News
Power outages and canceled flights as winter storm brings snow, sleet and ice
A man carries a shovel as he crosses a street in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood in New York on Sunday.
Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
An immense and powerful winter storm is blanketing the eastern two-thirds of the United States with a mix of heavy snow, dangerous ice and frigid temperatures, affecting tens of millions of people from New Mexico to New England.
Nearly a million customers across the South were without power on Sunday evening, as the effects of the weekend’s massive weather system began to take hold. Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas were among the hardest hit.
States from Missouri to Maine were under a winter storm warning on Sunday. National Weather Service forecasters were particularly concerned about freezing rain and ice.
“Whenever we see these big ice events, we’ll see various hazards; obviously bridges and overpasses being frozen over, and with trees and various different things that could fall into the roadways or potentially fall on houses,” Nicholas Price, an NWS meteorologist in Texas, told NPR earlier.
The storm severely disrupted air travel. By Sunday evening, over 11,000 flights had been canceled in the U.S. and more than 4,700 were delayed, according to FlightAware.
Officials in multiple states also warned drivers to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.
Reporters from across the NPR Network are covering the storm in each state — the impact and how officials are responding. We’ve also got tips for interpreting different weather notices, protecting your home or vehicle ahead of time, and for staying safe once the storm hits.
Alabama
- Northwest portions of the state, including Lauderdale County, are some of the areas impacted most by the storm.
- Under 2,000 people are without power in western parts of Lauderdale County, according to Lauderdale County Emergency Management Agency Director Brad Holmes. Up to an inch of ice has accumulated on power lines and trees, with over 100 trees reported down across roadways throughout the county, Holmes told NPR on Sunday.
- About 11 vehicles got stuck or slid off the road, with at least three crashes, while five people have been transported to the hospital because of falls, Holmes also said.
- Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a state of emergency and activated the Alabama National Guard. More than 350 service members have been activated and are assisting efforts in North Alabama, according to the Alabama National Guard.
- The Alabama Department of Transportation on Sunday urged people to “avoid travel after temperatures drop and wait for conditions to improve.”
Arkansas
- Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency Thursday and deployed at least 170 national guard service members to assist with the storm. The Arkansas National Guard said it was assisting Arkansas State Police.
Connecticut
Delaware
- By Sunday afternoon, several areas had recorded more than 6 inches of snow.
- Gov. Matt Meyer urged residents to stay home. “This is not a let-me-run-out-to-the-convenience-store-real-quick kind of storm,” he said in a video on social media. “Let’s do everything we can to keep each other safe.”
- Beginning Sunday morning in New Castle and Kent Counties, driving was limited to emergency workers, public utilities, health care providers, snow removal operations, food and fuel deliveries and those with approved waivers.
- Department of Transportation Community Relations Director C.R. McLeod said staff brined roads statewide on Friday to get ahead of freezing conditions once precipitation began.
District of Columbia
Georgia
- The storm brought freezing rain, sleet, and snow to parts of northern and middle Georgia. A winter storm warning is in effect through Monday.
- The University of Georgia closed its campus and announced that all in-person classes, campus events and activities will be canceled on Monday. The impacts of the storm will likely be felt days after the worst of the weather has passed, as officials say hazardous road conditions could affect Monday morning commutes.
For more information, head to WUGA.
Illinois
- A snow emergency has been declared by the City of Springfield’s Office of Public Works through Monday at noon.
- There have been eight collisions with snowplows, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. “That’s 8 fewer plows clearing roads. If you can, please stay home. If you must drive, slow down, don’t crowd the plow, and give our crews plenty of space to work safely,” the agency said on Sunday.
Indiana
- The NWS warned of frostbite and said wind chills could reach 20 degrees below zero on Monday in northern Indiana.
- The Indiana Department of Transportation said Sunday there have been “multiple reports of crashes and slide-offs” and is urging people to stay off the roads.
- Indiana’s electric grid operator declared a conservation alert, asking customers to conserve energy and prepare for the possibility of “planned outages.”
- Parts of Indiana recorded more than 12 inches of snow by mid-day Sunday and forecasters warned of another 1-3 inches late Sunday into Monday in the northern part of the state.
Kentucky
A vehicle drives through snowy conditions on Sunday in Louisville, Ky.
Jon Cherry/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Jon Cherry/Getty Images
- At least 75,000 people were without power “and that number is expected to increase as ice accumulates,” Gov. Andy Beshear said on Sunday.
