FRANKFORT, Ky. — Snow swirled sideways in Kentucky and the bustling capital of Frankfort came to a frozen halt Monday as a storm walloped parts of the South, which, unlike the Northeast, had been mostly spared this winter.
Snow, sleet and freezing rain mixed across the region, making roads treacherous and knocking out power to thousands. Luckily, many schools and businesses were closed for Presidents Day and the morning commute was not as busy.
Officials also made certain roads were prepared this year after Southern cities — notably Atlanta, but also Raleigh, N.C. — were caught off guard a year ago when a winter storm stranded thousands of people on interstates overnight.
Still, some weren’t quite ready for the winter blast.
RL Doss said he had used his 1987 GMC Suburban — which can haul up to three-quarters of a ton with ropes and chains — to rescue several people and their cars on the hills around Frankfort. Cars were fishtailing and sliding off the slick roads.
“I look at it this way: Everybody is trying to get out, to get their last bit of food and stuff, getting home from work and people leaving for work and stuff, and it happens,” he said, shivering in tan overalls pulled over a hooded sweat shirt. “I like to see what the truck can do and what it can’t do. I push it to its limits.”
In the Northeast, which has been slammed by seemingly endless snow, the flakes stopped falling but the temperatures were bitterly low. New York City came close to breaking a 127-year-old record when the temperature in Central Park hit 3 degrees, just 2 degrees above the record set in 1888, said Jeffrey Tongue, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said the last snow killed one person, apparently due to a heart attack while shoveling. A partial roof collapse at an eight-building apartment complex in Portsmouth, N.H., sent 500 to 700 people looking for warmth. In New Jersey, a 66-year-old woman who had been drinking at a benefit was found dead in the snow, just two doors from her home. Firefighters working on a blaze in Philadelphia left behind a building coated in icicles. No one was hurt.
A train carrying crude oil derailed in a hard snowstorm about 30 miles from Charleston, W.V. At least one tanker went into the Kanawha River and a nearby house caught fire. It wasn’t clear if the storm had anything to do with the crash.
The storm was headed toward the Carolinas overnight, and then expected to march through the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear urged people to stay home if possible. By Monday afternoon, 9 inches of snow had fallen in Louisville and other parts were buried under a foot of snow.
In central Kentucky, home to much of the state’s signature thoroughbred industry, horses kept warm by galloping through the deep snow, pausing occasionally to shake it from their thick winter coats. Ned Toffey, general manager of Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, said the horses enjoy running in the snow because it gives a nicer cushion than hard-packed earth.
Arkansas had highs in the 70s Saturday and in the 30s a day later; nearly 30,000 people lost power at the peak of the storm.
Georgia officials took no chances, bringing more personnel to the state operations center and pre-treating roads with salt and water. Atlanta expected rain, but up to a quarter-inch of ice could accumulate in a handful of mountainous northern counties.
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory said he hopes the government is “over-prepared and underwhelmed.” It’s been almost a year since a winter storm dumped as much as 22 inches of snow in the North Carolina mountains and pelted the eastern part of the state with ice.
John Moore, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Memphis, said he believes Tennessee — where roads were slushy and traffic was moving slowly — was prepared in part because of the embarrassing scene that paralyzed Atlanta last year.
“We got the word out ahead of time to let people know, that even if we’re not expecting a lot, still check your forecast before you leave home in the morning because stuff can change so quickly,” he said.
