The polar vortex brings its bitter cold to the Southern US
By PATRICK WHITTLE and BRIAN WITTE, Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The plunging polar vortex brought subfreezing temperatures Tuesday to some of the southernmost points of the U.S., threatening to dump snow on parts of Texas and Oklahoma in the coming days and contributing to a power outage in Virginia’s capital that made the water unsafe to drink.
The arctic blast that descended on much of the U.S. east of the Rockies over the weekend has caused hundreds of car accidents, thousands of flight cancellations and delays, and forced school closures in some states. A cold weather advisory was issued Tuesday for the Gulf Coast. And the low temperature in El Paso, which sits Texas’ border with Mexico, was 31 degrees (minus 0.5 Celsius), with an expected wind chill factor ranging from 0 to 15 degrees (minus 18 to minus 9 Celsius) early Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Road crews in the Kansas City area, which has received about 11 inches (28 centimeters) of snow in recent days, have struggled to keep up with clearing the area’s streets and highways.
“I don’t know what super powers some think snow removal teams have but 2 days of straight snow & ice isn’t going to disappear overnight,” the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, wrote in a Facebook post.
Law enforcement officers stand guard at the Capitol as snow falls ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A child catches snowflakes with their tongue during El Museo del Barrio’s 47th annual Three Kings Day parade, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
People engage in a snowball fight as U.S. flags, along the base of the Washington Monument, fly at half-staff in memorial to former President Jimmy Carter, who died at the age of 100, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Heavy snow falls as a person walks along U.S. Route 42 in Florence, Ky., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
National Park Service workers shovel a pathway during a winter storm at the White House, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Workers clear the plaza at the Capitol as snow falls ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Bobbie Trotenberg’s bearded Collie named “Rosalita ” plays in the snow on Monday, Jan 6, 2025, during a snow fall near Washington Square park in Philadelphia. (Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Mackenzie Smith, 9, wins a race against her brother, Landon Smith, 3, and her father, Ryan Smith, as they sled down the hill behind Chautauqua Park during the second day of a winter storm in Owensboro, Ky., on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Alan Warren/The Messenger-Inquirer via AP)
Traffic makes it way on snow-covered U.S. 31 in Carmel, Ind., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Truckers fight the weather as they stop on Interstate 44 in Fenton, Mo. to change wiper blades as sleet falls on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
Vehicles drive along Main Street in Lexington, Ky., on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader via AP)
Snow covers vehicles parked at the Helix Garage in downtown Lexington, Ky., on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader via AP)
National Park Service workers shovel a pathway during a winter storm at the White House, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Snow covers homes during a winter storm, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
A workman clears steps at the Capitol as snow falls ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Police from nearby Arlington, Va., arrive at the Capitol to help reinforce the security presence ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
A person walks near the Washington Monument during a winter snow storm in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Law enforcement officers stand guard at the Capitol as snow falls ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
People ski during a winter snow storm in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A person clears off a car during a winter snow storm in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A pedestrian makes their way though a tunnel along the snow-covered Monon Trail in Carmel, Ind., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Dave Thomasson uses an electric snowblower to clear his driveway in the Webster Oaks subdivision of Webster Groves, Mo. as residents started clearing a path on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
Heavy snow falls as a person walks along U.S. Route 42 in Florence, Ky., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A runner makes his way through a snow-covered street in Indianapolis, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Josh Williams, of Johnstown, shovels snow from the walkway at First United Methodist Church on Vine Street in downtown Johnstown, Pa., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Thomas Slusser/The Tribune-Democrat via AP)
John Lovrich uses his Yamaha Kodiak 450 4×4 all-terrain vehicle to plow snow near his home in the Cambria City section of Johnstown, Pa., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Thomas Slusser/The Tribune-Democrat via AP)
A Delta Air Lines jet is deiced before takeoff at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Mich., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Rosie Henson, from left, Charlotte Hall and Jaya Demni play around in the snow near Schifferstadt Museum in Frederick, Md.,on Monday, Jan. 6. 2025. (Ric Dugan/The Frederick News-Post via AP)
A worker clears snow from an apron before guiding a Delta Air Lines jet at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Mich., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
“Aurelia Roma”, a 1994 Italian marble sculpture by Manuel Neri, is wrapped for the season as she stands in the pool of the Estate House terrace surrounded by snow at Laumeier Sculpture Park in Sunset Hills, Mo. on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
A man wearing a Venezuelan flag starts a moped as snow begins to fall again, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
St. Ann resident Troupe El checks for traction on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, after getting his vehicle stuck trying to enter St. Charles Rock Road from the Crossings at Northwest in St. Ann, Mo. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
Hundreds of passengers wait to clear a security checkpoint as Kansas City International Airport worked to return to normal flight operations following flight delays and cancellations during a winter storm, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025 in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
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Law enforcement officers stand guard at the Capitol as snow falls ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
As points north and east dug their way out of snow and ice on Tuesday, communities in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas were preparing for their own helping. A low-pressure system was expected to form as soon as Wednesday near South Texas, which could bring several inches of snow to the Dallas area and the lower Mississippi Valley, the weather service said.
