Polar vortex keeps a huge swath of the U.S. in its icy grip

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A huge swath of the U.S. was blasted with ice, snow and wind on Monday as the polar vortex that dipped south over the weekend kept much of the country east of the Rockies in its frigid grip, making many roads treacherous, forcing school closures, and causing widespread power outages and flight cancellations.

The immense storm system brought disruption to areas of the country that usually escape winter’s wrath, downing trees in some Southern states, threatening a freeze in Florida and causing people in Dallas to dip deep into their wardrobes for hats and gloves.

Washington, D.C., received heavy snow as President-elect Donald Trump’s victory was certified. Taking advantage of the rare snowstorm in the nation’s capital, revelers engaged in a snowball fight in front of the Washington Monument as flags flew at half-staff in memory of former President Jimmy Carter.

In Kentucky’s biggest city, Louisville, Hugh Ross used his shovel Monday to break sheets of ice that were covering his driveway. Frozen rain fell atop snow that arrived Sunday, which he said “couldn’t have been worse.”

“You’ve got to break it up first,” Ross explained. “If you don’t do that, you’re wasting your time. I did a couple of layers yesterday, so I had to make sure I wasn’t in too bad of shape today.”

Ice and snow blanketed major roads in Kansas, western Nebraska and parts of Indiana, where the National Guard was activated to help stranded motorists. The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for Kansas and Missouri, where blizzard conditions brought wind gusts of up to 45 mph. The warnings extended to New Jersey into early Tuesday.

At the storied Calumet Farm in central Kentucky, the thoroughbreds were led to their stalls Sunday afternoon before freezing rain turned their pastures into a slick glaze of snow and ice.

“The ice is the worst part,” Eddie Kane, the farm manager, said Monday. “I still haven’t turned them out because it’s still a little bit too dangerous. It’s like an ice skating rink out there in the fields.”

The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole, but it sometimes plunges southward into the U.S., Europe and Asia. Studies show that a fast-warming Arctic is partly to blame for the increasing frequency of the polar vortex extending its grip.

Temperatures plunge

Starting Monday, the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. dealt with bone-chilling cold and wind chills, forecasters said, predicting temperatures ranging from 12 to 25 degrees below normal in many areas.

The Northeast was expected to get several cold days, said Jon Palmer, a weather service meteorologist based in Gray, Maine.

The cold was expected to grip the Eastern Seaboard as far south as Georgia, with temperatures dropping into the low single digits n some coastal areas, Palmer said.

Classes canceled

School closings were widespread, with districts in Indiana, Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri and Kansas canceling or delaying the start of classes Monday. Among them was Kentucky’s Jefferson County Public Schools, which canceled classes and other school activities for its nearly 100,000 students.

Classes were also canceled in Maryland, where Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency Sunday and announced that state government offices would also be closed Monday.

Car wrecks proliferate

At least 600 motorists were stranded in Missouri over the weekend, authorities said. Hundreds of car accidents were reported in Virginia, Indiana, Kansas and Kentucky, where a state trooper was treated for non-life-threatening injuries after his patrol car was hit.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who declared a state emergency, said government buildings would be closed Monday.

“We see far too many wrecks out there for people that do not have to be on the roads,” Beshear said.

Kansas saw two deadly crashes over the weekend. Gov. Laura Kelly closed state offices in the Topeka area through Tuesday, as did many school districts.

Virginia State Police responded to at least 430 crashes Sunday and Monday. One man died and more than 20 people were injured. Police said other weather-related fatal accidents occurred Sunday near Charleston, West Virginia, and Monday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

By midday Monday, state troopers in Maryland had responded to at least 475 calls for service, including 123 reported crashes and 156 unattended vehicles since 1 a.m., Maryland State Police said on social media.

More snow and ice in the forecast

In Indiana, snow covered stretches of Interstate 64, Interstate 69 and U.S. Route 41, leading authorities to plead with people to stay home.

“It’s snowing so hard, the snow plows go through and then within a half hour the roadways are completely covered again,” State Police Sgt. Todd Ringle said.

Topeka, Kansas, reported 14.5 inches by about 8 p.m. Sunday, according to the weather service.

Kansas City International Airport received 11 inches of snow on Sunday, breaking the previous record for the day of 10.1 inches set in 1962, according to the weather service’s office in Kansas City, Missouri. In Kentucky, Louisville recorded 7.7 inches of snow on Sunday, shattering the date’s previous record of 3 inches set in 1910.

The Mid-Atlantic region was expected to get another 6 inches to 12 inches of snow on Monday, the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center warned. Dangerously cold temperatures were expected to follow, with nighttime lows falling into the single digits through the middle of the week across the Central Plains and into the Mississippi and Ohio valleys.

Thousands without power

Many were in the dark as temperatures plunged. More than 250,000 customers were without power early Monday across Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois and Missouri, according to electric utility tracking website PowerOutage.us.

In Virginia’s capital city, a power outage caused a temporary malfunction in the water system, officials said Monday afternoon. Richmond officials asked citizens in the city of more than 200,000 people to refrain from drinking tap water or washing dishes without boiling the water first. The city also asked residents to conserve their water, such as by taking shorter showers.

City officials said they were working nonstop to bring the system back online.

Air and rail travel snarled

More than 2,500 flights were canceled and at least 6,500 more were delayed nationwide as of Monday morning, according to tracking platform FlightAware. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport reported that about 58% of arrivals and 70% of departures had been canceled.

A record 8 inches of snow fell Sunday at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, leading to dozens of flight cancellations that lingered into Monday. A few more inches of snow were expected Monday across the Cincinnati area, where car and truck crashes Monday morning shutdown at least two major routes leading into downtown.