ATLANTA — A Midwest winter storm roared into the the Deep South on Tuesday, bringing icy rain and sleet to South Texas and threats of a dangerous ice storm and power outages from Louisiana to the Virginia coast.
At the same time, intense cold continued its onslaught across the north-central and northeastern U.S., with wind chill warnings and advisories in place all the way from Montana to Maine.
In the South, snow fell on Alabama-Georgia border Tuesday morning, moving quickly into northwest Atlanta suburbs. Forecasts called for up to a foot of snow in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Chesapeake in Virginia and up to 10 inches along much of the North Carolina coast.
Delta Airlines, with headquarters in Atlanta, said 1,850 flights have been canceled systemwide Tuesday beginning at 11 a.m. ET. Of that number, 840 flights from Atlanta were affected.
In the Atlanta area, which was bracing for up to 2 inches of snow, several school systems canceled classes or announced early closings.
“We have preparations from a couple of other close calls the past few weeks,” said Mark McKinnon, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Transportation. “They’ve just got to come in and crank it up.”
He said crews would likely come in at noon Tuesday and begin pretreating bridges with a salt-brine mixture, and then be on call to battle snow and ice with salt and pea-sized gravel.
The threat of icy roads was particularly alarming in southern cities unequipped for such rare weather, including Austin, Charleston, S.C., Pensacola, Fla., Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans.
“This is a very dangerous situation because snow and ice are very rare for extreme southern Mississippi,” said Robert Latham, executive director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. “We need everyone to have an emergency plan together for this.”
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency in the Pelican State because of the threat of heavy snow plus freezing temperatures that could paralyze most roadways.
“It’s important people start preparing now for the storm,” Jindal said late Monday. “We are working to keep open major corridors across the state, but only for those who absolutely must travel.”
In Columbia, S.C., Fort Jackson planned to stop normal operation at mid-morning and keep on only essential personnel.
In Savannah, which is expecting a wintry mix of snow and freezing rain, schools have been closed and residents were “making a run” on grocery stores, said Bret Bell, a city spokesman. He said the main concern was not so much snow as icing on roads.
Appalachian Power asked its customers in Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia to conserve electricity and minimize the threat of power disruptions during the cold snap.
The utility says PJM Interconnection, which operates the electricity grid for 13 states and the District of Columbia, has issued a call for voluntary conservation on Tuesday because of expected high demand.
The harsh cold pushing into the South is an extension of the hard freeze that has gripped the Midwest for days. Schools in Chicago are closed for a second day.
In Minnesota, most metro schools and the University of Minnesota are closed as wind chills were expected to drop as low as 35 to 50 degrees below zero.
The state was also struggling with a short supply of natural gas in some parts due to a Canadian pipeline explosion.
Xcel Energy asked all customers, including in the Twin Cities, to cut back on natural gas use and hold their home thermostats at 60 degrees. More
