A powerful snowstorm has blasted southern US states, snarling travel and bringing subzero temperatures as deadly weather intensified in regions not accustomed to extreme winter conditions.
Around 100 vehicles were left stranded in the snow along a northbound section of Interstate 85 north of Charlotte, North Carolina – where more snow fell in a single day on Saturday than the city has seen in two decades.
A late afternoon crash involving a car and a tractor-trailer led to only one lane being open along the road near Kannapolis. That in turn caused long traffic jams just as heavy snow began accumulating on the highway, North Carolina State Highway Patrol said.
North Carolina saw 750 car crashes on Saturday, according to highway patrol. Snow fell so quickly it caused tractor-trailers and cars on I-85 to become stuck, stranding drivers.
‘Once they’re blocking the interstate, everybody stops,’ North Carolina State Highway Patrol 1st Sgt. Christopher Knox told CBS 17. ‘We’re just limited in what we can do because of the interstate not being physically passable.’
‘It sounds like initially it is not necessarily a 100-car collision, but it’s just traffic that is stopped because we’re having to remove a vehicle that is blocking the roadway,’ Knox said.
The latest misery came about a week after a monster storm pummeled a wide swath of the United States, killing more than 100 people and leaving many communities still struggling to dig out from under the snow and ice.
Heavy snow fell in North Carolina and neighboring states Saturday, with authorities urging residents to stay off the roads and warning that oceanfront structures were under threat as a so-called ‘bomb cyclone’ strengthened off the coast.
A semi-truck was struck by a freight train at the intersection of Poplar Street and Airline Avenue in Gastonia, north of downtown Charlotte, North Carolina
About 100 vehicles were stuck along a northbound section of Interstate 85 north of Charlotte in Cabarrus County near Kannapolis
Around 100 vehicles sit stranded on northbound Interstate 85 near Kannapolis after heavy snow caused traffic to grind to a halt following a crash
All of North and South Carolina, and portions of Georgia, eastern Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as southern Virginia were under a winter storm warning.
The area near the North Carolina and South Carolina border closest to the coast is where moderate to heavy snowfall is most likely until about 1am EST, with up to an inch of snow per hour falling.
Lighter snowfall will continue across much of South Carolina and North Carolina, as well as southern Virginia.
Road closures were mounting across the state too including a section of I-85 northeast of Charlotte – as well as in Virginia, and other Southern states where weather warnings are in effect.
‘Fewer cars on the road during winter weather will help to keep everyone safe and allow crews to perform their jobs effectively,’ wrote the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Faust, North Carolina, recorded 14.5 inches of snow, while West Critz, Virginia got 12.5 inches. Harrisburg, Tennessee received more than 9 inches of accumulation.
In the town of Cape Carteret, high winds sent thick snow blowing sideways, promoting the National Weather Service to warn that travel was ‘Treacherous and Potentially Life-Threatening especially if you become stranded.’
A semi-truck is crushed by a cargo train after becoming stuck on icy tracks in Gastonia
Incredibly, nobody was injured after the driver of the truck managed to escape before impact
The South Carolina Department of Public Safety says law enforcement agencies are responding to 911 calls for cars losing control and ending up in ditches across parts of the state
Drivers unused to the wintry conditions lost control of their cars in North Carolina
One minivan driver careened into a sign at the side of the road in Gastonia, North Carolina
The National Weather Service shared a graphic showing how air from the Canadian Arctic was plunging into the Southeast US
In dramatic footage released by the Gastonia, North Carolina police, a train plowed at high speed into a semi-truck that had gotten stuck on the tracks, crushing the vehicle. No one was hurt.
Saturday’s storm forced more than 1,000 flight cancellations at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, a major hub for American Airlines.
A 300-strong ‘snow team’ was working to clear runways, taxiways, roads and sidewalks, the airport said.
More than 600 flights were cancelled at Atlanta’s international airport, the world’s busiest.
‘An explosively deepening coastal cyclone will continue to bring moderate to heavy snow, high winds, and possibly blizzard conditions for the Carolinas,’ the National Weather Service said Saturday.
‘An intense surge of arctic air behind the coastal storm will send below freezing temperatures down toward South Florida by Sunday morning.’
Davis, West Virginia recorded the lowest temperature in the lower 48 states on Saturday – a frigid minus 28 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 33 Celsius).
Nearly 175,000 customers remained without power on Saturday night, mostly in the south, according to poweroutage.us, with Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana hardest hit.
A police dog with the Kannapolis, North Caroline force surveys the situation from a patrol car
Local police departments did their best on social media to persuade people to stay home
Gastonia Police put together a picture montage of some of the snowiest conditions
A motorists skids across the street in winter weather as heavy snow falls in West Columbia, South Carolina
Landon Collins shovels snow in the parking lot of Tanger Outlet Mall during a winter storm Saturday, in Sevierville, Tennessee
Around 35 million Americans were put under extreme weather warnings for snow and ice as Winter Storm Gianna gathered strength Saturday.
It is expected to develop into the arctic phenomenon of a bomb cyclone Sunday morning, bringing unusually low temperatures to the Southeast, including typically to mild states like Florida.
The impact is already being felt, with the worst hit areas being the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia, as well as many other regions still trying to recover from the impact of intense snow and ice from last weekend’s storm.
In North Carolina, the National Park Service announced the closure of campgrounds and some beaches at the Outer Banks, a series of barrier islands off the coast of southern state that are vulnerable to storms.
