Early-morning commuters in much of the Deep South, braced for the
possibility of a second round of snow and ice, had an
easier-than-expected ride Monday as warmer temperatures kept winter
weather at bay.
Most winter weather advisories and warnings were
canceled early Monday except for portions of northern Alabama and
Georgia at higher elevations. However, the advisories and warnings
stretched into Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Forecasters had warned of
an additional 1 to 3 inches of snow accumulation in the South on Sunday
night into Monday morning. The Deep South had up to 6 inches of snow in
some areas Friday.
But "the accumulating snow that was in last
night's forecast isn't going to happen," CNN meteorologist Sean Morris
said Monday. "It is now too warm."
As of 5:30 a.m. ET, the
temperature in Atlanta was 41 degrees, well above the freezing mark,
and rain was falling. Forecasters initially had expected the rain to
turn into snow after 1 a.m. Monday.
Snow flurries are forecast later Monday
as an Arctic front moves through, Morris said, but no accumulation was
expected outside mountainous areas. The weather will be "not nearly as
bad as what was forecast," CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano said.
Hundreds of flights were canceled out of Atlanta in anticipation of the newest round of winter weather.
Delta
Air Lines said Sunday that it was canceling 400 flights from early
morning through noon Monday, the majority in the Carolinas, Tennessee
and Georgia. AirTran Airways canceled 48 flights scheduled to depart or arrive in Atlanta between 8 and 10 a.m. Monday, and a spokesman said more cancellations were possible.
Beleaguered states in the mid-Atlantic region also may catch a break from the heavy snowfall initially predicted.
A snow emergency set to take effect Monday morning in Washington will not happen. The National Weather Service was forecasting a slight chance of snow before noon, then a mix of rain and snow, with an above-freezing high of 36 degrees.
The
area already has shoveled itself out of a season record snowfall of
55.9 inches, according to preliminary National Weather Service
estimates.
Slick
conditions in Kansas on Sunday caused at least two massive pileups, one
of which involved as many as 30 vehicles. Video showed cars, vans and
trucks sandwiched on a small bridge, with emergency workers climbing
over vehicles to reach the injured. The extent of injuries was not
immediately known. Portions of Interstates 70 and 35 were closed for
hours, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Drivers involved in the I-70 pileup described poor visibility conditions to CNN affiliate KSHB in Kansas City, Missouri.
"It
happened too fast," said motorist Sam Skramstad, who was driving home
to Colorado. "It was just there and I headed for the guardrail and it
didn't move. And then I just kept getting nailed from behind."
He said his wife went to the hospital with chest pains after the crash.
Friday's
storm system crawled from Texas to the Atlantic Coast, starting before
dawn Thursday and lasting until Saturday morning. During that period,
8.8 inches of snow fell on Harkers Island, North Carolina, according to
weather service data.
Other notable snowfall totals include:
14.9 inches in Duncanville, Texas; 6 inches in Belleville, Alabama; 6.1
inches in Shreveport, Louisiana; 8 inches in DeKalb, Mississippi; and
7.3 inches in Columbia, South Carolina.
As of
Friday, according to the National Weather Service, 68.1 percent of the
United States was covered with snow, compared with 51.2 percent in
January. Every state except Hawaii had some snow cover.
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