Bitter winter chill stabs deep into U.S. South

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A once-in-a-decade storm stabbed deep into the South Tuesday with freezing rain, sleet and snow across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, U.S. forecasters said.

Across the country, not only in the South, about 140 million people in 34 states were under some sort of winter weather warning or advisory, CNN reported.

Schools were closed across the South, Accuweather.com reported, including Houston, New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. The storm was expected to sweep eastward across Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and the mid-Atlantic coast through Tuesday night, making for hazardous driving in the heavily traveled I-10 and I-95 corridors, Accuweather.com said.

The bitter weather wasn't confined to the South. Chicago Public Schools were closed for a second straight day as temperatures dipped to minus 11 degrees F.

About 380 flights within, into, or out of the United States Tuesday morning were delayed. Another 2,827 flights were canceled, FlightAware.com said.

Accuweather said 620 arriving and departing flights were canceled at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, while more than than 1,600 arriving and departing flights have been canceled at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Early Tuesday, snow was falling in parts of Alabama and forecasters predicted up to a foot of snow in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Chesapeake in Virginia, and up to 10 inches along the North Carolina coast, USA Today reported.

In the North, Metro Detroit saw a record minus 9 degrees Tuesday morning, breaking a previous record of 8 below zero set in 1978, the Detroit News reported.

The University of Michigan canceled classes due to weather for the first time since 1978, the Detroit Free Press said.