It said oceanfront structures were threatened, and a section of highway that threads through its dunes was closed.
In another southern state, Mississippi, Governor Tate Reeves said the US Army Corps of Engineers helped to install generators at critical sites, and authorities were opening 79 shelters and warming centers across the state.
The freezing weather forced NASA to postpone a key fueling test over the weekend of the 322-foot rocket that is on the Cape Canaveral launch pad in Florida.
That in turn is likely to push back by at least a couple of days a planned, manned Moon flyby slated for next month.
I85 in North Carolina was seen with virtually no traffic following pleas by police to stay home
The view from a Kannapolis Police patrol car shows almost white-out conditions
Some unlucky drivers failed to heel warnings and found themselves breaking down
Natalia Russo slides down a snowy hill in Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday
Alex Taylor, 23, and his dog Daisy, make their way down a snowy hill in Charlotte on Saturday
Snow covers Charlotte during winter storm Gianna, as bomb cyclone brings heavy snow
Children sledge during winter storm Gianna, as bomb cyclone brings heavy snow
Emergency services were still out and about despite the terrible weather conditions
Staying in Florida, the chance of snow flurries around the Tampa Bay late Saturday night into Sunday morning was set at 10 to 20 percent by the National Weather Service.
The polar temperature will shroud the region in ‘cold, blustery conditions’.
Locals were urged to secure any loose objects as part of the wind advisory, which will also make it hard to drive high–profile vehicles.
Being on the water will also become perilous for small boats and vessels, according to authorities.
Orlando could drop to 25 degrees or below, while Miami may see mid–30s Sunday into Monday. That level of cold has not been seen since 2010.
Wind chills in northern and central parts of the state could fall to the single digits, as well.
The bitter cold has already shuttered the theme parks in Orlando, where both Disney World and Universal Studios announced temporary closures due to the freezing temperatures.
Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park will be closed until Monday.
The freezing conditions are so unique that they could even affect some of Florida’s wildlife, including freezing fruit trees.
‘Green iguanas are sensitive to the cold and can become stunned when temperatures fall into the 40s and 30s,’ meteorologist Brandon Buckingham told AccuWeather. ‘When that happens, they may lose their grip and fall from the trees.’
The storm is expected to strengthen as it tracks north along the coast into Sunday.
The Kannapolis Police did a great job of taking photos from across the area showing how bad the conditions were
A lone stop sign can be seen amid the snow in North Carolina
A road sign can be sticking out of the snow blanketing towns unaccustomed to winter storms
Students play in the snow on the historic Horseshoe at the University of South Carolina on in Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday
Forecasts show much of the Carolinas blanketed with snow and unseasonably cold temperatures behind the winter storm. Students in Columbia, South Carolina are seen
A person walks on the sidewalk as snow falls near the University of South Carolina on Saturday
A person slides down the frozen West Lawn at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on Saturday
A person walks atop the frozen Capitol Reflecting Pool on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on Saturday
As of Saturday, more than 150,000 Americans in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee were still without power following Fern, according to PowerOutage.us.
Overnight lows could drop into the teens and 20s, putting locals at risk.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, said that his residents, ‘need a clear timeline for power restoration, transparency on the number of linemen deployed, and a better understanding of when work will be completed in their neighborhood.’
Prolonged exposure to extreme cold can cause hypothermia and frostbite within minutes.
Mississippi officials said the massive winter storm was its worst since 1994. About 80 warming centers were opened, and National Guard troops delivered supplies by truck and helicopter.
In Georgia, where temperatures dropped below freezing, 65-year-old Dolla Johnson slept in a warming center to stay out of the cold.
‘If I hadn´t have been here, I would be sleeping outside,’ said Johnson, who is homeless. ‘There´s nowhere else to go. The bridges are not safe. Everything’s freezing over.’
Experts warned of the growing risks of hypothermia. Frostbite was also a concern in the South, where some people may lack sufficiently warm clothing, said Dr. David Nestler, an emergency medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
Winter Storm Gianna arrives on the heels of the Winter Storm Fern, which has claimed more than 100 lives from Texas to New Jersey – with roughly half of them in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Austin Bradbury uses a chainsaw to remove a tree above a road in Nashville, Tennessee
Jeeps help stranded drivers navigate the ice on Interstate 55 in northern Mississippi
Tennessee National Guard Specialist Taylor Osteen, left, holds a chainsaw as he takes a break from cutting downed trees from a road in Nashville, Tennessee
Tennessee National Guard members Taylor Osteen, left, and Antuwan Powell walk along an ice covered road as they work to remove trees Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
The freezing conditions are so unique that Florida’s animals and plants could also be affected
The National Weather Service said snow flurries around the Tampa Bay area late Saturday night into Sunday morning were possible
While some deaths have been attributed to hypothermia, others are suspected to be related to carbon monoxide exposure. Officials have not released specific details about some deaths.
In North Carolina, hundreds of National Guard soldiers readied to help and state workers worked to prepare roads.
The city of Wake Forest saw a steady stream of people filling propane tanks Friday at Holding Oil and Gas, including José Rosa, who arrived after striking out at three other places.
‘I’m here in this cold weather, and I don’t like it,’ Rosa said as he held a 20-pound (9-kilogram) tank.
In Dare County, home to much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, residents worried that more unoccupied houses in communities like Rodanthe and Buxton could collapse into the Atlantic Ocean.
