Nearly 1,000 flights canceled as dangerous ice storm sweeps the South - NBC News

Nearly 1,000 flights within, to and from the United States were canceled Tuesday arsenic an crystal storm swept implicit parts of the South.

The tempest was concentrated successful the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, leaving the portion deed the hardest with question issues, with 288 flights canceled astatine Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, according to the online formation tracker FlightAware. 

The country is location to some American Airlines and Southwest Airlines and arsenic of aboriginal Tuesday, astatine slightest 319 Southwest flights were listed arsenic canceled, on with 308 American Airlines flights. At slightest 90 Southwest flights were delayed, portion 29 American Airlines flights were besides listed arsenic delayed, according to FlightAware.

The crystal tempest was expected to beryllium "prolonged and significant" and to "continue impacting a ample country from the confederate Plains to the Tennessee Valley," according to the National Weather Service.

It said the "dangerous" crystal tempest is expected to proceed into astatine slightest aboriginal Thursday, bringing acold air, freezing rainfall and sleet, on with question chaos and delays.

"Widespread full crystal accretion of greater than 0.25" is apt from West Texas to occidental Tennessee, with localized areas receiving arsenic overmuch arsenic 0.75"," the upwind work said. That magnitude of ice, it warned, could pb to hazardous question conditions, on with histrion harm and scattered powerfulness outages crossed the hardest-hit regions.

Soldiers from the 142nd Field Artillery Brigade successful Lowell, Ark., hole arsenic inclement upwind bears down connected the portion Jan. 30.Arkansas National Guard

Sleet accumulations astir a fractional inch oregon higher are besides imaginable from West Texas to Arkansas, which the upwind work said could pb to "treacherous" question conditions.

Ice tempest warnings, wintertime tempest warnings and wintertime upwind advisories person been issued successful affected areas, it said, informing travelers to cheque roadworthy conditions earlier heading retired anyplace and to thrust with utmost caution.

In Texas, Forth Worth ambulance work MedStar responded to 142 centrifugal conveyance crashes wrong 24 hours of the wintertime storm, with 19 of them happening overnight, spokesperson Matt Zavadsky said. Sixteen of those crashes were rollover crashes.

MedStar besides responded to 8 patients suffering from hypothermia. Seven patients were transported to section hospitals with 5 successful superior condition. The ambulance work besides reported that 9 patients were injured from slipping connected ice.

The acold aerial wide bringing acold to the mid-South is besides expected to bring well-below-average temperatures and upwind chills passim the cardinal and the occidental U.S., the upwind work said.

Wind chill warnings and advisories person been issued crossed the cardinal and the bluish Plains, arsenic good arsenic for parts of the Intermountain West.