• Snow trapped hundreds overnight on Alabama highway

    West Virginia motorists were urged to use caution as conditions from a winter snow storm left roadways hazardous. WVVA's Josh Frketic reports.

    Parts of the Southeast were digging out Friday from a winter storm that dumped up to a foot of snow around the region and played a role in at least one death.

    In central Alabama, hundreds of people spent a cold night trapped on Interstate 65 in Cullman County after snow caused a series of wrecks that snarled traffic for miles.

    Hundreds of cars and 18-wheelers were at a standstill on the highway early Friday, County emergency management director Phyllis Little said.

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    The backup began Thursday afternoon as a winter storm blanketed the area with as much as 4 inches of snow. Little said 120 motorists made it to a shelter in Cullman, but many more couldn't.

    Officials hoped rising temperatures would thaw the snow and ice and get traffic moving sometime Friday.

    In Virginia, the areas hardest hit Thursday and Friday were in the southwest, where the National Weather Service says 13 inches were reported in Giles County, while Grayson County and the Galax area received about a foot.

    Road crews in that part of the state were out in force early Friday to plow and treat roads. Hardest hit was Interstate 77. The highway still had snow cover and there were reports of disabled vehicles along the roadway.

    While the winter storm wasn't as severe as initially feared, icy roads remained a concern Friday morning and some school systems decided to open late.

    Parts of Mississippi saw 2 to 4 inches of snow on the ground Thursday. In Lowndes County, Highway Patrol spokesman Cpl. Criss Turnipseed said Johnnie A. Matthews, 64, of West Point died when his car collided with a downed tree about 5 a.m. on Mississippi Highway 50.

    Turnipseed says the large pine tree in the roadway appeared to have been uprooted by wind and ground saturation due to excessive rainfall. The winter blitz follows days of heavy rain across much of the Southeast.

    No other fatalities were reported but thousands lost power.

    Virginia State Police say they were swamped with calls at the height of the storm. Dispatchers fielded more than 760 calls reporting crashes and disabled vehicles.

    In Bland County, Virginia, heavy snow, downed trees, disabled vehicles and numerous crashes partially closed I-77, said Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller. Traffic was moving slowly Thursday night and Geller said officials would work through the night to reopen all lanes.

    In Alabama, scores of schools, businesses and government offices as far south as metro Birmingham pushed back their opening times for Friday because of the threat of icy roads after freezing temperatures overnight. 

    By The Associated Press

    Dusty Compton / Tuscaloosa News via AP

    A vehicle that slid off Highway 86 near Carrollton, Ala. is seen Thursday.

    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • As California shivers, other parts of US enjoy record highs in January

    Damian Dovarganes / AP

    A high school student covers from the cold wind while waiting a a bus stop in Los Angeles on Thursday.

    By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A chill has left California frozen in its tracks, stranding motorists on snowy roadways and keeping everyone close to the warmth of their heaters.

    A low pressure trough descending over San Diego County and over parts of neighboring Orange County could keep nightly temperatures below the freezing point in coastal areas, the low deserts and inland valleys, threatening orange, avocado orchards and other sensitive plants, forecasters warned, reported The Associated Press. Friday and Saturday nights were expected to be the coldest nights.

    Meanwhile, on the East Coast, as well as parts of the South and Midwest, a record warm 2012 was spilling over into the new year. Four Florida cities broke records for the month of January on Wednesday, weather.com reported, all with temperatures 85 degrees Fahrenheit or above. And on Thursday, in International Falls, Minn., the temperature climbed to 48 degrees, beating its previous record high for the day by seven degrees, according to weather.com.

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    Elsewhere across the country, Chicago and Detroit could reach highs in the 50s this weekend — weather that's typical for late March, weather.com reported. Temperatures in the 60s are forecast for Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis, average weather for the second week in April in those locations, meteorologists said. 

    In all, two dozen cities may break their daily record highs Friday, weather.com forecast. And 40 or more cities in the South and East may tie or break daily record highs Saturday, including Rochester, N.Y., Columbus, Ohio, and Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

    Those mild temperatures contrasted greatly to the Grapevine section of California's Interstate 5 — the crucial artery that links southern and northern California -- which shut down Thursday night, the AP reported. Heavy snow stranded motorists and truckers. Several accidents and spin-outs were reported before the California Highway Patrol closed the north-south route, NBCLosAngeles.com reported.

    "We're still dealing with some icy and snowy conditions along the Grapevine," said NBCLosAngeles.com forecaster Elita Loresca. "We'll see some improvement in and around the Grapevine, but frost advisories and freeze watches will be posted again tonight and, once again, overnight Saturday into Sunday."

     


    Elsewhere, strawberry growers covered their crops with soft cloth to protect them.

