East Battered by New Storm; Toll Reaches 46

A new storm spread snow and freezing rain Sunday from the Tennessee and Ohio valleys to the East Coast for the second time in four days.

The storm was moving along the track followed last week by one that dumped a foot or more of snow from the Carolinas into New England. Since the beginning of last week’s storm, snow, ice and cold have been blamed for 46 deaths from Alabama to New England.

High temperatures Sunday ranged from the teens in New England to the 20s in Virginia and West Virginia after overnight lows dropped below zero in parts of northern New England across the Great Lakes.

Bitter Cold in Minnesota

Bitterly cold air hung over northern Minnesota, with lows of 41 below zero at Warroad, 40 below at Embarrass and 34 below at International Falls, and 22 below at Park Falls, Wis.

Snow squalls fed by the Great Lakes blew across Upstate New York, and Barnes Corners, about 15 miles east of Lake Ontario, got 34 inches of snow overnight for a total of 84 inches on the ground, the National Weather Service said. In New Jersey, a foot of snow was forecast for the southern part of the state.

In the South, snow fell in southeastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia and across Virginia to Delaware.

To the west, highways were icy in northern Arkansas, and one accident blocked U.S. 65 near Damascus for about eight hours, police said.

Schools Closed Today

Up to 7 inches had fallen in parts of Kentucky and West Virginia, and up to eight inches was expected in southern West Virginia’s mountains. Several counties in both states said schools would be closed today. Some West Virginia towns had a foot of snow left over from last week’s storm.

“In the Charleston area, they’re having trouble keeping the roads clear, or even close to it, because the snow keeps coming down faster than they can clear it off,” West Virginia Highways Department dispatcher Paul Tucker said.

Up to 10 inches was forecast in Virginia, where most roads were cleared of the seven to 18 inches of snow that fell last week, but many rural secondary roads were still icy and treacherous.

Freezing rain that left a layer of ice on Tennessee roads caused numerous traffic accidents, police said. And tree limbs falling on power lines cut service to about 5,000 customers in Nashville, Betty Forsythe of the Nashville Electric Service said.

Super Bowl Parties

The approaching storm and Super Bowl football parties led to a rush at some grocery stores. “We had lines halfway up our aisles,” said Brent Jarrett, co-manager of a store in Roanoke, Va. “I don’t know if we even have a bag of chips left on our racks.”

In the nation’s capital, the storm snarled air traffic Sunday, and major flight delays were reported at National Airport, where the high temperature reached only 17 degrees.

Airliner wings were de-iced before departures, and plows kept runways clear. As of early Sunday night, two to three inches of snow had fallen in and around the city.

Forecasts for the Washington area ranged from eight to 12 inches of snow by today.

About 200,000 government workers were given permission to take off work today in anticipation of major snowfall. “There will be a delayed arrival-liberal leave policy for federal employees (for today),” said Steve Thompson, a spokesman for the government’s Office of Personnel Management. “Employees may take leave without calling their supervisors first.”