A heavy mix of snow and sleet on Friday swept across parts of the South that are not used to winter weather, prompting flight cancellations, school closures and official warnings to stay off the roads when possible.
A winter storm warning stretched from eastern Oklahoma to Virginia, the National Weather Service said, and snow and freezing rain was falling in cities including Jackson, Miss.; Birmingham, Ala.; and Atlanta on Friday morning.
Parts of western Arkansas had more than a foot of snow, with heavy snowfall Friday morning piling on accumulation from the previous day. From Friday into Saturday, parts of the Mid-Atlantic, the Ohio Valley and the Northeast could see between one and five inches of snow.
The widespread mix of wintry precipitation led to the cancellation of nearly 2,000 flights in and out of airports in Atlanta Dallas, Nashville and Charlotte, N.C., on Friday. With nearly 30 percent of all flights in and out of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport canceled, the scene at the country’s busiest airport was unusually calm.
“This is a great day for travel so long as we leave,” said Spencer Reeve, a 42-year-old board game marketer who had a 12:40 p.m. flight to Los Angeles that had been delayed by two hours. “It’s the most relaxed Hartsfield has ever been.”
Still, Mr. Reeve had been at the airport since 6:30 a.m. in order to beat the snow that now blanketed the Atlanta’s streets.
The icy, snowy mix made streets and highways treacherous across a wide swath of the South. The Mississippi Department of Transportation said on social media that ice had been reported in 31 counties across the state, and urged drivers to be cautious. In Atlanta, where public schools were closed in anticipation of freezing rain and snow, the morning rush hour slowed to a crawl as flurries caked city streets and highways. Motorists who ventured out found themselves stranded on roadsides.
A section of Interstate 22, a 200-mile route going through Mississippi and Alabama, was shut down because of a crash in Marshall County, in the north-central part of Mississippi.
In preparation for the storm, Gov. Brian P. Kemp of Georgia declared a state of emergency on Thursday because of the forecast and said it would be in place through Tuesday.
Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee also announced a state of emergency on Thursday afternoon. While Tennessee is familiar with winter storms, some areas, like Memphis, could receive their largest two-day snow totals in 40 years. Parts of the state are still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which moved through the state as a tropical storm in September.
Forecasters in Nashville urged residents not to focus on the precise levels of snowfall, as any amount could make travel risky.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, too, declared a state of emergency on Thursday, with heavy snow and ice forecast to fall in the state on Friday.
Across North Carolina, a similar scenario will begin to unfold around midday Friday and last into Saturday. Accumulations of up to two inches are currently expected in the Mid-Atlantic area east of the Allegheny Mountains.
The storm is then expected to move off the coast, where it will strengthen but remain far enough away to avoid being a major hazard for the Northeast.
Unusual cold across the East Coast is expected to continue into next week, allowing for some snow to stick around. And areas where the snow has melted during the day may refreeze at night, creating ongoing hazards.
Sean Keenan contributed reporting from Atlanta.