- There are 113 warming centers across the commonwealth, according to officials.
- The NWS says central and eastern Kentucky could get the most snow they’ve seen in 10 years. Ice accumulations are more than expected, Beshear said.
- In the city of Lexington, the storm “will more than likely take its place among the top 10” since 1887, says Emergency Management Director Rob Larkin.
- Kentucky Utilities has an instant text and call alert service to inform customers about outages.
Louisiana
- More than 140,000 customers were without power on Sunday afternoon.
- Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency, which his office says “activates the State’s emergency response and recovery program, allowing for direct state assistance to support operational measures at the parish level.”
- In the northern city of Monroe, Mayor Friday Ellis declared a state of emergency.
For more resources on Louisiana, head to KEDM.
Maine
- Snow was expected to pick up in the far northern state Sunday afternoon, but the NWS office in Gray said Sunday morning that it had already received reports of light snow and flurries.
- Wind chills could reach 25 below zero on Sunday through Monday. “Probably the coldest temperatures are going to be seen up north and across the Western Maine mountains,” said Steven Baron, a meteorologist in Gray.
- Snow was forecast to fall Sunday afternoon through Monday evening.
Maryland
- Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and urged people to stay off the roads and to check on neighbors.
- Hundreds of flights were canceled at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Sunday.
- The Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter is looking for people to foster dogs.
Massachusetts
Mississippi
- More than 150,000 customers were without power on Sunday afternoon. Gov. Tate Reeves said power restoration was hindered by icy roads across the state.
- Todd Jordan, mayor of Tupelo, told NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe that the state has been experiencing power outages. He said the biggest issue the state is seeing is downed trees due to freezing rain.
Missouri
Nebraska
- Several cities, including Lincoln and Omaha, are activating warming centers for people seeking a reprieve from the frigid temperatures.
New Hampshire
- As the Granite State braces for extreme cold, including temperatures of -30 degrees and wind gusts of up to 100 miles per hour, New Hampshire Public Radio has resources for finding shelters and staying safe in the frigid weather.
- Warming centers were open across the state, with people encouraged to call 211 to find the nearest location, Gov. Kelly Ayotte said.
- New Hampshire Fish and Game Sergeant Matthew Holmes is warning hikers against venturing out during the storm, but also offered recommendations on how to stay safe in hazardous conditions. “Although [hiking] is something that I worry about, and often drives me nuts, I know it’s going to happen and we’re going to have folks out there,” he said.
New Jersey
- On the heels of her inauguration, Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced an emergency declaration that went into effect for all 21 counties. Sherrill also announced a commercial vehicle travel restriction on interstate highways.
- Snow fell steadily across New Jersey on Sunday. Trenton had received more than 7 inches of snow by early afternoon, the NWS reported.
- State offices were set to be closed Monday, and New Jersey Transit temporarily suspended bus, light rail and Access Link on Sunday.
- Acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport warned businesses not to violate the state’s price gouging law during the snowstorm.
New York
- State officials said most of New York is expected to receive 1-2 feet of snow, while New York City and Long Island could get sleet.
- Gov. Kathy Hochul urged residents to stay indoors, layer to stay warm and check on their neighbors.
- The largest school district in the U.S. will hold remote classes on Monday. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said city schools would operate remotely, though school buildings would be closed.
- Parts of the North Country could see wind chills as low as 50 below zero. Much of Central New York is also preparing for a week-long winter cold snap.
- Bonus: Gothamist has recommendations for how to make the most of the snowstorm.
For more resources by region in New York, head to WSKG.
North Carolina
For more resources in North Carolina, including where to find shelter, head to WUNC.
Ohio
- The National Weather Service is predicting a total snowfall of eight inches to a foot in central Ohio this weekend.
- Rock salt shortages may make driving in Northeast Ohio this winter more treacherous than usual.
- As extremely cold temperatures grip Northeast Ohio, emergency doctors are warning that frostbite can develop faster than many parents realize, especially in children. “Thirty minutes or less typically is all the time that’s required to develop frostbite in exposed individuals when the windchill is near zero,” said MetroHealth emergency physician Dr. Jeremiah Escajeda. She advises dressing children in layers, keeping extremities covered and changing out of wet clothing.
For the latest in Ohio, head to WVXU.
Oklahoma
- The winter storm has exited Oklahoma, as the state saw multiple rounds of snow on Sunday.
- While the storm has largely passed, officials say hazardous road conditions remain and the biggest danger going forward will be the cold temperatures that are forecast to drop as low as -15.
