DES MOINES, Iowa -- A sprawling storm hit the U.S. South on Tuesday with tornado warnings and high winds that blew roofs off homes, flipped over campers and tossed about furniture in Florida, while another storm buried cities across the Midwest in more than a half a foot of snow, stranding people on highways as it headed to the Northeast.
The weather has already affected campaigning for Iowa's Jan. 15 precinct caucuses, where the snow is expected to be followed by frigid temperatures that could drift below zero degrees Fahrenheit. It forced former President Donald Trump's campaign to cancel multiple appearances by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders and her father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who had been scheduled to court Iowa voters on Trump's behalf Monday.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Tuesday's briefing that winter storms continue to be a threat across the country.
"We are closely monitoring the weather, and we encourage all Americans to do the same," she said.
SOUTHERN STORMS
At least three deaths were attributed to the storm pummeling the South, where 55 mph winds and hail moved through the Florida panhandle and into parts of Alabama and Georgia by sunrise Tuesday, along with several reports of radar-confirmed tornadoes, the National Weather Service said. A wind gust of 106 mph was recorded before dawn near the coast in Walton County, Florida.
Near Cottonwood, Ala., a small city near the Georgia-Florida border, 81-year-old Charlotte Paschal was killed when her mobile home was tossed from its foundation, the Houston County coroner said. A suspected tornado had touched down in the area.
Police in Clayton County, south of Atlanta, say a man died during heavy rain when a tree fell on his car on a state highway in Jonesboro.
Storm-related injuries were reported in Florida, but no deaths. A section of Panama City Beach, Fla., showed parts of roofs blown away, furniture, fences and debris strewn about, and a house that appeared tilted on its side, leaning on another home.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who gave his State of the State address Tuesday as tornado warnings were active outside the Capitol, issued an executive order to include 49 counties in north Florida under a state of emergency.
Heavy rain across Georgia stopped air traffic at Atlanta's busy airport for a time Tuesday morning and caused flash flooding, blocking some lanes on freeways around Atlanta during the morning commute. More than 80 public school systems across Georgia called off classes entirely while others taught students online or delayed the start of in-person classes.
More than 200,000 customers were without power in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, while nearly 150,000 people in North Carolina lacked electricity, according to the PowerOutage.us website.
In North Carolina, one person died and two others were in critical condition after a suspected tornado struck a mobile home park in the town of Claremont, north of Charlotte, said Amy McCauley, a spokesperson for Catawba County. And in Rocky Mount, downed power lines shut down both directions of I-95, one of the nation's busiest highways, the North Carolina Department of Transportation said in a statement
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency before the storm approached so weight and size restrictions on large and heavy trucks containing emergency supplies or agricultural goods would be waived. Some schools canceled classes or shut down early.
A possible tornado knocked down several old brick storefronts in downtown Bamberg, S.C., blocking the main intersection through the city about 60 miles south of Columbia.
Thousands of bricks blocked U.S. 301, the main road through that part of the state; about 40 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed, said Democratic Rep. Justin Bamberg, who represents the area. No injuries were reported.
MIDWEST SNOWSTORM
In the Midwest, where a snowstorm started Monday, up to 12 inches of snow could blanket a broad area stretching from southeastern Colorado all the way to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. That includes western Kansas, eastern Nebraska, large parts of Iowa, northern Missouri and northwestern Illinois, said Bob Oravec, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in College Park, Md.
The storm dumped around 8 to 12 inches of snow across Kansas, eastern Nebraska, South Dakota, western Iowa, and southwestern Minnesota on Monday. In North Sioux City, S.D., the National Weather Service reported 15 inches of snow. Lower amounts fell over central Minnesota, Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
Madison, Wisc., was under a winter storm warning until this morning, with as much as 9 inches of snow and 40 mph winds on tap.
Poor road conditions contributed to a fatal crash early Tuesday in southeast Wisconsin, Jefferson County Sheriff Paul Milbrath said in a news release. An SUV driver was in a head-on collision with a semitrailer on Wisconsin 18 around 5:40 a.m. The driver of the semitrailer was not hurt.
The Chicago area as well as Gary, Ind., were under winter storm advisories, with forecasts calling for up to 6 inches of snow and wind gusts of up to 30 mph.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a full ground stop at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport because of too much snow and ice Tuesday afternoon. The ground stop went into effect at 3:09 p.m. and was scheduled to last through at least 4:30 p.m., but the FAA said it might be extended if conditions didn't improve.
Whiteout conditions in central Nebraska closed a long stretch of Interstate 80, while Kansas closed Interstate 70 from the central city of Russell all the way west to the Colorado line. Several vehicles slid off I-70 in the northeastern part of the state, authorities said.
MOVING NORTHEAST
From the Midwest, the storm was expected to head east, bringing a combination of snow, rain and strong winds to the Northeast by Tuesday night, as well as concerns about flooding in areas such as New England, parts of which got more than a foot of snow Sunday.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.
In New York, city officials began evacuating nearly 2,000 migrants who had been housed at a sprawling white tent complex at a former airport located in a remote corner of Brooklyn. An aide to NYC Mayor Eric Adams pointed to predicted wind speeds of more than 70 mph Tuesday night.
In parts of Arizona, a cold front brought below-freezing temperatures early Tuesday, with the National Weather Service reporting a minus-17 reading at the Snow Bowl in northern Arizona. In northeast New Mexico, the state Department of Transportation said snowplows spent hours Monday afternoon clearing U.S. 56 to free more than 25 stranded vehicles.
Information for this article was contributed by Curtis Anderson, Brendan Farrington, Freida Frisaro, Jeff Amy, Jeff Martin, Gary Robertson, Ben Finley, Jeffrey Collins, Kimberly Chandler, Ken Miller, Nicholas Ingram, Ken Kusmer, Steve Karnowski, Todd Richmond, Carolyn Thompson, Phil Marcelo, Ben Finley, Walter Berry and Ron Todt of The Associated Press.
City of Cedar Rapids plows clear the street as snow falls in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. A winter storm brought nearly a foot of snow to much of Iowa. (Nick Rohlman /The Gazette via AP)