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SAN ANTONIO — A sprawling winter storm reaching from North Texas to upstate New York continued its relentless trek across the country on Thursday, leaving thousands stranded at airports, shivering in their homes and facing freezing rain on icy roads.
Heavy snow and freezing rain were forecast to continue into Friday from the southwestern United States to New England, according to the National Weather Service, while portions of the South could see flash flooding and tornadoes. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas called it “one of the most significant icing events that we’ve had in the state of Texas in at least several decades.”
More than 5,000 flights across the country were canceled by Thursday afternoon — the worst day for cancellations since April 2020, at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic — and more than 2,300 were delayed, according to FlightAware, a tracking website. Dallas was hit particularly hard, with at least 65 percent of outgoing flights temporarily grounded at its largest airport until a runway could be reopened around lunchtime.
Power outages were a problem, too, with at least 300,000 homes and businesses losing electricity along the storm’s path, primarily in Ohio and Tennessee.
The arrival of single-digit temperatures, snow and sleet in North Texas came nearly a year after an eight-day freeze caused widespread power outages, plunging the state into darkness and claiming the lives of more than 240 people.
Mr. Abbott on Texas sought to reassure the state’s 29 million residents that this time, the power grid would hold.
“The power grid is performing very well,” he…
