About 32 million people are under winter warnings Saturday as Florida residents brace for bitter cold and snow targets the southern Appalachians and the Southeast.
Record lows are likely this weekend in many Florida cities, including Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tallahassee, Pensacola, Miami, Melbourne, Key West, West Palm Beach and Gainesville.
Miami could see its coldest temperatures in more than a decade, with an overnight low around 35 degrees. This will be a damaging freeze for Florida, with wind chills in northern parts of the state and in the teens in central Florida.
Snow will fall in parts of the Carolinas, Tennessee and Georgia starting Saturday afternoon and continuing through Sunday morning.
This weekend’s snowfall comes a week after a massive snowstorm in the US killed more than 100 people, including 21 people in Tennessee and 17 in Mississippi. The death toll from the storm continues to rise as states pick up the pieces from the major weather event.
There is a dry spot over central parts of North Carolina, which could reduce accumulation in Raleigh, but eastern parts of the state are still expected to get at least 6 to 12 inches of snow Sunday morning.
The combination of strong gusty winds near the coast will produce near-blizzard conditions, which will significantly reduce visibility and lead to hazardous conditions late Saturday and overnight. The strong winds will also increase the risk of coastal flooding, with 2 to 4 feet of flooding possible for North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
Parts of North Carolina, including highways, were covered in a fresh white blanket of snow Saturday morning. A semi-truck was stuck in snow on Interstate 40 near Iredell County along the state line with Tennessee, according to a video from the North Carolina Department of Transportation. It started snowing Saturday afternoon in Jacksonville, near the North Carolina coast.
“For the safety of our crews, first responders and yourselves, please avoid unnecessary travel today,” the department asked residents.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol reported 340 collisions on Saturday. In Gaston County, a train struck a semi-truck at Airline Avenue and Poplar Street on Saturday morning, according to Gastonia police. No one was injured in the accident, police said.
A Curfew is scheduled for coastal Onslow County from Saturday at 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily until further notice due to the winter storm.
Heavy snowfall rates of 1 inch per hour were forecast for Piedmont, South Carolina, on Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.
The storm is expected to intensify and expand on Sunday as it heads out to sea, hitting Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. As the low moves offshore by mid-morning, the snow will end for all but eastern Massachusetts.
A quick snow shower will continue through Sunday afternoon and end in the evening. Even after the snow subsides, the weekend will still remain breezy and cold across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, with gusts of 50 to well over 60 mph possible.
Snowfall accumulations as of Saturday afternoon included 9 inches in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, 7.5 inches in Tiger, Georgia and 4 inches in Charlotte, North Carolina.
For the rest of the northeast, it will be dry, windy and very cold on Sunday.
Arctic blast and record cold
About 133 million people are under cold weather warnings Saturday afternoon in areas stretching from Texas to Massachusetts.
The cold air is gripping the eastern half of the country, with temperatures 10 to 30 degrees below average, especially from the southern Plains to the East Coast. Highs on Saturday in the Midwest, Ohio Valley and Northeast will be a deep freeze, with temperatures struggling to rise above the teens and twenties.
Freezing temperatures will also affect much of Mississippi, Louisiana and northern Georgia, with the next round of frigid air dropping temperatures in Miami on Sunday.
Air will warm slightly Monday, but temperatures on the East Coast will remain below average for most of next week.
Christmas O’Connor, Emilie Dorn, Aaron Gilchrist And Christine Rap contributed.
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