Snow, Sleet, Rain Thrash Eastern U.S.

Snow, sleet and rain spread across sections of the East on Sunday as a storm raced to the Atlantic from the middle of the nation, where Missouri got nearly 2 feet of snow.

By afternoon, a band of snow, sleet and freezing rain arced from Arkansas and Missouri across the Ohio Valley into the mountains of West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

About 23 inches of snow fell from Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning in southwestern Missouri’s Barry County. Road crews and law enforcement officers were busy late Saturday rescuing stranded motorists, said Gretchen Gray, a Barry County dispatcher.

Up to 18 inches of snow in Oklahoma late Saturday caused dozens of traffic accidents in the northern part of the state, and 250 people were housed at a National Guard armory in Perry, authorities said. At least 13 people were killed in weekend traffic accidents, Oklahoma officials said. Ten inches fell on northwestern Arkansas.

Five people were injured when about 20 vehicles were involved in an accident on Interstate 70 near Clear Spring, Md. None of the injuries was life-threatening.

Snow was expected to spread into New York and New England during the night, with 6 to 12 inches forecast in some areas.

A band of severe thunderstorms moved across Alabama on Sunday, flooding streets and leaving thousands without power.

Showers were scattered over the Tennessee Valley, and showers and thunderstorms were scattered along the East Coast. The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for eastern sections of Georgia and South Carolina.

On Saturday, a small tornado wrecked a mobile home in Alliance, La., and heavy rain caused flooding in West Feliciana Parish and neighboring Wilkinson County, Miss.

In the Northwest, a cold front produced rain and snow in western Oregon and Washington. A few showers also moved into parts of Idaho and Northern California.

Rain also was possible as far south as Los Angeles, with snow likely in the Sierra Nevada.