    "These guys are going to be up all night watching thermometers," Eric Larson of the San Diego County Farm Bureau told The AP. 

    Freezing temperatures weren't the only weather challenge in Southern California: Forecasters say a combination of high tides, high surf and strong winds will bring minor flooding to low-lying areas of the coast. The weather service issued coastal flood advisories for all counties from San Luis Obispo south to San Diego through Saturday morning, reported The AP.

    Farther north in Sonoma County, homeless shelters were handing out warm clothes to protect the least fortunate from below-freezing temperatures overnight, according to The AP. 

    Even workers at San Diego's SeaWorld had plans to turn up the heat for their macaws, toucans and parrots. San Diego zookeepers were also heating rooms for chimpanzees, apes and other tropical animals. 

    "They'll probably be huddling together and not be in areas where people will be able to see them," zoo spokeswoman Christina Simmons told The AP. 

    California isn't the only part of the country going through a cold snap. Parts of the Dakotas and northern Montana may not get above zero degrees this weekend, and Chicago may struggle to rise above freezing, weather.com said.

    The Weather Channel's Jon Erdman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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  • East Coast storms cut power to tens of thousands, trigger twister alerts

    Julio Cortez / AP

    A guard shields himself from the rain at a worksite in Newark, N.J., on Tuesday.

    By Miguel Llanos, NBC News

    Updated at 10:30 p.m. ET: Tornado watches were issued for much of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic on Tuesday, part of a storm front that brought high winds and heavy rain. More than 50,000 lost power and air travel was disrupted across the region.


    Major cities within the tornado watches included New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The watches also cover parts of Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. 

    Wind gusts up to 70 mph are possible in those areas, the National Weather Service said in issuing the watches, some of which run through 11 p.m. ET.

    Airport travel was disrupted by winds throughout the day across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, the FAA said on its flight delay website.

    In Wildwood, N.J., wind gusts ripped the facade off a store, NBCNewYork.com reported. In Ridgewood, N.J., winds toppled a tree onto the roof of a home. No injuries were reported in either incident.

    Some 4,000 homes and businesses lost power on Long Island, the NBC station added.

    In Connecticut, 15,000 customers had lost power, NBCConnecticut.com reported.

    Localized flooding is also a danger from parts of the Appalachians into the Northeast, weather.com reported.

    Some 28,000 homes and businesses lost power Tuesday afternoon in the Washington and Baltimore areas, NBCWashington.com noted.

    In Pennsylvania, about 24,000 power customers lost power, NBCPhiladelphia.com reported.

    The weather looks better Wednesday into the remainder of the week, with highs in the low-to-mid 70s through Friday and partly or mostly sunny skies.

    The same system on Monday caused flooding in parts of Tennessee. More than 5 inches of rain fell in Putnam County, where 8 water rescues were reported.  

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  • Floods, flight delays possible after storm soaks Northeast

    By msnbc.com staff, NBC News, weather.com and wire services

    A "soaking and snowy" storm that hit the Northeast could cause flight delays Thursday, weather.com reported.

    According to meteorologist Tim Ballisty, "gusty winds will continue over the Northeast, particularly early in the day." He said the impact was likely to be felt at major airports across the region.

    "Some snow and coastal rain will linger in Maine early before precipitation comes to an end later Thursday morning," Ballisty added.

    NBC New York reported early Thursday that "flood advisories were in effect for most of the tri-state area."

    The storm slammed Texas on Tuesday, hit parts of the South on Wednesday before bringing heavy rain and then snow to the Northeast.

    In Tennessee on Wednesday, some school systems closed early as the storm left as much as four inches of snow in the western and southern parts of the state.

    NBC's Janice Huff has the latest on a big change in the weather coming to the East Coast.

    Forecasters Weather Underground reported that "more precipitation is expected in the northeastern corner of the nation on Thursday as the storm system in the Mid-Atlantic lifts northeastward along the New England coast."

    "Moisture spreading across the area combined with a cold airmass near the Appalachians will support another shot of heavy snow showers in northeastern Pennsylvania and the Northeast from Wednesday night into Thursday morning," Weather Underground added. "New snow amounts in the mountains are expected to range from 6 to 12 inches, while 3 to 6 inches are expected in the foothills. Snow activity will taper down from west to east by the mid-morning. Near the coast, most of the precipitation associated with this storm will fall in the form of rain."

    Weather Underground also predicted "periods of heavy rain" from central Virginia through the coastal areas of New England.

    "Behind this activity, cold westerly winds spreading across the northern Great Lakes will kick up lake effect snow downwind of Lake Huron and Lake Superior," it added. "Michigan's Upper Peninsula may experience locally heavy accumulations."

    Msnbc.com staff, Weather.com, NBC New York and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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