Pennsylvania
- By early afternoon Sunday, multiple Pennsylvania cities had already seen more than half a foot of snow. Philadelphia received 7.4 inches as of 1 p.m. ET, while 8.4 inches fell in Reading and Allentown received 9.2 inches.
- Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker urged residents to “please remain off the roads unless you absolutely have to travel.” City schools will be closed Monday. SEPTA suspended all bus and light rail operations.
- Photos show the extent of Philadelphia’s first major storm of the year.
- Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor said he’s “expecting the worst” from the storm, which is projected to drop between 9-14 inches of snow on the area. He said he is prepared to call in additional contractors and haulers to deal with the snow.
- This could be the most significant winter storm in Pittsburgh in five years. “We’ll be on the northwest fringe of this storm track where the heavy snow will be occurring,” NWS meteorologist Chris Leonardi said of Pittsburgh.
- Central Pennsylvania will also see double-digit snowfall and cold temperatures.
- Gov. Josh Shapiro said Sunday that 2,600 plow trucks were out clearing Pennsylvania roads.
South Carolina
- NWS offices across the state issued a variety of alerts, including an ice storm warning and a winter weather advisory, which will run through Monday morning.
- Gov. Henry McMaster urged South Carolinians to heed emergency warnings.
- State Transportation Secretary Justin Powell said 3,000 road crew personnel will work statewide through the storm’s duration. Powell said 1.5 million gallons of brine have already been put on the roads.
- Forecast models show ice thickness between 0.5 and 1 inches occurring around Greenville and Rock Hill by the time the winter storm’s precipitation ends on Monday. Low temperatures on Tuesday morning are expected to reach the single digits across parts of the Upstate.
Tennessee
Memphis residents shovel snow from a sidewalk in downtown Memphis, Tenn., on Sunday.
Kevin Wurm/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Kevin Wurm/AFP via Getty Images
- The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) said Sunday that much of the state is experiencing snow or sleet, with freezing rain set to come later. Much of the state will also receive a quarter-inch of ice, while some areas will see a half-inch, TEMA said.
- More than 316,000 customers have lost power in Tennessee, and power restoration could take days. WPLN’s Rose Gilbert told NPR’s Weekend Edition that Nashville had seen a spike in outages. “People have reported hearing these loud cracking noises, with trees coming down — as well as what looks like lightning, but is related either to transformers blowing out or arcing from the power lines,” Gilbert said.
- But there were also moments of levity as the storm beared down. On Saturday, Gilbert observed dozens of people sledding at the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville “with everything from old-fashioned wooden sleds to pool floaties and cardboard boxes. It was a bit of a party scene. There was kind of an ad hoc après-ski sort of feel.”
For the latest in Tennessee, head to WKNO.
Texas
- At least one person is confirmed to have died from extreme cold, according to Austin Mayor Kirk Watson.
- The Austin area is experiencing a thicker than anticipated layer of frozen precipitation, making road conditions treacherous.
- Colder temperatures are still to come: “Tonight, it is going to get very, very cold, so any moisture that’s left out there … it is going to refreeze,” Brian Mason, the city of Houston’s emergency management director, said on Sunday. “When the sun goes down, please make sure you’re off the roads and take the burden off our first responders that will be out in the field.” Southeast Texas is under an extreme cold warning through Tuesday morning.
- Early voting in the Houston City Council election was initially scheduled to continue through Tuesday, but the polls are closed Sunday and Monday because of inclement weather. Schools across the state also announced closures.
For more resources in Texas, head to Texas Public Radio.
Vermont
- Forecasters predict snowfall reaching 8 to 16 inches, with up to 2 feet possible in some areas.
- Seven extreme cold weather shelter locations will be open over the weekend. Most are part of a state-funded network of overflow shelters that activate when temperatures fall into the negatives.
- The Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles has also placed a travel restriction on Route 9 through 7:00 p.m. Monday.
Virginia
- Gov. Abigail Spanberger issued an emergency declaration and said it will take time for state agencies to clear roads in the coming days and asked people to stay home.
- The Virginia State Police on Sunday urged people to avoid travel, saying wet roads across the state will turn icy overnight.
- Virginia State Police also told NPR that as of Sunday night they had responded to 378 crashes, 28 of which had injuries. There had been one fatal crash, which Virginia State Police was investigating in northern Virginia in Fairfax County, although weather was not being looked at as a factor in this crash.
