From the Deep South to the Mid-Atlantic, another winter storm was expected to bring more snow and ice Wednesday to many areas that were hit hard just last week. Part of the system was also forecast to hit the Midwest.
Schools, daycares and offices were closed ahead of the storm and governors once again declared states of emergency. The most intense part of the storm was forecast for north Texas eastward to North Carolina and Virginia. Snow accumulations could be 6 to 8 inches in some places.
By early Thursday, forecasters said, relief in the form of higher temperatures is expected.
Here’s a look at how winter weather has affected some areas:
SPEAK BRIEFLY, WEATHER IS COMING
Georgia lawmakers are working on a shortened schedule Wednesday at the Capitol in Atlanta. House Speaker David Ralston urged long-winded members to “disincline yourself” ahead of the ice or snow that was forecast to reach north Georgia by mid-afternoon.
“The key word is going to be ‘with dispatch,”‘ Ralston said, referring to legislators speaking quickly and effectively.
ARE YOU DELIVERING?
The manager of a sandwich shop in Shreveport, Louisiana, says it’s been delivering more food this week because of the bad weather.
“The first question asked when you answer the phone is ‘Are you delivering?”‘ according to Alli Walsh, who manages a Jimmy John’s in Shreveport.
Walsh said she has up to six delivery workers who are running multiple orders at a time. Shreveport could get up to 3 inches of snow.
TRAFFIC PILEUP
Near Bangor, Maine, more than 40 vehicles crashed on a snowy stretch of Interstate 95 on Wednesday, injuring at least 11 people, police said.
Emergency personnel climbed on top of cars to reach motorists stuck in the middle of the chaotic mass of vehicles.
The pileup involved cars, a school bus and a tractor-trailer, state police spokesman Steve McCausland said. No deaths were immediately reported. McCausland said some of the injuries were serious.
MILESTONE FOR BOSTON
With 1.9 inches of snow overnight, Boston has now received more than 100 inches of snow this winter.
The National Weather Service reported Wednesday that the snowfall as recorded at Logan International Airport is now 101.8 inches for the season.
That makes this winter the second snowiest on record, behind only the 107.6 inches recorded in the winter of 1995-96.
‘BE GREAT NEIGHBORS’
With the new weather system coming in, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam urged people to check on their neighbors as the death toll from last week’s ice storm climbed.
Haslam and state emergency officials flew over parts of the state Tuesday to survey the damage. At least 30 people have died across the state as a result of the ice storm and frigid temperatures. At least 10 are believed to have died as a result of hypothermia.
“The best thing we can do is ask people to be great neighbors,” Haslam said.
Some of the victims have died in their homes after being without heat. A number of people have been discovered dead outside their home, including two elderly people who are believed to have fallen and to have suffered from extreme exposure because they couldn’t get up.
HELP FROM NATIONAL GUARD
Virginia National Guard members improvised when they needed to carry two patients through heavy snow in Wise County.
First Sgt. Billy Bartlett with the 1033rd Engineer Company says in a news release that soldiers created stretchers from a combination of blankets and tarps.
The patients were taken to a medical evacuation site. One person needed dialysis, and the other was running low on oxygen. Specialist Nicholas Turner estimates that he and other soldiers carried the oxygen patient more than 150 yards through deep snow and ice.
Since Sunday, Guard members have helped the Wise County Sheriff’s Office deliver food, water and medicine throughout the county.
BITTER TEMPERATURES
Bitter temperatures have broken records two days in a row at Dulles International Airport in suburban Washington, D.C.
Steve Zubrick, a meteorologist with The National Weather Service, says the temperature dipped down to 6 degrees Wednesday, beating the previous record of 9 degrees in 1967. On Tuesday, the low of minus 4 at Dulles shattered the previous record of 14 degrees, also set in 1967.
Baltimore’s airport came within 2 degrees of its record lows Tuesday and Wednesday.
