NORFOLK, Va. — In Virginia and North Carolina, road conditions remained hazardous on Thursday as a significant snowstorm caused numerous accidents, including a major pile-up involving more than 50 vehicles on an interstate. A polar vortex was responsible for sending temperatures plummeting, affecting areas from the Northern Great Plains down to Louisiana.
On Wednesday afternoon, two separate accidents halted traffic on Interstate 40 in Orange County, North Carolina. Vehicles were rear-ended, leading to one incident where a tractor-trailer hit a passenger vehicle, resulting in a fatality. According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, a total of 53 vehicles were caught up in 12 separate accidents. The driver of the tractor-trailer faced charges of misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and driving at an unsafe speed for the conditions.
The highway patrol reported nearly 1,200 accidents statewide on Wednesday, with some crashes contributing to the closure of sections of Interstate 95 and I-85 near Raleigh. Meanwhile, Virginia State Police announced that over 800 accidents were reported statewide, with at least 45 involving injuries, although fortunately, there were no fatalities.
Emergency responders in Suffolk, Virginia, managed to save two individuals from an SUV that had submerged in water due to a crash on Wednesday. Photos shared by the local Department of Fire & Rescue depicted rescuers using a ladder to assist one person, who clung to the roof of the vehicle, across to safety.
The snowfall in Norfolk, Virginia, reached significant levels, ranking as the eighth-highest single-day snowfall recorded for the city, according to a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center. The area officially received around 10.2 inches (approximately 26 centimeters) of snow. While high snowfall amounts are not unheard of, they are considered unusual and described as a “one-in-10-years type storm.”
Residents of Norfolk, a city with a population of 230,000, engaged in various winter activities, with children utilizing boogie boards as sleds, while adults utilized leaf blowers to clear snow from their vehicles. Many roads continued to be covered in slush or snow, prompting authorities to advise individuals to remain off the streets to facilitate the work of snowplows.
Mary Stokes, who runs a small environmental consulting firm, shared that her employees were unable to work due to the conditions, stating, “We’re not making any money. It can definitely be a financial hit.” She noted the challenges posed by having workers unable to conduct necessary fieldwork while the city was snowed in.
Jared Brooks, a surgeon at a local hospital, indicated that he expected the schools in Norfolk would likely remain closed until at least Monday, as temperatures were anticipated to stay below freezing on Thursday. “People aren’t used to driving in these kinds of conditions,” he remarked while shoveling snow off his sidewalk, emphasizing the importance of staying home unless absolutely necessary.
Schools in many areas across Virginia and North Carolina were closed or utilizing remote learning, with thousands of power outages reported Thursday morning. Moreover, approximately 1,800 flights nationwide faced cancellations or delays, including about 250 flights at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina.
In addition to the snow, an arctic air mass moved across the central United States, bringing record-breaking cold temperatures. Weather experts forecast some areas in the Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley could experience their coldest temperatures recorded this late in the winter season. In Detroit, maintenance teams worked to repair a significant water main break that left numerous individuals without heat during subfreezing weather.
Frigid temperatures resulted in new daily cold records being set across 45 weather stations from North Dakota to Louisiana. Parts of Texas also experienced record lows previously set during a deadly winter storm in 2021. In Nebraska, Grand Island set a record low of minus 24 Fahrenheit (minus 31 Celsius), surpassing the earlier mark from 1938.
As the National Weather Service in Dodge City, Kansas, forecasted another day of extreme cold conditions, school closures in Wichita continued due to the weather. Nevertheless, a shift in temperatures is expected soon, with experts forecasting that Thursday would mark the last day of harsh cold temperatures nationwide, and a warming trend is on the way for the following week.
