Southern Plains, East Coast brace for winter storm
Winter storm watches were posted Tuesday from the southern Plains to the East Coast as cold air threatened to set off an ice and snow storm. Parts of the Great Lakes states were cleaning up after a weekend of heavy “lake effect” snow. Up to 21/2 feet of snow had blanketed parts of western New York state by Monday.
The National Weather Service said stormy weather was possible from late Tuesday through Wednesday from Oklahoma and Missouri to the Carolinas and Virginia as a cold front plowed southward through the region.
“It could be a mess,” said weather service meteorologist John MacLeod in North Little Rock, Ark.
Rain was moving eastward toward the region through Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.
The rain already had changed to snow in the mountains of New Mexico, and roads were snowpacked Tuesday morning in the Raton, Santa Fe and Silver City areas, the state Highway and Transportation Department said.
Schools were closed because of the heavy snowfall at Moriarty, N.M., about a mile high on the eastern side of the Sandia Mountains, and at nearby Estancia.
On Monday, dozens of schools were closed in western New York, where snow had started before dawn Saturday, accumulating up to 21/2 feet deep by Monday afternoon.
The heavy bands of snow were produced by frigid air picking up moisture from the relatively warm Great Lakes.
Heavy snow also fell in parts of northwest Pennsylvania, northern Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.
More than 100 flights at Chicago’s O’Hare airport were canceled because of bad weather Monday.
Northwest Airlines canceled about 81 flights Monday in Michigan and its regional partners, Mesaba and Pinnacle, canceled about 90 flights, spokeswoman Mary Beth Schubert said.
Up to 11 inches of snow fell by Monday in parts of Michigan’s Thumb region, and up to 7 inches fell in the Upper Peninsula.
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