Snow spreads from Nashville to Nantucket after latest storm
Jamie Treiver, left, Carrie Warner and Camdyn Lockley enjoy a sled ride at Jim Barnett Park Tuesday in Winchester, Va.
Men walk past one another on a snowy sidewalk Tuesday in Baltimore.
A man rides a bike past ice-coated trees and plants on University Avenue Tuesday in Oxford, Miss.
Steve Stahley cross-country skis on the McDaniel College golf course Tuesday in Westminster, Md.
DURHAM, N.C. – A powerful winter storm dumped snow from Nashville to Nantucket, and arctic-like temperatures gripped much of the United States and hundreds of thousands of people lost power in the South.
While some shivered, others bundled up and tried to make the best of a frustrating situation. Here’s a look at how people were handling the land of ice, snow and subzero temperatures.
Some things just won’t wait, as Jerry Nuesell can attest.
With his wife 33 weeks pregnant, the couple was headed to the doctor’s office when Lisa’s contractions led them to UNC Hospitals for the arrival of their first born, a boy.
“Turned out the little fellow was ready to make an appearance much sooner than we planned,” Nuesell said Tuesday.
He watched his son be born, then drove 30 miles back to Cary, N.C., to take care of their dachshund, Schnitzel. Ice covered most of his windshield and the drive wasn’t easy.
“I had probably a good 6-inch-by-6-inch square that I had to peer through to get the best vision,” he said. “On multiple occasions, I thought this might not be the best idea.”
The tourism office of Ithaca, N.Y., is waving the white flag, advising visitors on its website to check out the Florida Keys instead.
VisitIthaca.com’s home page displays sunny photos from Florida and provides links to Florida Keys information.
The top of the page reads: “That’s it. We surrender. Winter, you win. Key West anyone?”
Ithaca and the rest of upstate New York have been in the grips of a snowy and brutally cold winter.
Two New Hampshire school districts remain closed a day after schools were evacuated over concerns of snow buildup on roofs. A teacher noticed the ceiling sagging in a classroom at Sanborn Middle School in Newton Monday and cracks were seen around the doorways of some classrooms in Epping. On Tuesday, Moharimet Elementary School in Madbury was evacuated after cracks were seen on the walls, believed to be caused by the heavy snow on the roof.
Roads were icy and slushy, making driving difficult in many places and causing at least seven traffic deaths. There were three deaths in Tennessee, including a mother and son in Williamson County who stopped to help people in a sport utility vehicle that overturned in front of them when they were struck by a tractor-trailer. Two people were killed in Virginia as nearly a foot of snow fell in some places. In North Carolina, a woman died in a two-car crash in the northeastern part of the state. A woman was also killed Monday evening while driving across the Thomas Johnson Bridge in Calvert County, Md.
“I’ll just back up and fly out,” is the strategy Brent Seney had for freeing his black convertible Mazda Miata from the snow in the nation’s capital Tuesday.
Despite the thick blanket of snow along his street, Seney, 60, was confident his sporty ride could handle the roads. In fact, he planned to drive to his boat harbored at James Creek Marina in southwest Washington.
“I’ll shovel the snow off, make sure it’s not frozen too much because the harbor is all frozen in,” Seney said.
Trudging along a snowy sidewalk, Robin Winter and her daughter, Melissa, made their way to a Metro station in Washington so Mom could catch her flight home to St. Louis.
Robin Winter, carrying multiple bags and sporting a sock monkey hat, said she’d gotten into town Thursday, and had been watching the forecasts as the snow made its way across the country.
“If I would have decided to fly out Sunday night instead, you never know for sure if it’s gonna really happen until it really happens,” she said.
The Winters were optimistic the flight would not be canceled, though they were prepared for a delay. It appeared her flight left on time, but others weren’t so lucky. More than 1,800 flights were canceled at many airports, from Nashville, Tenn., to the nation’s capital.
Even though the snow in D.C. wasn’t ideal for a fight, people showed up anyway, some in costumes and battle gear. One wore a ski helmet and goggles, another had on a giraffe costume, and one wore a Captain America shirt and carried a shield.
“It’s not really snowball material. You can kind of get one, but it’s a lot of squeezing,” said Reco Thomas, of Alexandria, Virginia, as she tried to compact fluffy snow.
Rob Grell, a George Washington University medical student dressed as Batman, carried fellow student Shaunak Mulani on his shoulders as people pelted the two of them.
“This is overall just a fine time,” Mulani said as he shook off snow.
The sound of 61-year-old Joe Peldunas shoveling his driveway echoed across the otherwise quiet Marywood neighborhood in north Durham, N.C., around 8 a.m. Tuesday. No one else on his cul-de-sac was out, and there were few tracks in the layer of snow and ice more than a half inch thick on the road.
“This snow is probably going to stick around for a few days,” he said, adding that he wanted to clear his driveway as soon as possible.
Indeed, forecasters warned that temperatures over the next few days wouldn’t provide much relief.
After two hours of shoveling his steep driveway in the Cabe’s Mill subdivision of north Durham, N.C., 68-year-old Clay Shepherd was only halfway done. Still, he didn’t seem anywhere close to running out of energy. He was considering an afternoon hike along the nearby Eno River.
“It happens to be my 68th birthday. I didn’t imagine I’d be doing this,” he said, wearing a green sweater, dark jeans and a knit cap.
“The driveway doesn’t get much sun, and if you don’t get it, it’s not going to melt,” he said.