Snow Covers 65% of Lower 48 States and More Coming!! (566 hits)
(CNN) -- Snow covers most of the lower 48 states following a week of wicked weather, but forecasters warned on Friday that it's not over yet. Freezing rain threatened parts of Texas, Missouri and Tennessee and a fresh snow storm is expected to push into Michigan. Residents of Oklahoma and Arkansas are "likely to see ice accumulate on top of snow and that could compromise power lines," said CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider. "Keep that in mind for those of you traveling on Interstate 40 specifically."
Snow covers 65% of the ground in the lower 48 states, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. For comparison, last winter's top snow coverage for the lower 48 was nearly 48%. "That was in February at the peak of winter and we're still in December," Schneider said. ... Snowfall totals of a foot or more were common throughout the Northeast: 21 inches fell in Woodford, Vermont; 17.4 inches in Addison, New York; and 15 inches in Ashfield, Massachusetts.
Caleb Clark, a CNN iReporter in Brattleboro in southern Vermont, called it a 'classic snowstorm.' "(It is) a nice and fluffy New England snow, not too dangerous and you could walk around without mittens," he said. For travelers, major airports reported relatively few weather-related problems after a week that included thousands of flight delays and cancellations. Friday's storms in the Midwest and in the South are expected to converge on Saturday as they move into the Northeast.
Two to four inches of snow could fall from southern Illinois to New Jersey. New York City will see a couple inches of snow on Saturday. Areas of Connecticut to eastern Massachusetts could see higher snow amounts by Saturday night depending on the storm's track.
Traffic nightmares: Here's the damage that the winter storm has wrought so far On the roads on Thursday, the storm triggered multi-vehicle pileups and other traffic nightmares across the Midwest. Even drivers in the Northeast had a tough time navigating the icy conditions. Jim DeMarino said a normally four-hour drive from Pittsburgh to northern Virginia took eight hours! ...
Winter wonderland in Dallas>> For others, the winter storm system brought a rare white Christmas. In Dallas, some residents had to change from short sleeves to winter coats on Tuesday, as temperatures plummeted from the 60s to the low 20s in one day. "We knew it was going to be a white Christmas in Dallas this year as per the weather advisory, but were not aware it will turn out to be so beautiful and freezing cold," Shail Bhatt said. It's not often that Dallas gets more snow than Chicago, but that's what happened this week.
