Ice, snow storm return to haunt US south, threaten road travel
13 Feb 2014 11:10 PM GMT
The storm’s combination of rain, sleet, heavy snow and thick ice across the South is of ‘historical proportions,’ said the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City, Georgia.
‘There is the potential for it to be a catastrophic event,’ with ice bringing down trees and power lines, said Brian Lynn, a weather service meteorologist.
The storm is forecast to reach from eastern Texas to the Carolinas and the Middle Atlantic states by late on Wednesday. Heavy snow from the front will hit southern New England by Thursday morning, the weather service said.
Conditions in the South were expected to worsen overnight, with up to an inch (2.5 cm) of ice predicted in parts of Georgia and central South Carolina.
Two to 6 inches (5 to 15 cm) of snow fell in north Georgia on Tuesday, with another 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) expected by Thursday morning.
But Dan Darbe, a weather service meteorologist, said ice was the bigger worry, with a quarter to three-quarters of an inch (0.6 to 2 cm) expected in the area that includes metropolitan Atlanta.
The last significant ice storm in that region was in January 2000, when up to half an inch (1.3 cm) of ice left more than 350,000 people without power, Darbe said. ‘We’re talking a much larger area and a much larger amount of ice’ in this storm, he said.
WEATHER EMERGENCIES
President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration for Georgia. Governors in Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Mississippi declared weather emergencies and Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed an executive order to close state government on Wednesday.
‘There is the potential for it to be a catastrophic event,’ with ice bringing down trees and power lines, said Brian Lynn, a weather service meteorologist.
The storm is forecast to reach from eastern Texas to the Carolinas and the Middle Atlantic states by late on Wednesday. Heavy snow from the front will hit southern New England by Thursday morning, the weather service said.
Conditions in the South were expected to worsen overnight, with up to an inch (2.5 cm) of ice predicted in parts of Georgia and central South Carolina.
Two to 6 inches (5 to 15 cm) of snow fell in north Georgia on Tuesday, with another 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) expected by Thursday morning.
But Dan Darbe, a weather service meteorologist, said ice was the bigger worry, with a quarter to three-quarters of an inch (0.6 to 2 cm) expected in the area that includes metropolitan Atlanta.
The last significant ice storm in that region was in January 2000, when up to half an inch (1.3 cm) of ice left more than 350,000 people without power, Darbe said. ‘We’re talking a much larger area and a much larger amount of ice’ in this storm, he said.
WEATHER EMERGENCIES
President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration for Georgia. Governors in Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Mississippi declared weather emergencies and Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed an executive order to close state government on Wednesday.
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