Storm That Left 23 Dead Dumps Snow in East, Closing Highways

Heavy snow and frigid temperatures moved to the East Coast on Sunday after leaving 23 dead on Great Lakes highways and forcing sports fans in two states to sleep over in arenas rather than risk treacherous drives home.

The quick-moving storm dumped between 2 inches and 5 inches of snow in northern New Jersey and New York.

Poor visibility in blowing snow forced police to close a 16-mile stretch of the New York State Thruway in the Hudson Valley.

New Englanders awoke to a storm expected to drop up to a foot of snow on the region. A winter storm warning was in effect for most of southern New England, two days after the region recorded balmy 65-degree temperatures.

Falling snow and wind chills to 40 degrees below zero Sunday prompted officials to urge caution for motorists in western Pennsylvania and the West Virginia panhandle. At least 6 inches of snow was recorded at the airport in West Virginia on Sunday morning.

The National Weather Service said arctic air spilling down from Canada created bone-chilling temperatures throughout the East Coast and Midwest, where the mercury hovered in the single digits and teens. The temperatures were expected to dip to near-record lows overnight.

Highway crews removed hundreds of wrecked cars that littered roadways in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin. Saturday’s blowing snow and 60 m.p.h. winds were blamed for 23 traffic fatalities in the four states, police said.

Roads remained ice-covered in parts of lower Michigan, which was battered Sunday by 40 m.p.h. winds and up to 10 inches of snow Saturday.

About 1,000 people were forced to spend the night at the Oak Harbor High School near Toledo, Ohio, after a sectional wrestling tournament was canceled because blowing snow forced the closure of roads in the area, police said. Shelters were set up in Bowling Green fire departments and an Elks Lodge.

In Indianapolis, more than 600 people who had come to see the Indiana girls’ high school basketball championships spent Saturday night in their seats.