Huge Storm to our South

I am going to step away from South Dakota weather for one post because of some incredible events unfolding in other parts of the country. An ice and snow storm is beginning to cripple nearly a dozen states this morning from Texas and Oklahoma eastward through the Ohio valley. Ice has effectively shut down Oklahoma City and hundreds of flights in and out of several major airports have been cancelled, and this is just the beginning as the worst is still to come. By the time this storm is over, it may have effected over 25 states, grounded planes from Dallas to Boston, and left tens of thousands of people without power. Here is a current watches and warnings map for the US as I am writing this.You can see that this map looks like Easter with the smorgasbord of colors. These advisories include Ice storm warnings, winter storm warnings, freezing rain advisories, and nearly half a dozen others. I looked earlier this morning and Paducah Kentucky had already seen nearly 2 inches of freezing rain. That's incredible considering it only takes .25 inch to bring down trees and power lines.

Freezing rain forms when a warm layer above the earths surface melts the snow and turns it to rain. Then, the rain falls to the surface. But with surface temperatures below freezing, that rain will freeze on contact. Here is just one example of what freezing rain can do.

In the next day or two, this storm is going to travel through the Ohio valley and into the northeast continuing to drop copious amounts of freezing rain and sleet as well as anywhere from 2-12 inches of snow. If you are traveling by air over the next couple of days, you definitely want to call your air carrier because they are expecting thousands of delays and cancellations.

~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz