the east face blizzard conditions and some areas would see the heaviest snowfall in a decade
WASHINGTON, Jan 05 (AFP): A powerful winter storm hammered the United States on Sunday, with meteorologists warning millions in the east faced blizzard conditions and some areas would see the heaviest snowfall in a decade.
More than 60 million people are in the path of the dangerous storm, set to plunge the eastern half of the United States into a deep freeze of Arctic air through Monday resulting in severe travel disruptions.
The National Weather Service (NWS) warned of ice, snow and gale-force winds in states from the central plains to the Mid-Atlantic.
Winter storm warnings have been issued from western Kansas clear across to the coastal states of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, an unusually broad 1,500-mile (2,400-kilometer) swath under immediate threat.
"Disruptive winter storm to impact the Central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic through Monday with widespread heavy snow and damaging ice accumulations," the NWS said in its latest report.
The agency warned that areas from northeastern Kansas to north-central Missouri would see "the heaviest snowfall in a decade."
Scientists say extreme weather is becoming more common and more severe as a result of manmade climate change.
The first major storm of 2025 was already wreaking havoc on travel, with Kansas City International Airport announcing closure of its flight operations Saturday "due to rapid ice accumulation."
Flight operations resumed later after airfield runways and taxiways were treated, Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas said in a social media post.