Snow and ice characterize the south, snarling journeys

A heavy mix of snow and sleet that swept across parts of the South is expected to melt and then freeze, creating slippery road conditions through Sunday, officials said.

Friday’s storm hit areas unaccustomed to such winter weather, prompting flight cancellations, school closures and official warnings to stay off the roads if possible.

A winter storm warning stretching from eastern Oklahoma to Virginia was canceled Saturday morning, the National Weather Service said, after a mix of snow and freezing rain fell in cities including Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Ala.; and Atlanta.

According to the National Weather Service, up to two inches of snow had fallen Saturday morning in areas of the Mid-Atlantic, parts of Virginia and southeastern Pennsylvania. Parts of Ohio and western Pennsylvania received up to five inches.

Areas throughout the South, including southeastern Oklahoma and west-central Arkansas, will “have temperatures in the 20s Sunday morning,” said Bob Oravec, a meteorologist with the service.

“There will be a lot of melting during the day and then, as expected, freezing again at night,” he said.

The widespread mix of wintry precipitation led to the cancellation of more than 3,000 flights to and from airports in Atlanta, Dallas, Nashville and Charlotte, N.C., on Friday. That number had dropped to several hundred by Saturday morning.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, a ground stop was imposed at Boston’s Logan Airport Saturday morning and de-icing operations were underway at several airports, including Dallas Fort Worth International and Cleveland Hopkins International.

At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, where nearly 60 percent of outbound flights were canceled or delayed, a grounding of all incoming Delta flights was imposed Friday after an aborted takeoff resulted in passengers on a Delta plane being thrown onto the snowy ground The runway was evacuated, according to the FAA

A Delta spokeswoman said four people were treated for minor injuries and that there was “no indication that weather was the cause of the engine problem.”

More than 300 flights to and from the airport were canceled on Saturday morning. On social media, the airport urged passengers to prepare for possible delays.

The icy snow mix made roads and highways treacherous across much of the South.

A section of Interstate 22 in Mississippi and Alabama was closed due to a crash in Marshall County in north-central Mississippi. In northern Alabama, many roads were icy and impassable, Jim Stefkovich, a meteorologist with the state Emergency Management Agency, said in a statement.

“If you’re trying to get on the road, don’t get on it,” Georgia Gov. Brian P. Kemp said at a news conference Friday, warning that as temperatures near the freezing mark, the mix is ​​increasing in snow and iciness Rain would likely make roads dangerous through Sunday.

In Atlanta, most shops and restaurants were closed. The city seemed to have learned its lesson after less than three inches of snow wreaked havoc in 2014. Drivers became stuck, children were stranded on buses and schools, and government leaders scrambled to clean up the chaos.

This time the city and state appeared to be better prepared. Officials urged people to stay indoors, and highways and city streets were covered in salt ahead of the storm. On Friday, the streets were virtually empty – save for the occasional skier or sledder – as the morning’s powder melted into slush by midday.

One exception to the closures was Waffle House. Benji Waugh, a customer, knew the famously robust breakfast spot would be open for business.

“Living in the South, if there’s a hurricane or a tornado or a storm, everywhere is shut down,” he said in an interview at the Waffle House across from Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. “But it’s easy to go to Waffle House because it’s always open.”

Gov. Kemp declared a state of emergency Thursday in anticipation of the storm, as did his counterparts in Tennessee and Arkansas. More than seven inches of snow was reported at Memphis International Airport Saturday morning, according to the weather service.

Emmett Lindner contributed to the reporting.