Powerful winter storm dumps heavy snow, causing flight delays, slick roads and school closings

Winter storm blankets Southern U.S., causing chaos and rare snow days, with National Guards mobilized and flights canceled.

A powerful winter storm that dumped heavy snow and glazed roads with ice across much of Texas and Oklahoma lumbered eastward into Southern U.S. states Friday, making for dicey travel and a rare snow day for many students.

Arkansas and North Carolina mobilized their National Guards for tasks such as helping stranded motorists, as governors in multiple states declared states of emergency. The school was cancelled for millions of children from Texas to Georgia and as far east as South Carolina.

The storm piled up more than a year’s worth of snowfall on some Southern cities. As much as a foot (about 31 centimeters) fell in parts of Arkansas. There were reports of nearly 10 inches (about 25 centimeters) in Little Rock, a city that averages 3.8 inches (9.7 centimeters) a year.

More than 7 inches (about 18 centimeters) fell at Memphis International Airport in Tennessee since late Thursday. The city usually sees 2.7 inches (6.9 centimeters) a year. In some areas where snow tapered off, such as Memphis, the worry was that wet roads would freeze overnight.

Farther south and east into Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, a wintry mix of sleet, snow and ice made travel treacherous. The sleet and snow that fell over parts of Atlanta into South Carolina and North Carolina was changing to freezing rain, and forecasters warned that if the ice accumulation gets heavy enough, power lines and trees could topple.

The number of people without electricity in Georgia rose sharply in the evening to more than 100,000 customers, mostly around metro Atlanta. More than 30,000 lost power Friday night in northeast Texas and neighboring southwest Arkansas.

For kids home from school, the heavy wet stuff also packed into a pretty good snowball.