At least nine people have died from a dangerous storm hitting the South with sleet, snow and freezing rain that has left thousands without power and forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
Threat level: The National Weather Service (NWS) said the multi-day storm would finally come to an end on Thursday, with temperatures expected to return to the 40s and 50s across the region by Friday.
By the numbers: As of Thursday morning, over 11 million people across the U.S. were under ice storm warnings issued by the NWS, while another 4.2 million were under winter storm warnings.
- About 510,000 customers were without power across Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, according to PowerOutage.us.
- The storm is the latest test of Texas' power grid and local utilities, with the state alone accounting for over 410,000 outages.
- More than 700 flights within, into or out of the U.S. have been canceled Thursday, according to FlightAware. At least 1,000 flights were delayed.
Texas authorities said hazardous road conditions were behind at least seven traffic fatalities in the state since Monday, including a triple fatality crash near Brownfield, AP reports. Oklahoma and Arkansas also reported one death each.
- Two Texas police officers were seriously injured after being hit by a vehicle on Interstate 45 while they were investigating another crash.
- Dallas Independent School District, which serves more than 145,000 students, canceled classes for a third day over the storm on Thursday, as did Austin Independent School District, which serves around 74,000 students.
- Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency in response to the storm on Tuesday, citing downed powerlines and dangerous road conditions.
8:14 PM: FINALLY beginning to see some clearing on radar. Road conditions will slowly improve as we climb into the mid 30s today. Slick spots will persist overnight but widespread improvement is expected tomorrow. Allow for extra travel time today. It’s still slushy! #dfwwx #txwx pic.twitter.com/RixBGsxSwc
— NWS Fort Worth (@NWSFortWorth) February 2, 2023
The big picture: The storm, which began late Monday, has been caused by the combination of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and Arctic air spilling south from Canada.
- It is forecast to "gradually end" on Thursday and slide eastward, with melting expected to commence in the afternoon, according to the NWS.
- But before then, additional ice accretion and light sleet accumulations are expected from Texas to Tennessee, causing continued hazardous travel conditions, power outages and tree damage.
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