Drivers Stranded, Ditch Cars on Icy Highways in South as Cold Snap Continues - NBCNews.com

A cold spell carrying ice, snow and heavy winds that has already claimed more than two dozen lives and snarled traffic across the eastern U.S. was preparing to deliver a second blow Saturday — and it likely won’t let up until the end of next week, meteorologists warned.
Several states in the South, stretching from Arkansas to Georgia and up to Kentucky, were expected to get doused with rain Saturday, after ice accumulations took down power lines and halted travel Friday. Dozens of drivers reported having to sleep in their cars or abandon their vehicles altogether overnight.
The northbound side of Interstate 75 in Catoosa County, Georgia, was completely closed Saturday morning because of multiple accidents stemming from icy conditions. Parts of I-24 in the northern part of the state were also blocked, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation and the National Weather Service.

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In Alabama, vehicles came to a standstill on Interstate 65 in Athens after ice buildup caused an accident involving an 18-wheeler, reported NBC affiliate WAFF.
Amber Howe and her husband stayed on the highway in their car from 9:30 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday. “I felt very vulnerable because it was completely black and you have nowhere to go … you are just a sitting duck,” Howe said.
The couple was on their way from Illinois to vacation in Panama Beach, Florida, when the “nightmare,” ensued, Howe told NBC News. “We are not giving up,” Howe said shortly after traffic started moving again. “We are headed to Panama City Beach.”

The Howes might have the right idea. Relentless cold air could bring more snow, sleet and freezing rain from the southern Plains to the Southeast in the beginning of the week, and the Northeast could get hit with yet another round of snow toward the middle of the week, according to Weather.com.
Tennessee, which saw 18 of the reported 26 deaths resulting from record-breaking cold and debilitating ice this week, remained under a flood watch Saturday, along with parts of Kentucky, as temperatures crept higher, the National Weather Service said.

Other parts of the nation weren’t thawing out quite yet. A swath from southern Missouri to northern Maine were under winter weather warnings and advisories on Saturday morning as a band of “heavy precipitation” moved from the Deep South to the Northeast. An onslaught of arctic air is helping to produce snow, sleet and freezing rain from Ohio to New England on Saturday and Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. In addition, areas from eastern Ohio to New England could expect 6 inches of snow, Weather.com reported.

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