One of the biggest snowfalls in several years impacted Indianapolis and Indiana Wednesday.(Photo: Mike Fender, Indianapolis Star)
A major winter storm already being blamed for the loss of six lives
is bearing down on the Northeast, bringing with it a treacherous mix of
heavy rain, strong winds, freezing temperatures and intense snowfall.
The
National Weather Service has warned of hazardous travel conditions,
with the severe weather expected to aggressively push eastward through
New York state, into New England, through Thursday and possibly into
Friday morning, too.
The storm has already wreaked havoc in the nation's midsection.
Arkansas declared a state of emergency after seeing record amounts of snow and large-scale power cuts.
On Christmas Day, tornadoes battered Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
The
National Weather Service said early Thursday that snow was falling
heavily in upstate New York, parts of Pennsylvania and some New England
states.
Among the highest snow totals were 2 to five inches in
southeastern Massachusetts, 3 to 6 inches in Connecticut, up to a foot
in some Pennsylvania counties and 10 to 11 inches in some parts of
western New York.
In Buffalo, there were warnings of near-zero visibility as high winds were expected to collide with heavy snowfall.
The
system, which spawned the Gulf Coast region twisters, pushed through
the Upper Ohio Valley and headed into the Northeast Wednesday night.
High
winds, snow and sleet slickened roads in Massachusetts, Rhode Island
and Connecticut, causing dozens of minor accidents and spinouts.
Forecasts called for 12 to 18 inches of snow inland from western New York to Maine.
The
system was expected to taper off into a mix of rain and snow closer to
the coast, where little or no accumulation was expected in such cities
as Philadelphia, Boston and New York.
The storm left freezing
temperatures in its aftermath, and forecasters also said parts of the
Southeast from Virginia to Florida would see severe thunderstorms.
Over
2,000 flights were cancelled on Wednesday and thousands more were
delayed, according to the FlightStats.com, a flight-tracking service.
USA Today