It's not over yet. Black ice and flash freezing could again make roads and sidewalks treacherous for millions on Tuesday, forecasters warned, as the death toll from this week’s huge snowstorm rose to 15.
Disruption was set to continue after two days of record-setting snow that dumped up to 18 inches on a vast swath of the country from the Midwest through to the East Coast.
Ice warnings were in effect early Tuesday all the way from southern Connecticut to Delaware and eastern Maryland, said Weather Channel lead forecaster Kevin Roth.
“Ice on the roads could be a big problem — especially earlier in the morning when it is tough to see — and on sidewalks where anybody walking could slip and fall,” he said.
The problem could be exacerbated by flash freezing in which slush from Monday’s snowfall was iced over by plummeting temperatures.
LIVE COVERAGE: Airports Cancel Flights as Storm Hits Northeast
Airports were still struggling to return to normal on Tuesday. At least 757 flights were canceled Tuesday, according to a 5 a.m. ET update from Flightaware, with New York La Guardia, Boston, Chicago and Newark the worst hit.
Schools remained closed in Boston, where mayor Martin J. Walsh earlier announced the victory parade for the New England Patriots would be postponed until Wednesday to give workers more time to clear roads.
A winter storm warning remained in effect until 5 a.m. for northeastern Maine, where up to 18 inches was expected by Tuesday morning.
There could be yet more snow later in the week for New England and upstate New York if a rainy low pressure system meets freezing air from Canada on Thursday.
Roth said eyes were turned to Thursday, when a wet weather system currently bringing rain to Texas could combine with a strong cold air blast moving across from the Plains and Midwest.
“Along the boundary there will be light snow — an inch or two — but if they combine there could be more heavy snow for upstate New York and New England, which have already been hit hard,” he said. “At the moment only one model is predicting that, so it is only a possibility at this stage.”
In total, 15 deaths have been blamed on Monday’s snow and ice including a Massachusetts woman struck by a snowplow and a two Indianapolis men killed in a crash on a frozen Interstate 74 in Shelby County, Indiana.
Three men in their early 60s died in Illinois hospitals from heart problems after collapsing when shoveling snow outside their homes, the DuPage County Coroner said in a statement. Two further men in their 60s suffered a similar fate in Wisconsin, while another collapsed while operating a snow-blower, Milwaukee County Medical office said.
