A strong winter storm has swept through large parts of the southern United States since Thursday night, bringing heavy snowfall to states like Oklahoma and Texas as wildfires continue to ravage the western region. The storm has forced several governors to declare a state of emergency due to widespread disruptions in transportation and power outages.
The National Weather Service (NWS) reported record-breaking snowfall in some southern cities. By late Friday afternoon, parts of Arkansas saw up to a foot (approximately 31 centimeters) of snow, Memphis International Airport in Tennessee received over 7 inches (about 18 centimeters) of snow, Atlanta in Georgia experienced its largest snowfall in nearly seven years, and Mississippi and Alabama saw their largest snowfall in almost a decade.
According to FlightAware, a flight tracking website, over 3,000 round-trip flights within the U.S. were canceled on Friday as the storm impacted almost all major airports in the southern region, marking the most severe day of flight disruptions since July.
Data from PowerOutage.us revealed that as of the latest update, over 118,000 households and businesses in Georgia, Texas, and Arkansas experienced power outages due to the extremely cold weather, with Georgia being the most severely affected by the blackouts.
Meanwhile, millions of students from Texas to Georgia and even as far as South Carolina enjoyed snow days or were instructed to attend online classes from home, as many government offices also closed temporarily.
The National Weather Service anticipates that by Saturday (January 11), parts of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia could receive around 8 inches (about 20 centimeters) of accumulated snow.