A nasty winter storm smacked the Midwestern United States early on Friday, causing power outages and ruining travel plans for the weekend.
According to Reuters, forecasters say that the storm is the worst to descend upon the U.S. in years. Areas affected by the storm range from the Ohio Valley down to the Texas-Mexico border. Dallas, Arkansas and western Kentucky bore the brunt of the precipitation created by the storm.
AccuWeather.com weather expert Jesse Ferell said of the storm, "Every few years there is a blockbuster ice storm somewhere in the U.S., and these storms are no stranger to the South Central region."
Forecasters for the National Weather Service are estimating the storm to continue throughout the first December weekend, with temperatures dropping nearly 30 degrees below normal.
After enjoying an early week that saw temperatures up into the 80s, Texas saw what a hardware store manager dubbed "Ice Friday," The Associated Press reports. "It's almost like a Black Friday, James McGilberry, store manager of a Dallas Home Depot that was running low on ice melt and firewood. "But I guess we'll call it an Ice Friday."
The winter storm has already caused Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to cancel 1,000 flights. Those whose flights came in were fighting to find an available cab as many people decided to let others drive for them during the storm.
image: Wikimedia Commons
