February 15, 2021

Winter storm kills 3 in South as dangerous cold blast moves east

WATCH: Unprecedented winter storm paralyzes South, brings treacherous conditions on roads

A man has died in Louisiana after slipping on ice caused by a blast of cold that has not been seen in parts of the South in decades.

The 50-year-old man hit his head on this ice, according to the Lafayette Parish Coroner's Office, which confirmed that the death was storm-related.

Two additional winter storm-related fatalities were reported in Tennessee, one in Shelby County and one in Maury County, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.

A tornado watch is also affecting parts of the South from southern Georgia to north Florida. The threat for a few tornadoes, damaging wind gusts and large hail will continue through Monday evening and has already damaged some homes in Damascus, Georgia, according to local authorities.

Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Wire
Residents and construction crews work to cleanup the damage a tornado caused overnight at the Boca Ciega Point condominiums on Feb. 14, 2021, in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Two storms are moving across the country along with the historic cold front.

The first storm brought record-breaking snowfall this weekend for Seattle, Portland and into Oklahoma and Texas, along with the most snow in Seattle since 1969.

In Texas and Oklahoma, 6 to 11 inches of snow fell from San Angelo to Oklahoma City, where the snow paralyzed the region.

Eric Gay/AP
Craig Crow, center, plays in the snow with his children and neighbors, Feb. 15, 2021, in San Antonio. San Antonio received 3-5 inches of snow over night.

In Oklahoma City, the temperatures remained below 20 degrees for more than seven days, comparable only to the cold outbreak in 1905 and in the late 1800s, according to the National Weather Service.

More than 200 million residents in 43 states were on alert for snow, ice and bitter cold on Monday. The cold will remain in the South through Tuesday night, with wind chills expected to be down to -12 in Shreveport, Louisiana, and -1 in Houston.

Sue Ogrocki/AP
People walk down a street during a winter storm in Oklahoma City, Feb. 14, 2021. Snow and ice blanketed large swaths of the U.S. prompting canceled flights, making driving perilous and reaching into areas as far south as Texas's Gulf Coast.

The storm that brought all the snow and ice to Seattle, Portland, Oklahoma City and Dallas will move into the Ohio Valley Monday and into the Northeast through the night with ice and snow. More than 4.2 million people, the majority in Texas, were without power as of Monday afternoon.

An ice storm warning has been issued for Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, where half an inch of ice accretion is possible.

A winter storm warning has also been issued for Chicago, St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Nashville, where some areas could see more than a half a foot of snow.

Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger via USA Today Network
A sudden heavy bout of snow and frozen rain makes visibility low on a highway in Madison, Miss., early on Feb. 15, 2021.

A second storm is expected to move into the South by Wednesday, with more ice and snow for Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee.

The Southwest Power Pool ordered the start of controlled rolling cutoffs in 14 states Monday afternoon. The power property manages an electric grid that links utilities in all of Oklahoma and Kansas and parts of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska and New Mexico.

The second storm moves into the Northeast by Thursday with snow changing to rain from Washington, D.C. to Boston and all snow for the inland Northeast from Pennsylvania to Maine.

With these two storms affecting most of the lower 48 states, a lot of ice and snow is expected to fall this week from Washington to Texas and up to Maine.

Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images
People walk as snow falls in New York City on February 7, 2021. - People in the northern United States face the risk of frostbite and hypothermia amid bitter cold temperatures and dangerous wind chills this weekend.Over 25 million people are under wind chill advisories and warnings from Montana to Michigan.

The heaviest snow from these two storms will be in western New York state and into the mountains of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, where more than a foot can accumulate.

Heavy snow is also expected in the Cascades and northern Rockies.

There will be historic record-breaking cold on Monday night that will occur from the Plains down to Texas and into Alabama, where these temperatures have not been seen for decades.

Here are the wind chills for Tuesday morning across the country.

Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger via USA Today Network
A sudden heavy bout of snow and frozen rain makes visibility low on a highway in Madison, Miss., early on Feb. 15, 2021.