West Virginia
- As temperatures drop, the West Virginia Department of Transportation urged people to be aware of black ice: “We need you to PAY ATTENTION and SLOW DOWN when traveling in these conditions.”
- Warming centers for unhoused people have opened across the state. “We won’t turn anybody away,” said shelter director Crystal Neff. “We’ll find ’em a sleeping bag or a blanket, whatever we have, to make sure everybody’s safe.”
News
Satellite images show Iran school strike hit more buildings than earlier reported
The bombing of an Iranian elementary school that killed some 165 people, many of them schoolgirls, included more targets near the school than has been initially reported, a review of commercial satellite imagery by NPR has found.
The images suggest that the school was hit on Saturday as part of a precision airstrike on a neighboring Iranian military complex — and that it may have been struck as a result of outdated targeting information.
The new images come from the company Planet and are of the city of Minab, located in southeastern Iran. They show that a health clinic and other buildings near the school were also struck. Three independent experts confirmed NPR’s analysis of the additional strike points.
The strike points “look like pretty clean detonation centroids,” said Corey Scher, a postdoctoral researcher at the Conflict Ecology laboratory at Oregon State University.
“These certainly appear like detonation sites,” agreed Scher’s colleague, Oregon State associate professor Jamon Van Den Hoek.
Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at Middlebury College who specializes in satellite imagery, said the imagery was consistent with a precision airstrike.
The images show “very precise targeting,” Lewis told NPR. “Almost all the buildings [in the compound] are hit.”
A satellite image of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard compound taken on March 4, several days after an airstrike destroyed a school on the edge of the compound. The image reveals that half a dozen other buildings in addition to the school were struck.
Planet Labs PBC
hide caption
toggle caption
Planet Labs PBC
Iranian state media said 165 people died in the bombing, which struck a girls’ school. The school was located within less than 100 yards of the perimeter of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval base, according to satellite images and publicly available information. The clinic was also located within the base perimeter, although both facilities had been walled off from the base.
Israel has denied involvement. “We are not aware at the moment of any IDF operation in that area,” Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told NPR on Monday. “I don’t know who’s responsible for the bombing.”

At a press conference Wednesday morning, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. is looking into what happened at the school. “All I know, all I can say, is that we’re investigating that,” Hegseth said. “We, of course, never target civilian targets.”
Given Minab’s location in the southeastern part of Iran, Lewis believes it’s more likely the U.S. would have conducted the strike than Israel. As one gets farther south and east in Iran, “a strike is much more likely to be a U.S. strike than an Israeli strike because of the type of munitions and the geographic location,” he said.
Esmail Baghaei, the spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, called the strike “deliberate” and said that the U.S. and Israel bombed the school in part to tie up Iranian forces in the region with rescue efforts. “To call the attack on the girls school merely a ‘war crime’ does not capture the sheer evil and depravity of such a crime,” he said.
But Lewis said it’s more likely that the strike was the result of an error. Satellite images show that the school and clinic buildings were both once part of the base. The school was separated from the base by a wall between 2013 and 2016. The clinic was walled off between 2022 and 2024.
Lewis believes it’s possible American military planners had not updated their target sets.
“There are thousands of targets across Iran, and so there will be teams in the United States and Israel that are responsible for tracking those targets and updating them,” he said. “It’s possible that the target didn’t get updated.”
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for additional information about the strike.
NPR’s Arezou Rezvani and NPR’s RAD team contributed to this report.
News
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of former supreme leader, tipped to become Iran’s next head of state
Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of the assassinated Ali Khamenei, is being heavily tipped to succeed his father as supreme leader of Iran, which would pitch a hardliner into the task of steering the Islamic republic through the most turbulent period in its 48-year history and offer a powerful signal that, for now, it has no intention of changing course.
No official confirmation has been given and the announcement may be delayed until after the funeral of Ali Khamenei, which was on Wednesday postponed.
His son is believed to have been the choice of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the Israeli defence minister, Gideon Saar, has warned he will be assassinated.
Ayatollah Seyed Khatani, a member of the Assembly of Experts, the body that chooses the new supreme leader, said the assembly was close to selecting a leader.
Rigid in his anti-western views, Mojtaba Khamenei is not the candidate Donald Trump would have wanted. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said on Tuesday that Iran was run by “religious fanatic lunatics” – and Khamenei’s appointment is hardly likely to dispel that opinion.
