Parts of the South not used to winter weather were waking up on Friday to a mix of snow and sleet that has already closed schools and prompted officials to warn that travel may become next to impossible and power outages were likely.
Key things to know
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In the Southern United States, it doesn’t take huge amounts of snow or ice to disrupt everyday life.
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Snow fell from North Texas to Memphis from Thursday evening into early Friday, with up to five inches reported in Little Rock, Ark., and Oklahoma City as of 5 a.m. Eastern, according to the National Weather Service.
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Parts of the Mid-Atlantic, the Ohio Valley and the Northeast may see one to three inches of snow from Friday into Saturday.
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Though the storm will move out to sea by Saturday, the region will continue to see cooler temperatures into next week, prolonging the likelihood of hazardous travel conditions.
In Atlanta, where public schools were closed, forecasters expect freezing rain and up to three inches of snow starting early Friday morning. With the northern half of Georgia under a winter storm warning, Gov. Brian P. Kemp declared a state of emergency on Thursday because of the forecast and said it would be in place through Tuesday.
The governor asked residents to avoid travel as much as possible in the next few days. “Hazardous conditions, including ice and snow, can develop quickly and make travel very dangerous,” he said in a statement.
Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee likewise issued a state of emergency on Thursday afternoon. While Tennessee is no stranger to winter storms, some areas, like Memphis, could receive their largest two-day snow totals in 40 years. Parts of the state are still recovering from Helene, which moved through the state as a tropical storm in September.
Forecasters in Nashville reminded locals not to become hung up on the precise amounts, as any snow could cause hazardous travel in the region.
In Atlanta, it has been nearly 11 years since a small snowstorm, locally referred to as snowmageddon, shut down the city and became a punchline for a “Saturday Night Live” skit.
While snow has fallen in the city since then, it may still catch people off guard as the type of precipitation changes through the day. What is expected to start as snow Friday morning is likely to turn to sleet and then freezing rain across the Atlanta metropolitan area, turning untreated roads into ice skating rinks by the evening hours.
Across North Carolina, a similar scenario will begin to unfold around midday Friday and last overnight into Saturday. Accumulations of up to two inches are currently expected in the Mid-Atlantic area east of the Allegheny Mountains.
The storm is then expected to move off the coast, where it will strengthen but remain far enough away to avoid being a major hazard for the Northeast.
Abnormal cold across the East Coast is expected to continue into next week, allowing for some snow to stick around. And where the snow has melted during the day, it may refreeze at night, creating ongoing transportation hazards.
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