Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Severe weather in the Midwest and East Coast areas left some 31 states under winter weather alerts and grounded more than 2,000 flights Tuesday, officials said.
The storm stretched from the upper Mississippi Valley into the Great Lakes region and the Northeast, dumping widespread snow, sleet and freezing rain. The country is bookended by winter weather, with another storm situated over the Pacific Northwest and California, bringing snow, rain, strong winds and the possibility of flooding and mudslides.
The National Weather Service predicted between 1 inch and 3 inches in the New York metro area, between 4 inches and 6 inches in the Boston area, up to 12 inches in other parts of Massachusetts and up to 2 inches in Philadelphia. Washington, D.C., should experience mostly rain.
The storm is causing trouble for travelers nationwide, on the roads and in the air. About 2,200 flights were canceled nationally and numerous wrecks were reported.
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Several cars slid off the road in Des Moines, Iowa, as the freeways were covered in snow, and freezing drizzle coated roads and windshields in ice in Nebraska. A half-inch of ice accumulated at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
In the Northwest, Seattle has shattered snowfall records with four snow storms in one week and more than 20 inches on the ground -- the most some areas have seen in 50 years.
The winter storms come two weeks after the Midwest dealt with a polar vortex that put Chicago and other Midwest regions in sustained subzero temperatures. That storm was blamed for at least 21 deaths.
More storms are forming in the Pacific Ocean, but forecasters expect them to deliver mostly rain from Washington to Southern California. Las Vegas has seen some rare snow, just a trace, and Hawaii also received some rare snowfall this week.
#GOESEast is watching quite a bit of moisture moving across the country. Heavy snow is moving through the Pacific Northwest while the Midwest and Northeast are bracing for another developing winter storm. More imagery: https://t.co/vtX8JB8ZoT pic.twitter.com/x4RNZtj0OQ
- NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) February 11, 2019
