A dangerous weather system has brought near white-out conditions and traffic accidents in a number of states in the Midwest. NBC's Dylan Dreyer reports.
By M. Alex Johnson and Erin McClam
At least nine deaths — including four people who died overnight in California — were blamed on the deep freeze that continued to grip the U.S. on Friday, canceling hundreds of flights and leaving tens of thousands of people without power.
The medical examiner's office said hypothermia — an extremely low body temperature — killed four people before dawn Friday in Santa Clara County, Calif., NBC Bay Area reported.
With icy conditions stretching almost coast to coast, the cold blast was blamed for deaths as far east as Indiana, where a woman died in a four-vehicle crash in Wayne County, and as far south as Arkansas, where an ice-coated tree fell on the camper housing a 62-year-old man, authorities told NBC News.
Other weather-related deaths were reported in Oklahoma City, where a man was discovered dead under an overpass Wednesday; Carson City, Nev., where a man was found behind a convenience after temperatures fell into the single digits; and Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, where a driver was killed when his car slammed into a truck.
North Texas was especially hard hit. More than 600 flights were canceled and about 250,000 people were left in the dark as sleet weighed down power lines and snapped tree branches. Dallas called off its marathon for this weekend, with many of the thousands of expected runners unable to get there.
By midday, five states had recorded at least 2½ feet of snow since Wednesday. The highest total was 35 inches, near Two Harbors, Minn.
Winter storm warnings covered parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. The manager of a Home Depot store in Dallas concluded: "It's almost like a Black Friday. But I guess we'll call it an Ice Friday."
Full coverage from The Weather Channel
Brandon Wade / EPA
An American Airlines employee hands out cots to stranded airline passengers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Thursday.
Only a slice of the East Coast was spared the winter blast. Elsewhere, the story was ice, snow and brutal cold.
Big Sky Country woke up to double-take temperatures. It was 23 degrees below zero in Laramie, Wyo., and felt like 41 below. In Helena, Mont., the mercury fell to 10 below, with a wind child of minus-29.
The big chill extended to parts of the country much less accustomed to it. Parts of Nevada were at 18 below zero, and parts of Oregon were at 9 degrees. In Flagstaff, Ariz., the temperature just before dawn was 7.
Even "sunny" Southern California wasn't being spared — the National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for Riverside and San Bernardino counties beginning Saturday morning.
Farmers pumped water into the soil to keep it from freezing and used wind machines to blow mild air across the citrus crop, most of which is still on the vine. Citrus in California is a $2 billion industry. Lettuce and avocados were also in danger.
The dangerous ice storm that's sweeping the country is causing cars to slide across slick streets, and low temperatures are preventing the ice from melting. TODAY's Dylan Dreyer reports.
"They're like a popsicle inside," a farmer told NBC Los Angeles after his persimmons froze.
Farther east, the danger was more immediate. Half a foot of snow fell on southern Illinois and 3½ inches on the Indianapolis airport, with 5 to 8 inches more expected throughout the Friday, threatening the roads.
"Some roads will be impassible, but the biggest issue will be the power outages," said Michael Palmer, a lead meteorologist for The Weather Channel.
"A lot of these places, especially in the more rural areas, are going to stay below freezing for some time, so you will not see much in the way of melting," he said. "They could be without power for a long while."
The governor of Missouri said he was preparing all of the state's four-wheel-drive vehicles to get to stranded drivers. Grocery stores in Arkansas ran low on bread, milk and bottled water.
The bad weather forced the cancellation Saturday of the ceremonies marking the 72nd anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the lighting of the state Capitol in Little Rock, neither of which will be rescheduled.
More than 40,000 people were without power across the state Friday, NBC station KARK reported.
By the time the storm marches east, to the population centers of the Northeast, it is mostly expected to dump rain, making for a wet weekend in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington.
For the West, a second punch was on the way. A storm system was descending on the West Coast from Alaska, expected to dump snow on coastal Oregon and Northern California on Friday, and the Sierra Nevada range on Saturday.
Then it will head for the Midwest, which is in for a "double whammy" of winter weather Sunday, Palmer said.
Christopher Essner, Azhar Fateh and Alexander Smith of NBC News contribbuted to this report.
