ATLANTA — A powerful winter storm that dumped heavy snow and glazed roads with ice across much of Texas and Oklahoma lumbered eastward into southern U.S. states Friday, prompting governors to declare states of emergency and shuttering schools across the region.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders mobilized the National Guard to help stranded motorists. School was canceled for millions of children across a wide tract of southern states from Texas to Georgia and as far east as South Carolina.
Some of the heaviest snowfall was expected Friday across the northern half of Arkansas and much of Tennessee, with expected totals in some parts of those states ranging from 6 to 9 inches (about 15 to 22 centimeters), according to the National Weather Service.
As much as a foot (about 31 centimeters) of snow fell in parts of Arkansas, where schools remained closed Friday. Six inches had already coated Memphis, Tennessee, from late Thursday into Friday morning, and heavy, wet flakes were still falling.
Farther south and east into Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, a wintry mix of sleet, snow and ice made travel treacherous.
Mikayla Johnson, 12, was out making snow angels and snowmen in Atlanta on her day off from school.
“My first thought was, WOW!” said Mikayla, who was outdoors with her father, Nate. “We haven’t had snow since I was like 4 — the good snow, at least. So, I’m really happy.”
The storm dumped as much as 7 inches (about 18 centimeters) in some spots in central Oklahoma and northern Texas.
And in the Kansas City area, students were back at school in several districts Thursday after three straight snow days, only to see classes called off again Friday because of more snow.
Snow began falling in metro Atlanta before dawn, leading to hundreds of flights being cancelled and hundreds more delayed at Atlanta’s airport, according to flight tracking software FlightAware. Controllers declared a ground stop before 8 a.m., meaning no planes could land or take…
