Winter Storm Causes Widespread Problems

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Winter Storm Causes Widespread Problems
9AM EST, January 26, 2004

A storm system organizing over the
lower Mississippi Valley has spread a
wide range of winter weather across the
eastern half of the country since
Sunday morning.

The storm dropped a blanket of snow
from the southern Appalachians and
Piedmont northeastward to
Pennsylvania Sunday and Sunday
night. Snow totals of 4-8" accumulated
in the Washington DC and Baltimore
metro areas with similar amounts
through Virginia and western North
Carolina.

Sleet and freezing rain was a problem
from Missouri eastward through the
Ohio Valley. Coatings of up to 3/4" of
ice had downed tree limbs and caused
power outages. Ice was also a major
problem from Atlanta northeastward
through the Carolinas.

Ice was seen all the way to the coast of
South Carolina and North Carolina. A
WeatherBug live sensor in Charleston,
South Carolina was sitting at 31
degrees early Monday.

The storm had also gathered some very
warm and humid and unstable air along
the Gulf Coast. Thunderstorms had
formed in this unstable air and a
tornado watch was in effect until noon
for parts of southern Alabama, Georgia
and northwest Florida.

During the day on Monday, the storm
system will tap Gulf moisture and
spread another round of icy rains up the
eastern seaboard. Near the storm
center in the Mississippi Valley, snow
will spread over a large area of the
Plains while more ice will be possible
from Indianapolis to St. Louis.

Winter weather advisories and winter
storm warnings had been raised over
much of the Midwest and also along the
East Coast from Georgia to New
Jersey.

The second wave of this storm will
cause icing conditions over a large area
of the eastern U.S. Residents should
keep informed about changing weather
conditions and monitor the local
temperatures using the high-resolution
WeatherBug live network.