A state of emergency was declared in Texas due to the winter storm producing treacherous travel conditions. These dangerous conditions will also extend across the southern U.S. from Dallas to Atlanta.
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00:00Jeremy, right now is AccuWeather chief meteorologist John Porter. I'm sure it doesn't surprise you as
00:03your team has been working very, very hard at these snow totals. Even when Tony was talking
00:08about in Dallas, he's like, I think there's about two inches of ice and then maybe three inches of
00:12snow on top, something like that. I mean, when you hear things like that, what does it make you think
00:15of? Well, it's right. It's just been that icy mix and we stressed here at AccuWeather, ahead of all
00:20other sources, that there would be a sharp variation with higher snow totals to the north,
00:25where there have been three to six inches and the amounts of snow have tailed off as you head south
00:30through the Dallas metroplex. So that's exactly why we were providing that information, so people
00:35could be better informed and make better decisions. And as Tony was mentioning, I liked how he
00:39described about how you're driving around and all of a sudden your your wheel turns a certain way.
00:44That's what you have to be careful for across the south, because remember, people are less used to
00:48dealing with snow and ice across the south and certainly driving in it. Yeah. And Mike Scanlon,
00:53who is in, he's in Little Rock. Sorry, everyone's all over the place, but whether it's Little Rock,
00:57whether it is Atlanta, it's those folks that do not have the all-wheel drive that it's just maybe
01:02the front-wheel drive folks are getting stuck. We've made a pretty sharp update to the map here,
01:07taking that three to six a bit further, but overall things, John, are panning out pretty well.
01:12Yes, as AccuWeather had accurately forecast and we've got a big mess here across the state of
01:17Tennessee. We're just looking at some of the webcams along the various interstate 30 and 24
01:24here across Tennessee. Slow go here with heavy snow in a lot of locations and of course also
01:30in the Atlanta area where there's been two or three inches of snow and sleet on the ground
01:34this morning. That's going to continue to expand to the north and east. And Ari, as you mentioned,
01:38we have decided to bring that three to six inch area of snow from parts of Tennessee right out
01:43to the Atlantic coast. So that area from Richmond southbound, extra enhancement in this area here as
01:50we deal with some heavier snow into the first part of Saturday. Further to the north though,
01:54as we've been talking about for several days, it's a lighter snow because this storm is going
02:00more east than it is north. So it's not going to come up the coast, but light snow one to three
02:04inches and there can still be travel troubles across parts of central western Pennsylvania
02:09back into Ohio as well. Well, talk about travel troubles. We're going to get to the ice part
02:13of this now because the snow of all winter weather, probably the easiest, the least difficult
02:19to travel on, and that causes not as many problems as that thick glaze of ice. Yes, and we're going
02:25to, you're right, any ice is a major challenge as it relates to travel. We're going to be dealing
02:28with an icy mix of sleet. Those are those ice pellets that are falling from the sky and pinging
02:34off your windshield or your house. Sleet and freezing rain, which is rain freezing on colder
02:39surfaces here. So look out in that corridor here, Atlanta, Charlotte, eventually over toward Raleigh.
02:46That's where some of that ice can be a more significant problem. And in some places that
02:50freezing rain is going to be enough to weigh down trees and power lines, resulting in some power
02:54outages. For those who started their morning with some beautiful snow, are you about to give them
02:59some bad news then? Yeah, in some cases we are going to be dealing with that icy mix and that's
03:03all going to be translating to the north and east as we make our way through the rest of today.
03:08Conditions going downhill for locations like Charlotte and over toward Raleigh as we head into
03:13the evening. So watch out for the evening commute there. And then overnight in the first part of
03:17tomorrow morning, our eye is in that area in southeast Virginia. Rates of snow one to two
03:22inches per hour south and east of Richmond toward Hampton Roads and Virginia Beach. Look out.
03:27We winter cast a great tool. Not only do you get the snow, so we'll show that in Charlotte,
03:31which is about an inch or two, but we also have a product for the ice. That's correct. You can
03:36see the amount that we're expecting in your area, plus the prospects for a little bit more,
03:39a little bit less. If you're traveling or have friends or family in other areas, this is a great
03:43resource exclusively from AccuWeather. AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist John Porter, thanks so much
03:48again for joining us.