WASHINGTON - A deadly winter storm that blanketed the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions in snow largely subsided by Tuesday morning, leaving bitterly cold temperatures in its wake as tens of thousands remained without power and closures persisted.
The storm hammered a swath of the country from Kansas and Missouri to Virginia and New Jersey with heavy snow and ice, triggering emergency declarations as disruptions piled up on roads and at airports. The storm broke daily snowfall records in at least eight cities across the Midwest and the East.
The heavy snow prompted mass school closures and the shuttering of federal office buildings in Washington D.C., which continued into Tuesday as snow still covered the city. The nation's capital picked up nearly 8 inches between late Sunday and Monday night, according to preliminary reports from the National Weather Service.
Snow and ice made driving conditions treacherous and led to widespread delays and cancellations at airports across the central and eastern U.S. Major highways, including I-70, closed amid the hazards, though hundreds of motorists still became stranded in blizzard-like conditions.
More than 180,000 homes and businesses from Missouri to Virginia woke up in the dark on Tuesday, down from over 280,000 a day earlier. Many without power lived in areas experiencing wind chills below zero, including in Virginia and West Virginia, where cold weather advisories were active Tuesday morning.
The powerful winter storm has been tied to multiple deaths across the Midwest since it barreled over the region last weekend.
In Kansas, law enforcement officials said two people died in a weather-related crash in Sedgwick County, which encompasses the city of Wichita.
In Mound City, Missouri, a man was struck and killed by a sliding truck, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.
Pennsylvania State Police are investigating a fatal crash involving a Transportation Department plow truck Saturday in Greenfield Township over the weekend.
Contributing: John Bacon and Minnah Arshad