People in the eastern US woke up to colder than average temperatures on Friday after a punishing snowstorm led to school cancellations, flight delays and hundreds of people stranded on a Kentucky highway for more than 12 hours.
Colder than average temperatures are expected through the weekend, as a winter storm pushes into the Atlantic after dumping about 2ft of snow on parts of the eastern US, according to the National Weather Service. Weather officials are warning people to take precautions while driving in the slush, ice and snow.
Traffic conditions have improved in Kentucky after nearly 2ft of snow caused a traffic jam that lasted for more than 12 hours from Wednesday into Thursday. Governor Steve Beshear declared a state of emergency and the National Guard was called into Hardin County, which was particularly badly affected by the storm.
A group of Chicago civil rights activists, including the Rev Jesse Jackson’s wife Jacqueline Brown, were among those stuck. Brown was part of a group of activists travelling to Alabama for the 50th anniversary of the march from Selma to Montgomery.
Many people along w/ my wife & @RPCoalition staff members stuck on I-65 in Kentucky since 2:30am. Elizabethtown @CNN pic.twitter.com/f01JePSQwz
— Rev Jesse Jackson Sr (@RevJJackson) March 5, 2015
Nearly 600 flights had been cancelled in the US as of Friday morning, according to FlightAware.com. One of the country’s busiest transportation hubs, New York City’s LaGuardia airport, closed for a short time on Thursday after a Delta Airlines airplane skidded across its runway while landing in heavy snow. None of the flight’s 127 passengers reported serious injuries.
As the north-east heads towards average temperatures for March, AccuWeather.com predicts that the central US will warm up next week.
Alaska, meanwhile, has been experiencing warmer than usual temperatures as it prepares to host the most famous sled dog race, the Iditarod, on Saturday. Because of the relatively low amounts of snow and ice, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race organizers have moved the competition 225 miles (360km) to the north.
The western US is expected to stay warm and dry through the week as California experiences on of its warmest winters on record.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday said that the incoming El Niño weather phase, which typically brings moisture to the southern US, “is too little, too late” to provide California with any relief from its severe drought.
