A crippling winter storm has lashed the central United States with another blast of freezing rain, sleet and snow, causing widespread power outages and tying up highways and airports.
The storm was expected to continue through the weekend, laying down a coat of ice and snow from Texas to Illinois, where an ice-storm warning was in effect until Monday morning.
”We’re in the middle of this storm,” said Joe Pedigo, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in St Louis. ”Friday was the first of three waves.”
Further west, frigid arctic air reached as far south as southern and central California, where plunging temperatures prompted worry about the homeless and crops.
The storm in the Midwest had been blamed for at least seven deaths, and brought passenger-train services in Missouri to a halt on Saturday. Trees and other debris knocked down by the weight of ice blocked tracks at several locations between St Louis and Kansas City.
About 115 000 homes and businesses had no electricity on Saturday in the St Louis area. Between 60 000 and 70 000 customers were without power in Springfield, Missouri, according to a county official.
Missouri Governor Matt Blunt and Texas Governor Rick Perry activated their National Guard members on Saturday. Blunt, who also declared a state of emergency, said the worst wave may come on Sunday.
More than 15cm of rain fell in places across central Texas, causing local flooding. Water also blocked three highways in south-eastern Oklahoma, the department of transportation reported.
About 300 flights were cancelled on Saturday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, spokesperson David Magana said. Cancellations also were reported in St Louis, Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
In Oklahoma, about 40 000 customers were without power early on Saturday, said Michelann Ooten, spokesperson for the Oklahoma department of emergency management.
More rain, freezing rain and snow were expected from north-west Oklahoma all the way to Wisconsin on Sunday, Pedigo said.
In California’s San Joaquin Valley, where much of the state’s nearly $1-billion citrus crop is grown, temperatures dropped into the teens overnight on Friday. Growers burned fires, sprayed warm irrigation water and ran giant fans to keep cold air away from their oranges, lemons and tangerines. — Sapa-AP