A new winter storm slammed the East Coast on Saturday, putting Washington, D.C. and Baltimore into the deep freeze.
In Washington, 4-6 inches of snow and sleet were expected to accumulate by Sunday morning, the National Weather Service reported. In Baltimore, the prediction was even worse, with 6-10 inches expected.
The storm snarled roads, forcing the closure of I-95 southbound in Baltimore and leaving so many disabled vehicles that emergency vehicles couldn’t get through, CNN affiliate WBFF reported.
A sheet of ice covered part of Madison Avenue NW in Washington because a water main broke on Friday, CNN affiliate WJLA reported, trapping about half a dozen cars.
“I can’t even move the car,” A.J. Kumar told WJLA. “It’s right up to the bumper.”
People are having to stay put all over the East Coast. At 9:30 p.m. ET Saturday, at least 1,546 fights had been canceled in the United States, many in the Washington and Baltimore areas, according to FlightAware.com.
The weather agency calls for accumulations of 3-6 inches in New York City, 4-6 inches in Philadelphia and 2-5 inches in Boston by Sunday morning.
Up to 12 inches were forecast for West Virginia, CNN meteorologists said.
In Tennessee, 50,000 customers in 12 counties have lost power, many in the Cumberland Plateau area in the eastern part of the state, said the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. The governor elevated the state to a higher level state of emergency, meaning citizens may be eligible for state and federal assistance.
So far, no more fatalities have been reported. The state said on Friday that 18 people had died from weather-related causes.
In Kentucky, a 24-hour Walmart in South Williamson was evacuated and closed indefinitely after store employees detected cracks in the walls, apparently caused by the heavy snow load on the roof, Walmart spokeswoman Tricia Moriarty said.
The department store will stay closed until the building is fully inspected and determined to be fully safe, Moriarty said.
Roofs also collapsed in Harlan and Jackson, but no injuries were reported.
To make matters worse, a brand new arctic blast is pushing cold air into the lower 48 states, creating dangerously low temps Sunday in the Northern Plains, CNN meteorologists said. Wind chills may reach minus 30 or minus 40 degrees,
Monday and Tuesday are shaping up to be very cold days in the East and Midwest.
The National Weather predicted Monday high temperatures of 22 in Philadelphia, 17 in New York City, 10 in Chicago, 4 in Cleveland and 25 in Washington.
A storm was heading toward the Rocky Mountains, too, creating a chance of snow from Montana down through Colorado and into northeastern New Mexico, CNN meteorologists said. In Denver, 8-10 inches of snow could fall.