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Initially major US winter season storm of year sweeps into Mid-Atlantic states

The first major winter storm of the new year swept into the U.S. midAtlantic states on Monday early morning, shutting down federal workplaces and public schools in Washington, D.C., after dumping a foot of snow in parts of the Ohio Valley and Central Plains.

About five inches (12.7 cm) had fallen in the nation's. capital by 8 a.m. on Monday, according to the U.S. National. Weather Service, with approximately 8 inches in some surrounding. areas of Maryland and Virginia. The snow was forecast to. continue throughout the day before the system pushes out to sea. on Monday night. Extreme travel interruptions were expected throughout the storm's. course, and authorities urged drivers to remain off the roadways if. possible. Governors in numerous states, consisting of Kansas,. Kentucky, Arkansas, West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland, have. declared states of emergency.

In the wake of the storm, dangerously frigid Arctic air was. filling the void, bringing freezing rain and icy conditions to a. swath of the country extending from Illinois to the Atlantic. coast. The uncommonly cold temperature levels are expected to linger. for the remainder of the week.

The Central Plains, where the storm disposed heavy snow over. the weekend, were already in a deep freeze. Parts of Kansas. experienced bitter cold wind chills, with worths from 5 to. practically 25 degrees Fahrenheit below zero (minus 15 to 32 degrees. Celsius) over night. The cold air will continue, with daytime. highs just in the mid teens to lower 20s.

The airport in Kansas City taped 11 inches (28 cm) of. snowfall, the greatest for any storm in more than 30 years, the. National Weather Service stated. The Missouri State Authorities stated it. had actually reacted on Sunday to more than 1,000 stranded drivers. and 356 crashes, including one casualty.

In Washington, the storm will not keep the U.S. Congress. from conference on Monday to formally license Republican Donald. Trump's election as president, Home Speaker Mike Johnson stated. on Sunday. But federal offices in the nation's capital will be. closed, the Workplace of Personnel Management said.

Hundreds of schools announced beforehand that they would not. open on Monday due to the storm, consisting of public schools in. Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Washington and Philadelphia.

The storm also left more than 330,000 homes and companies. in the central and southern U.S. without power on Monday, information. from PowerOutage.us showed.

As of 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT), more than 1,600 flights. within, into and out of the United States had actually been canceled,. according to the FlightAware.com tracking service. Amtrak. canceled dozens of trains on the busy Northeast Passage line. in between Boston and Washington.

The 3 airports serving the D.C. area - Reagan National,. Baltimore/Washington International and Dulles - were all open,. with crews working to clear the airfields of snow, but were. seeing many flights delayed or canceled.

(source: Reuters)