The winter storm in Central America, barrels towards Washington by Reuters

(Reuters) – A winter storm brought snow, ice and freezing temperatures to a wide swath of the U.S. state on Sunday, with more than 60 million people from Kansas to New Jersey under winter weather warnings and advisories.

The storm is moving into the mid-Atlantic, and Washington, D.C. is bracing for heavy snow and bitter cold on Monday, the same day that the U.S. Congress is set to confirm and officially confirm the election of Republican Donald Trump for president.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News on Sunday that the weather won’t stop lawmakers from doing their jobs. However, the Office of Personnel Management announced that federal offices in the nation’s capital will be closed.

Parts of Kansas and northwestern Missouri were expecting tornadoes, the National Weather Service said. The road is covered with snow and ice and the authorities have urged residents to avoid travel.

In Kansas, most of Interstate 70’s main artery was closed all Sunday due to heavy snow and ice.

In Missouri, state police were sweeping more than 50 miles of closed roads on Interstate 29, searching for stranded drivers. By Sunday afternoon, troopers had responded to nearly 600 motorists and 285 accidents, the agency reported in X.

Total (EPA:) Between six and 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) of snow is expected from southern Ohio to Washington. Hundreds of schools, including public schools in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Washington and Philadelphia, have already announced they will not be open Monday because of the storm.

In northern Kentucky and southern West Virginia, freezing rain and snow will “produce dangerous snow accumulations,” the service said. The back end of the storm system was producing severe thunderstorms that could spin tornadoes across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

The storm forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights, including more than 275 flights in Kansas City and St. Louis, according to aviation tracking website FlightAware.

Governors in several states, including Kansas, Kentucky, Arkansas, West Virginia and Virginia, have declared states of emergency.

The storm will move toward the coast Monday night, but bone-chilling Arctic air is set to move in behind it, with daytime temperatures Monday and Tuesday forecast to be 10 to 20 degrees below average from the Great Plains to the East Coast. to the weather service.