4 dead after snowstorm slams US, triggers hundreds of crashes
It was the biggest snowstorm in 15 years for part of Virginia after a far-reaching winter storm delivered disruptive snow to over a dozen states this week.
Parts of Virginia and North Carolina that are more prepared for hurricanes than snow received more than half a foot as a winter storm blasted across the mid-Atlantic on Feb. 19
Hundreds of accidents on snow-filled roads caused travel chaos this week as a snowstorm stretched from the central United States to the Eastern Seaboard, with one city receiving its biggest snowfall in over a decade.
More than a dozen states were blanketed by snow from the multiday storm, with the heaviest accumulations falling in the Plains and along the immediate Atlantic coast.
At least four people died in snowy car crashes across the central and eastern United States this week, including one each in a 53-vehicle pileup in North Carolina and a collision in Tennessee and two on Nebraska highways. One of the fatalities in Nebraska was a state trooper who was responding to an accident on Monday involving a snowplow.
Norfolk, Virginia, has biggest snowstorm in 15 years
Over a foot of snow piled up in southeastern Virginia, which is more snow than what typically falls in an entire winter.
Norfolk, Virginia, measured 10.2 inches on Wednesday, making it the eighth snowiest day since records began in 1890 and the biggest single-day snowstorm since 13.4 inches fell on Dec. 26, 2010. The historical average snowfall for an entire winter is 8 inches in the city.
Early risers were delighted by the snow-covered beaches on Thursday morning, which made the coast look more like the Arctic.
"These residents here are not used to this type of snowfall," AccuWeather National Reporter Ali Reid said on Thursday morning while reporting from southeastern Virginia where she witnessed countless crashes and snow-clogged highways.
AccuWeather’s Ali Reid reported live from Norfolk on Feb. 19, as snow-covered roads caused major problems across the coastal area.
"Raleigh, North Carolina, on the edge of the storm, got 2-3 inches of snow while up to 4 inches fell on the Outer Banks of North Carolina at Kitty Hawk," AccuWeather Meteorologist and Digital Producer Jesse Ferrell said.
Areas of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee devastated by Hurricane Helene in September were also covered by a fresh coating of snow coupled with sub-freezing temperatures.
The lingering destruction and damage from hurricane made it challenging for some plow truck drivers, especially where there are unpaved stretches of roads.
"We're just trying to concentrate on the roads that are really, really damaged,” Terry Haynes, a road superintendent in Tennessee told local news station WCYB. “What's hurting me is I'm having to let some of the side roads go that we should have had the ditches cleaned or we should have had potholes fixed.”
Bitterly cold air from the Arctic is settling across the central and eastern U.S. in the wake of the storm, with AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures in the single digits or below zero degrees forecast for much of the region through Friday.
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