WASHINGTON: It was too cold for school in Chicago and other Midwestern cities Friday as a huge, dayslong winter storm began to crank up that could bring snow, sleet, ice and bone-chilling temperatures as well as extensive power outages to about half the US population from Texas to New England.
Forecasters warned that the damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival a hurricane. Airlines canceled thousands of flights, churches moved Sunday services online and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, decided to hold its Saturday night radio performance without fans. Carnival parades in Louisiana were canceled or rescheduled.
At least 177 million people were under watches or warnings for ice and snow and more than 200 million were under cold weather adviseries or warnings. In many places, those overlapped. Utility companies braced for power outages because ice-coated trees and power lines can keep falling long after a storm has passed.
“It’s going to be a big storm,” Maricela Resendiz said as she picked up chicken, eggs and pizzas at a Dallas store to get her, her 5-year-old son and her boyfriend through the weekend. Her plans: “Staying in, just being out of the way.”
Ice, snow and sleet could begin falling later Friday in Texas and Oklahoma. The storm was expected to slide into the South with freezing rain and sleet. Then it will move into the Northeast, dumping about a foot (30 centimeters) of snow from Washington, D.C., through New York and Boston, the National Weather Service predicted.
