Topline
Parts of 19 southern and midwestern states are under warnings and watches for winter storm and weather Thursday as Winter Storm Cora threatens to bring up to 8 inches of snow from Oklahoma to North Carolina with sleet, freezing rain and ice accumulation to follow throughout the southeast.
Key Facts
The National Weather Service says more winter weather is on the way for portions of Texas into the Lower Mississippi Valley and mid-south, bringing significant storm Thursday into Friday.
More than a dozen southeastern and midwestern states are at least partially under watches and warnings for winter weather, including including the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Nashville, St. Louis, Missouri, Louisville, Kentucky and Little Rock, Arkansas.
Texas has the highest slow total forecast with between 8 and 10 inches expected in the northeast and north central parts of the state, and parts of Arkansas, including Little Rock, could get up to 9 inches.
The storm is expected to hit the Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachian region Friday morning, bringing with it between 3 and 6 inches snow to east Tennessee (including Nashville), southwest Virginia, south Kentucky and north Georgia throughout the day and overnight, causing potentially dangerous road conditions.
Another 4 to 6 inches of snow could fall in east Arkansas, north Mississippi, southeast Missouri and west Tennessee, and light snow and ice accumulation is expected in eastern and southern Oklahoma.
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How Much Snow Will Texas Get?
Some areas could face record snowfall. If even 6 inches of snow falls in North Texas, it would be one of the top five heaviest snow days in Dallas history. On average, the area sees 1.6 inches of snow in a given year, and Winter Storm Cora could bring triple that in hours between Thursday and Friday. The last major winter storm in Texas, which hit in February 2021, caused days-long power outages as the freeze overwhelmed the state’s power grid. The storm killed more than 240 people.
What States Are Under Winter Storm Warnings?
Winter storm warnings are active in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi, and winter storm watches extend to North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia. Winter weather advisories have been issued in New Mexico, across most of Texas and Oklahoma, and in parts of Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Freeze warnings are active in parts of Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
Key Background
Winter Storm Blair hit the Midwest last weekend and broke snow records in major cities, including Kansas City, where more than a foot of snow fell in 24 hours, and Cincinnati, which broke its single-day snow record for Jan. 5 with 5 inches of snow. The storm then moved east to Washington D.C., where the nation’s capital was hit with 5 to 10 inches of snow and federal offices were closed both Monday and Tuesday. Several vehicle-related deaths have been blamed on the storm, which hampered travel across the region by car, plane and train. Power was restored to tens of thousands of impacted customers by Thursday morning, according to poweroutage.us.
How Many Flights Were Cancelled?
Some 6,689 U.S. flights were canceled this week, according to FlightAware, and another 30,083 were delayed. The highest number of cancelled flights came from airports in regions impacted by Winter Storm Blair, including Reagan National in D.C., St. Louis, Chicago O’Hare and Dallas-Forth Worth.
Further Reading