A rare winter storm is expected to bring heavy snow and ice to a swathe of the southern US, from Texas to north Florida, prompting residents to prepare for hazardous conditions. The storm follows an intense Arctic air mass that has plunged temperatures far below normal across the country, disrupting travel and impacting daily life.
Frigid temperatures engulfed the South on Monday ahead of a winter storm that's expected to spread heavy snow and disruptive ice around a region from Texas to north Florida that rarely sees such weather, sending residents rushing to insulate pipes, check heating systems and stock up on emergency supplies.
Around 40 million people, primarily across the southern U.S., were under some type of weather hazard, including more than 21 million under a winter storm warning, said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland. He added about 170 million people from the Rockies to points eastward were under either an extreme warning or a cold weather advisory.
Winter storm warnings were in effect in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle. The storm was expected to impact Texas starting Monday evening, spread eastward through Wednesday morning with heavy snow expected along and to the north of the Interstate 10 corridor with sleet and freezing rain in south Texas and southeast Georgia and northern Florida.
The intense cold temperatures prompted Donald Trump to take the oath as president Monday from inside the Capitol Rotunda, upending months of meticulous planning for a massive outdoor event with crowds sprawling down the National Mall. The last time an inaugural ceremony was held indoors was Ronald Reagan's in 1985.
Like earlier this month, this latest cold snap comes from a disruption in the polar vortex, the ring of cold air usually trapped about the North Pole.
WINTER STORM ARCTIC BLAST SOUTH ICE SNOW
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