The choice of supreme leader is made by the 88-strong Assembly of Experts, who in this case are picking from a field of six possible candidates. His election would be a powerful if unsurprising symbol that the government is not looking to find an accommodation with America.
Trump has said the worst-case scenario would be if Khamenei’s successor was “as bad as the previous person”.
There has been speculation for more than a decade that he would be his father’s successor, which grew when Ebrahim Raisi, the elected president and favourite of Khamenei, was killed in a helicopter crash.
Mojtaba Khamenei was born in 1969 and studied theology after graduating from high school. At the age of 17, he went to serve in the Iran-Iraq war, but it was not until the late 1990s that he came to be recognised as a public figure in his own right.
After the landslide defeat of Khamenei’s preferred candidate, Ali Akbar Nategh Nuri, in the 1997 presidential election, where he won only 25% of the final vote, various conservative Iranian groups realised the need to make changes to their structures and Mojtaba Khamenei was central to that project.
He was also seen as instrumental by reformists in suppressing the protests in 2009 that came after allegations the presidential election had been rigged, with his name chanted in the streets as one of those responsible. Mostafa Tajzadeh, a senior member of Iran’s reformist parties who was imprisoned after the vote, alleged that his and his wife, Fakhr al-Sadat Mohtashamipour’s, legal case was under the direct supervision of Mojtaba Khamenei.
In 2022 he was given the title of ayatollah – essential to his promotion. By then he was a regular figure by his father’s side at political meetings, as well as playing an influential role in the Islamic Republic’s Broadcasting Corporation, the government’s official media outlet often criticised for churning out dull political propaganda that many Iranians reject in favour of overseas satellite channels. He has also played a central role in the administration of his father’s substantial financial empire.
His closest political allies are Ahmad Vahidi, the newly appointed IRGC commander; Hossein Taeb, a former head of the IRGC’s intelligence organisation; and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the current speaker of the parliament.
His rumoured appointment and its hereditary nature has long been resisted by reformists. The former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, referring to the long history of rumours about Mojtaba Khamenei succeeding his father as leader, wrote in 2022: “News of this conspiracy have been heard for 13 years. If they are not truly pursuing it, why don’t they deny such an intention once and for all?”
The Assembly of Experts, in response, denounced “meaninglessness of doubts” and said the assembly would select only “the most qualified and the most suitable”.
Israel on Tuesday struck the building in the Iranian city of Qom, one of Shia Islam’s main seats of power, where the assembly was scheduled, but the building was empty, according to IRGC-affiliated media.
News
Video: Senators Question Kristi Noem on ICE Immigration Tactics
new video loaded: Senators Question Kristi Noem on ICE Immigration Tactics
transcript
transcript
Senators Question Kristi Noem on ICE Immigration Tactics
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem repeatedly refused to apologize for suggesting that Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two U.S. citizens shot and killed by agents, were domestic terrorists.
-
What we’ve seen is a disaster under your leadership, Ms. Noem. A disaster. What we’ve seen is innocent people getting detained that turn out are American citizens. I could talk about the culture that’s been created here. After the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, when I spoke to Alex’s parents, they told me that you calling him a domestic terrorist — this was directly from them — the day after he was killed, a nurse in our V.A., Alex — one of the most hurtful things they could ever imagine was said by you about their son. Do you have anything you want to say to Alex Pretti’s parents? Ma’am, I did not call him a domestic terrorist. I said It appeared to be an incident of — I think the parents saw it for what it was. In a hearing — recent hearing before the HSGAC committee, C.B.P. and ICE officials testified under oath that their agencies did not inform you that Pretti was a domestic terrorist — during that hearing, stated during that hearing, I was getting reports from the ground, from agents at the scene, and I would say that it was a chaotic scene. How did you think that calling them domestic terrorists at that scene was somehow going to calm the situation? The fact that you can’t admit to a mistake, which looks like under investigation, it’s going to prove that Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti probably should not have been shot in the face and in the back. Law enforcement needs to learn from that. You don’t protect them by not looking after the facts.
By Christina Kelso and Jackeline Luna
March 3, 2026
-
World1 week agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Massachusetts1 week agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Wisconsin3 days agoSetting sail on iceboats across a frozen lake in Wisconsin
-
Maryland4 days agoAM showers Sunday in Maryland
-
Denver, CO1 week ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Florida4 days agoFlorida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
-
Oregon6 days ago2026 OSAA Oregon Wrestling State Championship Results And Brackets – FloWrestling
-
Massachusetts2 days agoMassachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks