Washington: A huge winter storm has brought snow, ice and and freezing temperatures to a broad swathe of the US, with more than 60 million Americans under weather alerts.
The eastern two-thirds of the US will experience below freezing temperatures starting on Monday, with some of the coldest conditions expected in Kansas, while the Washington DC area awaits heavy snowfall.
Forecasters say the extreme weather – named Storm Blair – is being caused by the polar vortex, an area of cold air that circulates around the Arctic.
A state of emergency has been declared in seven US states, with much of Canada also under weather alerts, as the blizzard conditions have dumped about a foot of snow (30cm) in places.
Thirty US states, spanning from the middle of the country to the east coast – including major cities such as Washington DC and Philadelphia – are under weather alerts, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
A state of emergency has been declared in the states of Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Arkansas and parts of New Jersey.
People in affected states saw roads cut off. Schools were shut down on Monday in Virginia, Maryland, Indiana and Kentucky.
Hundreds of car accidents and stranded drivers were reported over the weekend in several mid-western states – including Kansas as well as Indiana, Kentucky and Virginia.
As of early Monday morning, 1,300 US flights had been cancelled for the day and 600 delayed, according to FlightAware.com.
About 8,300 flights were delayed on Sunday, the same tracking site said.
Blizzard warnings have been issued in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
Kansas City is seeing its heaviest snow in 32 years, with more than a foot (30 to 40cm) having come down so far, according to Matthew Cappucci, a senior meteorologist at the weather app MyRadar.
Parts of northern Missouri have already experienced 14in (36cm) of sleet and snow.
