Snow, ice hit western, central US as massive storm sweeps nation

HOUSTON: A large winter weather disturbance brought snow and icy rain to the states of New Mexico and Texas yesterday, Saturday, during its move across the United States to the northeast, threatening many millions of Americans with power outages, transportation problems, and extreme cold.

Shoppers were plundering supermarket shelves in preparation for substantial snowfall in certain areas, along with “catastrophic” possibilities of ice buildup from freezing rain.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that "as many as 240 million Americans" in the region may be affected by the hurricane. At least 16 states and the U.S. capital Washington have stated their states of emergency.

In an alert issued on X, the National Weather Service advised, “Take this storm seriously, folks,” as they predicted an “astonishingly long swath” of snowfall stretching from Maine to New Mexico.

Over 3,400 flights entering and leaving the US on Saturday were canceled, with more than 1,100 others delayed, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

In Dallas, the city received freezing rain as temperatures dropped to 21F (-6C).

Texas officials pledged that it’s been in better shape than it was five years ago, when it failed during a lethal winter storm.