WeatherFanatics: Arkansas to West Virginia Bracing for an Ice Storm

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

March 2,2014; 5:50PM,EST

It is not just substantial snow accompanying the winter storm crossing the nation, but also a treacherous icy mix with an ice storm set to unfold across parts of the Tennessee and Ohio valleys.
Sleet and/or freezing rain across northern Texas and Oklahoma will continue to expand across more of the Ohio and Tennessee valleys through Sunday night.
Fresh arctic air will continue to have no trouble plunging southward and cause the icy mix to unfold.
Rain changing to a glaze of ice or a rapid freeze up unfolding can even be expected southward to northern Louisiana and northern Mississippi, including Shreveport, La.

Even where only a thin glaze is expected, the icy mix will make untreated roads and sidewalks extremely slick and treacherous.
Substantial freezing rain could also lead to downed power lines and tree branches. AccuWeather.com meteorologists feel that this threat is greatest from central Arkansas to Kentucky and southern West Virginia.
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Little Rock, Ark., Memphis and Nashville, Tenn., Cape Girardeau, Mo., Paducah and Lexington, Ky., and Beckley, W. Va., are among the communities that could lose power before Sunday night is over.
Rain will also change to an icy mix across the mid-Atlantic, North Carolina and southward to Florence, S.C., through Monday.

Despite a mild end to the weekend, the ice threatens to create slick travel in Washington, D.C., Richmond, Va., Raleigh, Greensboro and Charlotte, N.C. Bridges and overpasses would be the first to turn icy.
The icy mix will quickly chance to heavy snow from north of I-85, causing the major travel-disrupting snowstorm to dominate weather headlines.

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