Roads have become dangerously coated in snow and ice, causing treacherous conditions and traffic slowing to a crawl across much of the midwest. At least three people have died so far. Two were killed in a car crash in Pemberton, New Jersey, whilst a third died after a fatal crash in Kansas.
The cause of the New Jersey crash remains under investigation, but the death of a 67-year-old woman in Kansas is being attributed to her losing control of her car in snowy and icy conditions.
Schools and offices have been closed across the region, with winter travel schedules in place for most of the midwest and southeast’s public transport.
Snowfall of around two to three inches per hour was recorded in south-central Pennsylvania and northwestern Virginia, with intermittent thundersnow.
Thundersnow is also known as a winter thunderstorm or a thunder snowstorm and is an unusual thunderstorm with snow falling instead of rain.
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There have also been speed and commercial vehicle restrictions put in place by the Pennsylvania Turnpike and state department of transportation, however, these have now been lifted.
There was a full, commercial vehicle ban – including buses – on Interstate 70 in Fulton County from the Maryland line to the turnpike; on I-99 from I-80 to the turnpike; and on I-80 from I-79 to the I-99 interchange.
There has been freezing rain along the I-80 from central and eastern Pennsylvania into northern New Jersey which has caused travel concerns.
AccuWeather Meteorologist Danielle Knittle said: “Scattered power outages remain a concern as well with the weight of the snow, sleet and freezing rain on power lines and tree limbs.”
Snowfall has broken records in Kennedy, New York when 1.8inches fell – breaking the old record of 1.0 inches which was set in 1977.
There have also been up to eight inches of snow recorded in areas of northwestern Virginia.
Ms Knittle continued: “Areas north and west of NYC will continue to see ice until past midnight before tapering off.
“In Boston, snow will mix with and change to sleet and freezing rain as temperatures continue to slowly rise overnight.”
The Minnesota State Patrol tweeted that it had responded to 140 crashes between 10am to 6pm on Wednesday.
A total of 16 of these crashes resulted in injuries but none were serious the Patrol said.
It added that 216 vehicles had spun out or gone off the road, urging drivers to slow down and allow for longer following distances.
Whilst snow has eased off slightly, commuters are still being warned to drive carefully as snow and sleet have created icy road conditions.