Less than a week after a deadly winter storm dumped heavy snow in the interior Northeast, the region was once again blanketed in precipitation, with more than a foot of snow in the Ozark Mountains and more snow across the Midwest.
The snowfall created many travel problems for both vehicles and planes, as well as massive power outages for several states.
In the Midwest, multiple accidents closed Wednesday, including one on Interstate 475 west of Toledo, Ohio. At least one semi-trailer truck was seen off the road via a traffic camera, but it was unclear if there were any injuries.
At the Ohio-Michigan state line, Interestestate 75 was largely blocked south of Lucas County, Ohio. after half-jackknifed. More than 1,000 crews were on duty on Wednesday to clear roads as snow moved through the northern part of the state, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Due to the severe weather, flights were delayed and many canceled at major airports. At LaGuardia Airport in New York City, bad weather and wind caused some flight delays coming during the evening hours, 42 minutes on average. At Wayne County Metropolitan Detroit Airport, a ground stop was implemented in the early afternoon due to snow on the runways.
According to FlightAware, there were 3,641 flight delays in, in or out of the United States as of Wednesday afternoon, including 648 at Chicago O’Hare International and 290 at the Detroit airport. Chicago Midway International Airport led the way in cancellations, with a total of 136 during the afternoon hours.
Further south, parts of northern Arkansas and southern Missouri saw heavy snow, where the Ozark Mountains helped add to the snowfall totals. According to PowerOutage.us, more than 150,000 electric customers were without power in the two states Wednesday morning, including more than 97 of all customers out in Oregon and Missouri’s Howell counties.
The highest snowfall total reported between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday in the Ozark region was in Logan, Ark., in Benton County, home of retailer Walmart. Logan took in 16 inches of snow over the 24-hour period, with the second highest total being 14.5 inches reported in Searcy, Ark.
 |
Newton, Ark. (13.2 inches), Marion, Ark. (12 inches), and Howell, Mo. (12 inches) was the top snow totals across the Ozark region.
In the Northeast on Wednesday, West Virginia’s top snow totals were reported in the cities of Keyser (6.5 inches) and Hartmansville (6.3 inches). Other states that received snow included Maryland, with 5.8 inches accumulated in La Vale, and Pennsylvania, with 4.8 inches received in Hollidaysburg.
One place in the Northeast that was desperate for measurable snowfall was New York City, but the hub only found a trace of snow at the National Weather Service’s climate site at Central Park. Because of a quick change in rainfall after the short round of snowflakes, the Big Apple is still in jeopardy of the most recent measurable snowfall on record, previously set on January 29, 1973.
New York City’s streak of consecutive days without measurable snow is now 322 days, the second-longest streak on record behind the 332-day streak that ended on December 15, 2020.
Further west in New York, thunderstorms were observed near Tonawanda, located about 10 miles northwest of Buffalo around 2:20 pm EST on Wednesday. Thundersnow was also reported in southern Ontario, about 30 miles east of Detroit.
