A rare white Christmas was complicating life for some travellers as airlines cancelled hundreds of flights, while snow was predicted for Washington, D.C., and travel authorities warned of potentially dangerous roads. The National Weather Service said the storm could bring more than 5 inches (12.5 centimetres) of snow to the Washington region Sunday.
Meteorologist Stephen Konarik said the storm could hit the area Sunday morning and end Sunday night or early Monday. The weather service was also forecasting possible Sunday snow for the New York and Boston areas, with overnight temperatures in the 20s Fahrenheit (-6 to -2 Celsius) and wind gusts up to 30 mph (50 kph).
Brian Korty at the National Weather Service in Camp Springs, Maryland, said travellers in the northern Mid-Atlantic region and north-eastern New England states may want to rethink Sunday travel plans. "They may see nearly impossible conditions to travel in," he said. "It would be a lot better for them to travel today than it would be tomorrow."
The snow storm blanketed sections of the Midwest and hampered motorists there on Christmas Eve, before dipping south late Friday. Winter weather advisories were in effect Saturday morning from Arkansas to the Carolinas and from West Virginia to central Alabama. Much of North Carolina was under a winter storm warning. Delta Air Lines spokesman Kent Landers said 500 weather-related flight cancellations were planned for Saturday nation-wide. That included 300 of the 800 scheduled departures from the Atlanta hub.
Only a few hundred people milled about the cavernous terminals at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, many of them recent arrivals from international flights. Fliers were notified Friday when flights were pre-emptively cancelled, so most passengers didn't bother to show up. Many chairs were empty, restaurants even emptier. The arrival and departure boards for flights were awash with red "cancelled" signs.
Some couldn't help but chuckle that the flights were nixed long before the first raindrop or snowflake had fallen. By noon Saturday, the weather was gloomy but the much-awaited wintry mix set to descend on Atlanta still hadn't arrived. "They cancelled hundreds of flights and there hasn't even been a drop of rain," said Stephanie Palmer, who was killing time with her friend Ibrahima Soumano as he awaited a flight to Mali. "This doesn't make sense."
Landers said Delta would decide on possible additional Sunday cancellations as the time approaches. Landers said anyone with travel plans through Boston, New York, Baltimore, Washington and Newark, New Jersey, on Sunday or Monday can change their flight without a penalty as long as they travel by December 29.
AirTran spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver said Saturday that the carrier had cancelled seven Saturday flights and that afternoon flights from Atlanta would be delayed because of required de-icing of planes. AirTran too offered to waive ticket-change fees for some flights scheduled for this weekend and Monday in the South and Mid-Atlantic.
The Nashville area had an inch (2.5 centimetres) or so of snow overnight, and roads appeared to be clear. There was also snow in northern Alabama and Georgia. By Saturday morning, 4 to 5 inches (10 to 12.5 centimetres) of snow had fallen over several hours in Bowling Green, Kentucky, according to the Weather Service. Louisville had about an inch (2.5 centimetres). Louisville last had snowfall on Christmas in 2002, when a half-inch (1.25 centimetres) fell.
In parts of Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas, the snow was likely to be mixed with sleet and rain before turning entirely to snow. Temperatures in Georgia were expected to dip into the 20s Ft (-6 to -2 C) on Christmas night, possibly leading to slick road conditions. "If roads aren't able to dry up during the day, that's what will freeze up Saturday night into Sunday morning," said the weather service's Vaughn Smith in Atlanta.
In Minnesota, the storm brought 6 inches (15 centimetres) of snow Friday to Minneapolis and St. Paul. It pushed the monthly total there to 33.4 inches (84.84 centimetres), topping the previous December record set in 1969. The snow made travelling tough Friday in north-eastern Iowa, where the bulk of the storm hovered. Cedar Rapids received more than 7 inches (18 centimetres) of snow.
The Air Transport Association was expecting 44.3 million people on US flights between December 16 and January 5 up 3 percent over the same period a year ago but still below pre-recession travel volume. The average ticket price was $421, up by 5 percent. The AAA predicted overall holiday travel to rise about 3 percent this year, with more than 92 million people planning to go more than 50 miles by January 2. More than 90 percent said they would be driving. Said Anderson of the storm: "The timing is really bad."