Winter Storm Shrouds East With Third Layer of Snow

The third storm in as many days swept out of the Great Plains on Thursday, adding another layer of snow to drifts that were more than a foot deep in many areas.

“It will come down hard and fast and then be gone like an express train,” Peter Leavitt of Weather Services Corp. in Bedford, Mass., said of the storm. “Then it will turn colder.”

Temperatures hovering near zero froze puddles and turned messy slush into rock-hard ice across much of the eastern half of the nation.

The thick layer of snow extending from Nebraska to New England will ensure colder weather by reflecting the sun’s rays back into space while insulating warmth from the ground under its icy blanket, Leavitt said.

The snow was as deep as a foot and a half in the Dakotas and western Minnesota, with blowing and drifting snow adding to the hazardous conditions.

Just behind the storm in Iowa, the temperature dipped to 3 below zero in Waterloo and 5 below in Mason City.

The temperature in Chicago was below freezing Thursday, and forecasters were calling for two to six more inches of snow on top of the 12 inches already on the ground.

The cold weather was expected to delay flooding that had begun to plague riverside communities throughout the Midwest, but a rapid thaw could restart the flooding cycle.

“With all the moisture, it’s whether you pay now or pay later,” Leavitt said.

In the Northeast, freezing rain on top of snow created sheets of ice Thursday that delayed morning commuters. Bus trips to New York City from New Jersey suburbs that normally take 45 minutes took as long as two hours.