A powerful winter storm that dumped heavy snow and glazed roads with ice across much of Texas and Oklahoma lumbered eastward into southern U.S. states Friday, prompting governors to declare states of emergency and shuttering schools across the region.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders mobilized the National Guard to help stranded motorists. School was canceled for millions of children across a wide tract of southern states from Texas to Georgia and as far east as South Carolina.
Some of the heaviest snowfall was expected Friday across the northern half of Arkansas and much of Tennessee, with expected totals in some parts of those states ranging from 6 to 9 inches (about 15 to 22 centimeters), according to the National Weather Service.
As much as a foot (about 31 centimeters) of snow fell in parts of Arkansas, where schools remained closed Friday. Six inches had already coated Memphis, Tennessee, from late Thursday into Friday morning, and heavy, wet flakes were still falling.
Farther south and east into Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, a wintry mix of sleet, snow and ice made travel treacherous.
Mikayla Johnson, 12, was out making snow angels and snowmen in Atlanta on her day off from school.
“My first thought was, WOW!” said Mikayla, who was outdoors with her father, Nate. “We haven’t had snow since I was like 4 — the good snow, at least. So, I’m really happy.”
The storm dumped as much as 7 inches (about 18 centimeters) in some spots in central Oklahoma and northern Texas.
And in the Kansas City area, students were back at school in several districts Thursday after three straight snow days, only to see classes called off again Friday because of more snow.
Delta passenger injuries in Atlanta
Snow began falling in metro Atlanta before dawn, leading to hundreds of flights being cancelled and hundreds more delayed at Atlanta’s airport, according to flight tracking software FlightAware. Controllers declared a ground stop before 8 a.m., meaning no planes could land or take off. Atlanta, a major hub for Delta Air Lines, is the world’s busiest airport.
Four passengers were injured after a Delta Air Lines plane bound for Minneapolis aborted takeoff on Friday morning, according to a statement by officials at the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The airport’s X account reported that passengers had to deplane via emergency slides.
One passenger was taken to a hospital for treatment, while three people were treated at the scene for minor injuries. The incident contributed to further delays at the airport, although Delta said it was unclear whether the weather had anything to do with the flight aborting its takeoff.
Other airports with significant delays and cancellations included those in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dallas-Fort Worth and Nashville. Fifty-five passengers who were on three American Airlines flights that were diverted from Dallas-Fort Worth spent the night at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock on Thursday.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urged residents to avoid driving if possible. Some 75,000 fans were expected Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington for the college football championship semifinal between Texas and Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole, but it sometimes ventures south into the U.S., Europe and Asia. Some experts say such events are happening more frequently, paradoxically, because of a warming world.
The cold snap coincided with rare January wildfires tearing through the Los Angeles area.
Southern discomfort
As much as 8 inches (about 20 centimeters) of snow could fall in parts of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia through Saturday, the weather service said. Snow and ice were likely to accumulate across metro Atlanta on Friday, making roadways treacherous and possibly causing power outages.
More than 1 million public school students in metro Atlanta and north Georgia got a snow day or were at home learning online.
After a disastrous snowstorm in 2014 that left thousands of Atlanta-area workers and schoolchildren stranded overnight away from home, officials in Georgia were quick to cancel in-person classes and close offices Friday.
Georgia emergency officials said they learned lessons from past Atlanta ice storms. During this storm, crews are towing vehicles stalled in the snow, which was a massive problem during past ice and snow storms when interstates and roads became clogged with stalled cars and trucks, said James Stallings, director of Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
Many schools canceled classes Friday in Alabama’s northern half, where state roads were largely covered in snow or ice and some were already impassible, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Friday morning.
Tennessee also faced a state of emergency. The state’s largest school district, Memphis-Shelby County Schools with more than 100,000 students, closed all schools Friday. Tours at Graceland, Elvis Presley’s former home-turned-museum, were canceled Friday, a spokeswoman said.
Joe Feliciano tromped over snowy sidewalks to deliver mail in Nashville on Friday. The Florida native isn’t used to driving in the snow, but the U.S. Postal Service trained him, so now he’s “nervous, but confident.” Just drive slow and be careful, he added.
“This is like, ‘Wow!’ This is a lot of snow,” Feliciano said, noting he moved to Tennessee in late 2023.
Parts of South Carolina were seeing their first wintry weather in three years. The state Department of Transportation treated interstates and other major highways from Columbia northward, but vehicles were slipping off icy Interstate 95 south of the city. Some schools closed Friday.
Gov. Josh Stein declared a state of emergency for North Carolina. The approaching storm prompted the cancellation of a public outdoor inauguration ceremony for Stein and other statewide elected officials in Raleigh on Saturday.