“As we go through the next few days, we’re still going to be seeing those colder-than-normal temperatures,” said Peter Mullinax, a weather service meteorologist based in College Park, Maryland. “We’re going to see areas of snow and ice start to take shape across northern Texas, southern Oklahoma as we get into Thursday morning.”
Some of it could be “pretty disruptive,” he said.
The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole, but it sometimes plunges south into the U.S., Europe and Asia. Some experts say such cold air outbreaks are happening more frequently, paradoxically, because of a warming world.
Transportation has been tricky
The eastern two-thirds of the U.S. were dealt another day of colder-than-usual temperatures. And the snow and ice in the central Plains through the Ohio Valley into the Atlantic is likely to linger for a few days, Mullinax said, which will mean opportunities for constant refreezing and black ice. That could create treacherous road conditions.
A Kentucky truck stop was jammed Monday with big rigs forced off an icy and snow-covered Interstate 75 just outside Cincinnati. Michael Taylor, a long-haul driver from Los Angeles carrying a load of rugs to Georgia, said he saw numerous cars and trucks stuck in ditches and was dealing with icy windshield wipers before he pulled off the interstate.
“It was too dangerous. I didn’t want to kill myself or anyone else,” he said.
Hundreds of car accidents were reported in Virginia, Indiana, Kansas and Kentucky, where a state trooper was treated for non-life-threatening injuries after his patrol car was hit.
Virginia State Police responded to at least 430 crashes on Sunday and Monday, including one that was fatal. Police said other weather-related fatal accidents occurred Sunday near Charleston, West Virginia, and Monday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Kansas had two deadly crashes over the weekend.
More than 1,000 flights into or out of the U.S. were already delayed Tuesday morning, according to tracking platform FlightAware. More than 2,300 flights were canceled Monday and at least 9,100 more were delayed nationwide.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport reported that about 58% of arrivals and 70% of departures had been canceled. The airport announced early Tuesday that it had reopened all runways after closing them Monday evening so airport crews could focus on snow removal and prevent refreezing on the airfield.
Tens of thousands are without power
Many were in the dark as temperatures plunged. About 200,000 customers were without power Tuesday across Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois and Missouri, according to electric utility tracking website PowerOutage.us.
In Virginia’s capital city, a weather-related power outage caused a temporary malfunction in the water system, officials said Monday. Richmond officials asked those in the city of more than 200,000 people to refrain from drinking tap water or washing dishes without boiling the water first. The city also asked people to conserve their water, such as by taking shorter showers.
City officials said they were working nonstop to bring the system back online.
Witte reported from Annapolis, Maryland. Associated Press journalists Bruce Schreiner in Shelbyville, Kentucky; Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky; Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Lea Skene in Baltimore; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Julie Walker in New York; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Kimberly Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama; Zeke Miller in Washington, D.C.; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia; Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
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