About 5 million people in the Great Lakes and southern Appalachians are under winter weather warnings Monday morning, with the snow and rain that have disrupted the post-holiday travel season in the Northeast set to continue well into the week.
Parts of New York have already received more than 58 centimeters (nearly 1.5 meters) of snow since the current winter storm began, with at least 90 centimeters in Erie, Pennsylvania.
And for many, there’s no relief from the winter onslaught: Lake effect snow warnings are still in effect for Cleveland, as well as Erie, Pennsylvania — with snow expected to continue in areas downwind of Lake Erie at least until Wednesday.
Elsewhere, winter storm warnings and advisories are in effect for both the Michigan peninsula and Syracuse, New York.
Affected areas could see 1 to 2 inches of snow per hour on Monday, reducing visibility and creating potentially hazardous conditions. Temperatures will be 10 to 15 degrees below average in parts of the Plains, the Ohio Valley and the mid-Atlantic, the National Weather Service said.
An Arctic blast swept through northern states on Sunday, creating dangerous conditions in the Northern Plains, the Midwest and the Great Lakes, on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
A ban on buses, commercial trucks and semi-trailer trucks ended at 2 a.m. ET, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on X.
Tom Szczerbacki removes snow from his home in Hamburg, New York, on Sunday.
State Police in Lifesaving Rescue Mission
A 64-year-old woman on her way for heart transplant surgery had to be rescued by New York State Troopers after she became stranded on a snowy highway. The woman was driven from Rochester to Cleveland by her husband for the critical procedure. Her heart was kept going by a battery-powered pump. The man was able to contact a nurse in Cleveland, who alerted state police.
Troopers took her to a local hospital before she was flown to Cleveland for the transplant.
“The actions of the Troopers, medical staff and transport teams highlight how critical teamwork and quick thinking can save lives, even in severe weather conditions,” the New York State Police said in a statement.
During the winter weather from Thanksgiving through Sunday, the agency said it responded to 111 disabled vehicles and investigated 82 property damage collisions and seven personal injury collisions.
The Southeast is not spared from the cold snap: A freeze warning affects 3 million people in northern Florida and southern Georgia, with temperatures around 33 degrees Fahrenheit in Tallahassee, well below the seasonal average.
Record travel holiday weekend
Thanksgiving weekend looks set to break records for the number of travelers, with 2.8 million departing Saturday, according to the TSA — a million more than the same day in 2023.
Traffic lines at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport were so long Sunday that people traveling home after visiting their loved ones walked from toll booths to terminals. The airport said late on Sunday at X that the traffic situation had improved, but still advised travelers to allow extra time for their journey.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
