Arctic blast slams South with snow and ice, over 1,500 flights canceled across US

(NEW YORK) — Over 1,500 flights have been canceled Monday, with airports in Denver, Houston and Chicago hit the hardest, as a major winter storm unleashes heavy snow and ice across the South.

Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama have already gotten 4 to 6 inches of snowfall, and more is on the way, according to the latest forecast.

Here’s a look at our office parking lot at about 11:15pm. These conditions should continue for the Concho Valley and southward for next few hours.

For all those night-owls, feel free to post your snow videos in the comments and let us know where you are! #sjtwx #txwx pic.twitter.com/JeZlpVFAmz

— NWS San Angelo (@NWSSanAngelo) January 15, 2024

Major cities in the snowstorm’s path for Monday include San Antonio; Little Rock, Arkansas; Memphis, Tennessee; and Nashville, Tennessee.

Roads were treacherous early Monday in San Antonio, where the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning.

There was record snowfall in Memphis on Sunday and it continued overnight.

Schools will be closed in Nashville on Tuesday due to the weather.

The National Weather Service has also issued winter weather advisories for parts of Texas, including Dallas and Houston.

The snow is expected to keep falling in the South throughout Monday, with an icy mix moving into southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and northern Georgia at night.

People should be on the lookout for slick roads in Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; and Atlanta on Monday night and Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, the Heartland is seeing record-low temperatures. The coldest so far was in Montana over the weekend, where air temperatures fell to a numbing minus 54 degrees Fahrenheit. There were dozens of record lows in other areas, from the Rocky Mountains to the Plains.

More all-time-lows could be recorded Monday morning in Sioux City, Iowa; Kansas City, Missouri; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Waco, Texas; Austin, Texas; and Dallas.

Winds are expected to make the already chilly temperatures feel even colder on Monday. The National Weather Service has issued wind chill alerts for 26 states, from the U.S.-Canada border in Montana to the Rio Grande in Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The record cold is forecast to linger over the next couple days for the central U.S. and the Deep South, from Nebraska to Texas and east to Mississippi. Then, after a brief moderation in wind chills, another cold blast is expected to hit the nation at the end of the week. The wind chill — what the temperature feels like — is forecast to drop below zero degrees in Chicago by Thursday and Friday.

The cold blast is currently moving into the Northeast, with Monday morning being the chilliest of the season for the Interstate 95 travel corridor from Washington, D.C., to New York and Boston, where temperatures are in the teens and lower 20s.

The frigid air is helping produce lake-effect snow in western New York. So far, up to 27 inches of snow fell just south of Buffalo, New York, with up to a foot of snow accumulating in the city. The heaviest snow is ending in Buffalo, but the National Weather Service has issued another winter storm watch for the city for Tuesday night into Thursday, with the possibility of 2 to 3 feet of snowfall.

Current conditions on Abbott Road in front of Highmark Stadium. @WKBW pic.twitter.com/TYhpNtKeuY

— Sean Mickey WKBW (@SeanMickey7) January 14, 2024

For the I-95 corridor, the southern snowstorm will track north into the Northeast with snow and some ice forecast from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, New York City and Boston.

The National Weather Service has issued winter weather advisories for Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City from Monday evening into Tuesday afternoon. Some areas could see 1 to 3 inches of snow.