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At least 4 dead as 1,400-mile-long snowstorm heads east

Posted at 6:45 PM, Jan 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-12 18:50:27-05

(CNN) — At least four people have died and scores were injured and stranded as a snowstorm pounded St. Louis and other parts of Missouri, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

In a tweet Saturday morning, the patrol said it also had responded to 48 injuries, 723 crashes, 1,252 stranded motorists and 2,968 calls for service.

St. Louis had recorded 10.4 inches of snow by 1:30 p.m. ET, with higher accumulations in other parts of Missouri. In Columbia, 15.5 inches were reported and Harrisburg had 17 inches.

The storm is headed east, where it’s expected to blanket Washington and Baltimore, forecasters said. Four to 6 inches are predicted for Washington and 2 to 3 inches for Baltimore, they said.

“We have a strong snowstorm that’s stretching 1,400 miles from Kansas to the East Coast,” CNN meteorologist Haley Brink said. “St. Louis is seeing its worst snowstorm in five years. We’re going to see a significant snow event for the mid-Atlantic to start the year for 2019.”

More than 65 million people are under a winter storm advisory, watch or warning.


Associated Press:

(AP) — Indiana State Police say northbound lanes of Interstate 65 have been closed for hours after a semitruck jackknifed along the snow-covered highway in northern Indiana.

Trooper Nathan Hampton says I-65’s northbound lanes were closed shortly after the 12:30 p.m. accident near Lafayette, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northwest of Indianapolis.

Those lanes remained closed at 4:30 p.m. at the highway’s intersection with State Road 25, but Hampton said they were expected to reopen to traffic by early evening once the crash site is cleaned up.

He says a winter storm that brought heavy snow Saturday to parts of Indiana led to nearly 20 vehicle slide-offs that state police responded to in the Lafayette district.

State police urged Indiana residents not to travel if they don’t have to because roads remain slick.