Food, fuel delivery to cars stranded in Kentucky

Icy roads didn’t stop Steve Goodson from trying to round up enough workers to open a McDonald’s restaurant as sleet pelted parts of Kentucky early Friday. In the early morning hours Friday, cold air supportive of wintry weather will begin to move into Middle Tennessee.

Dossett activated the State Emergency Operations Center in anticipation of this strong weather event and has conferenced with allied state agencies, local officials and emergency managers across the state.

Authorities say traffic is backed up for miles due to wrecks shutting down portions of Interstate 75 in Kentucky as heavy snow falls in the region.

The latest on a winter storm that forecasters say could dump a few inches to more than a foot of snow in Kentucky (all times local).

Rapid snowfall and the projected snowfall totals will most likely lead to road and highway crews not clearing main road until Saturday, Bevin said, after the storm clears the state. The highest accumulations of snow are in the Pennyrile Region, with 6-12 inches, less in the north and west. Travel is additionally hazardous today as gusty winds blow and drift the snow. By late Friday, Virginia State Police had reported 989 crashes statewide and had assisted almost 800 disabled vehicles, police spokesman Ken Schrad said.

State police are advising motorists to stay off the roads with more winter weather on the way.

Kentucky State Police said a man died in southeastern Kentucky on Thursday when his auto collided with a state salt truck.

It was unclear exactly how many were stuck.

District of Columbia Taxicab Commission spokesman Neville Waters says the “snow emergency fare” will go into effect at 9:30 a.m. Friday. It turned I-75 in both directions in Rockcastle and Laurel counties into a parking lot. The American Red Cross was providing food to stranded drivers.

In the Washington metro area, almost 2 feet of snow was on the ground by Saturday morning. But the worst was yet to come, with life-threatening blizzard conditions expected to persist throughout the day.

A winter storm warning remains in effect until noon Friday.

Tens of millions of residents from northern Georgia to New Jersey have shuttered themselves inside to wait out a mammoth storm that has made travel treacherous and could dump up to 2 feet of snow in some areas. The National Weather Service says up to 6 inches of snow and blizzard conditions are possible on Friday. Between 14 inches to 15.5 inches had fallen in at other locations across Kentucky, including Frenchburg, Mount Vernon, Eglon and Lancer.

Meteorologist Paul Kocin with the service’s Weather Prediction Center says snowfall as heavy as 1 to 3 inches an hour could continue for 24 hours or more in the area. In Virginia, Reagan National Airport reported 6.8 inches of snow and Elma had 15 inches.