The central United States is being bombarded by snow as a winter storm hits the area. Heavy snow and freezing rain began on Friday across Missouri and Kansas. Motorists found themselves stranded as snow-covered roads became impossible to pass.
The storm could last for days and has the possibility to cause trees to snap which in turn could trigger sporadic power outages.
AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said: “For many areas, this will be a long-duration winter storm event that lasts more than 12 hours and perhaps as long as 48 hours in some cases.”
The National Weather Service (NWS) reported that Northern Missouri and central Illinois will be hit the hardest.
The latest amounts of snowfall saw Cook, Nebraska experience 11.8 inches, Bridgetown, Illinois 10.5 inches and Amy and Scott State Lake in Kansas nine inches.
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The largest snowfall fell in Missouri, with Bridgetown blanketed in 13.5 inches.
AccuWeather meteorologist Bill Deger said in a blog post: “In much of swath from Missouri to southern Ohio, this will heavy and wet and a strain to shovel.
“The snow will be wet and clinging in nature. Weak tree limbs may give way under the weight of the snow and lead to sporadic power outages.”
There are more than 40 million currently under winter storm alerts, in what is the first big winter storm of the season for most areas.
Winter storm warnings have been issued from Kansas to southwestern Ohio as well as in parts of the Virginias, southern Maryland and North Carolina.
Metro areas that are included in warnings are Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Washington D.C., Roanoke and Greensboro – these areas are most likely to see dangerous travel conditions and heavy snow and/or ice according to The Weather Channel.
Three fatalities were confirmed on Friday, as nearly 60 crashes were recorded by Missouri State Patrol.
More than 90 motorists were stranded and four others injured as the snow gripped roads.
In a tweet, Missouri State Highway Patrol stated they had responded to 221 calls for assistance and urged residents to remain at home to prevent further crashes.
They tweeted: “Please stay home and allow crews to make the roadways safer!”
Those who must travel are being urged to carry a winter storm survival kit in case of emergency.
Yet more snow is forecast, and the Weather Channel is predicting that St Louis could see one of it’s heaviest 2 two-day snowfall events on record.