Central U.S. in Deep Freeze; Travel Hazardous Along East Coast

Snow, rain and wind combined to make traveling treacherous Wednesday along the Atlantic Coast while sleet and snow pelted the South and an Arctic air mass dropped temperatures far below zero in the nation’s midsection.

The National Weather Service posted flood and gale warnings for coastal New Jersey and Delaware, where up to 6 inches of snow fell overnight. Lesser amounts accumulated in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Light snow persisted in Delaware, most of it along the southern beach resorts, but it was not expected to accumulate. A storm system off North Carolina was blamed for high tides and winds.

Up to 10 inches of snow covered parts of interior Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., and 11 inches fell on Maryland’s Eastern Shore at Salisbury.

State Police in Salisbury reported a rash of traffic accidents caused “by people wanting to do 70 when they should’ve been doing 20,” dispatcher Janice Williams said.

Clouds carrying the threat of snow drifted over parts of southern New England, and the mercury dipped below zero in parts of Vermont and New Hampshire.

Arctic air remained entrenched over the nation’s midsection, dropping temperatures below zero for a second day. The cold air, combined with a low-pressure system over the Plains, triggered snow over parts of the Dakotas, Nebraska and Iowa. Up to a foot of snow had fallen in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the weather service reported.

Early morning temperatures were below zero in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The lowest temperature was reported at International Falls, Minn., with 21 degrees below zero.

Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana also shivered through another night in the teens and lower 20s. Six Texas cities reported record lows, including Houston at 19 degrees.

Freezing weather in the South led to sleet and snow in the mountains of Georgia and northwest North Carolina. Temperatures dipped into the 20s and 30s as far south as the Florida Panhandle.

In some areas of eastern Montana, visibility was less than one mile because of snow and blowing snow caused by gusty northerly winds. Overnight low temperatures were near zero.