Related:
By M. Alex Johnson and Erin McClam
At least nine deaths — including four people who died overnight in California — were blamed on the deep freeze that continued to grip the U.S. on Friday, canceling hundreds of flights and leaving tens of thousands of people without power.
The medical examiner's office said hypothermia — an extremely low body temperature — killed four people before dawn Friday in Santa Clara County, Calif., NBC Bay Area reported.
With icy conditions stretching almost coast to coast, the cold blast was blamed for deaths as far east as Indiana, where a woman died in a four-vehicle crash in Wayne County, and as far south as Arkansas, where an ice-coated tree fell on the camper housing a 62-year-old man, authorities told NBC News.
Other weather-related deaths were reported in Oklahoma City, where a man was discovered dead under an overpass Wednesday; Carson City, Nev., where a man was found behind a convenience after temperatures fell into the single digits; and Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, where a driver was killed when his car slammed into a truck.
North Texas was especially hard hit. More than 600 flights were canceled and about 250,000 people were left in the dark as sleet weighed down power lines and snapped tree branches. Dallas called off its marathon for this weekend, with many of the thousands of expected runners unable to get there.
By midday, five states had recorded at least 2½ feet of snow since Wednesday. The highest total was 35 inches, near Two Harbors, Minn.
Winter storm warnings covered parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. The manager of a Home Depot store in Dallas concluded: "It's almost like a Black Friday. But I guess we'll call it an Ice Friday."
Full coverage from The Weather Channel
An American Airlines employee hands out cots to stranded airline passengers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Thursday.
Only a slice of the East Coast was spared the winter blast. Elsewhere, the story was ice, snow and brutal cold.
Big Sky Country woke up to double-take temperatures. It was 23 degrees below zero in Laramie, Wyo., and felt like 41 below. In Helena, Mont., the mercury fell to 10 below, with a wind child of minus-29.
The big chill extended to parts of the country much less accustomed to it. Parts of Nevada were at 18 below zero, and parts of Oregon were at 9 degrees. In Flagstaff, Ariz., the temperature just before dawn was 7.
Even "sunny" Southern California wasn't being spared — the National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for Riverside and San Bernardino counties beginning Saturday morning.
Farmers pumped water into the soil to keep it from freezing and used wind machines to blow mild air across the citrus crop, most of which is still on the vine. Citrus in California is a $2 billion industry. Lettuce and avocados were also in danger.
The dangerous ice storm that's sweeping the country is causing cars to slide across slick streets, and low temperatures are preventing the ice from melting. TODAY's Dylan Dreyer reports.
"They're like a popsicle inside," a farmer told NBC Los Angeles after his persimmons froze.
Farther east, the danger was more immediate. Half a foot of snow fell on southern Illinois and 3½ inches on the Indianapolis airport, with 5 to 8 inches more expected throughout the Friday, threatening the roads.
"Some roads will be impassible, but the biggest issue will be the power outages," said Michael Palmer, a lead meteorologist for The Weather Channel.
"A lot of these places, especially in the more rural areas, are going to stay below freezing for some time, so you will not see much in the way of melting," he said. "They could be without power for a long while."
The governor of Missouri said he was preparing all of the state's four-wheel-drive vehicles to get to stranded drivers. Grocery stores in Arkansas ran low on bread, milk and bottled water.
The bad weather forced the cancellation Saturday of the ceremonies marking the 72nd anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the lighting of the state Capitol in Little Rock, neither of which will be rescheduled.
More than 40,000 people were without power across the state Friday, NBC station KARK reported.
By the time the storm marches east, to the population centers of the Northeast, it is mostly expected to dump rain, making for a wet weekend in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington.
For the West, a second punch was on the way. A storm system was descending on the West Coast from Alaska, expected to dump snow on coastal Oregon and Northern California on Friday, and the Sierra Nevada range on Saturday.
Then it will head for the Midwest, which is in for a "double whammy" of winter weather Sunday, Palmer said.
Christopher Essner, Azhar Fateh and Alexander Smith of NBC News contribbuted to this report.
Related:
- 'Hunker down': Midwest, South brace for major winter storms
- Storm coverage from The Weather Channel
- Full weather news and your local forecast