2-Foot Snow Snarls Appalachian Roads; Blizzard Hits Plains

Snow piled up nearly two feet deep Tuesday in the central Appalachians, stalling travelers in the Great Smoky Mountains on the first day of winter, while near-blizzard conditions forced motorists off roads in the Dakotas.

“It’s nasty,” said Margie Possen, manager of a restaurant along U.S. Highway 83 in Washburn, N.D., north of Bismarck. “There’s people in the ditch all over.”

At least eight traffic deaths were blamed on the snow. A small plane crashed in poor weather and one person was reported killed.

Twenty inches of snow fell atop eastern Tennessee’s Mt. LeConte, the highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains, National Park Service officials said. U.S. Highway 441 through the Smokies between Gatlinburg, Tenn., and Cherokee, N.C., was closed during the morning.

Up to 26 inches of snow fell in the mountains of western North Carolina, closing schools, contributing to hundreds of traffic accidents and knocking out power to thousands of customers.

Hundreds of people were reported stranded for several hours during the night as Interstate 40 in western North Carolina was blocked by jackknifed tractor-trailer rigs and other vehicles involved in accidents.

John and Hazizah Muth of Honolulu were among the travelers snowbound along I-40. They spent Monday night at Glenwood Baptist Church in Old Fort, one of five shelters opened in McDowell County. More than 200 people used the shelters.

“It’s been a marvelous experience here,” Muth said Tuesday. “We looked out the window this morning and everything is white as far as we can see.”

Snow also fell at higher elevations in the Northeast, with more than 10 inches expected in the Green Mountains of Vermont, the National Weather Service reported. Rain fell elsewhere in the Northeast, slowing morning commuters.

Two traffic deaths in North Carolina and one in Virginia were blamed on slippery roads.

On the northern Plains, winds gusting to more than 40 m.p.h. combined with light snow to produce near-blizzard conditions.