Arctic air mass will send temperatures plunging in parts of U.S.
After a brief respite of spring-like weather, winter is returning with a vengeance Saturday for much of the East. An arctic air mass will send temperatures plunging nearly 20 to 40 degrees from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast.
A mix of snow and freezing rain reduced visibility and iced over roads in Tennessee and Kentucky Friday forcing at least two tractor-trailer trucks to jackknife. Police responded to more than 100 crashes in Memphis alone, reports CBS News' Tony Dokoupil.
In Indiana, blowing snow and freezing temperatures made a mess of the roads. Transportation Department spokesman Scott Manning said his crews have a difficult task.
"To go from rain to freezing rain to sleet and snow so quickly and then on the back end have a really drastic drop in temperatures coupled with some strong wind gusts -- that's a lot to have mixed into one event," Manning said.
Several crashes involving cars and more than a dozen semi-trucks closed part of Interstate 40 in Tennessee.
"We slid to a stop, stopped here because these trucks piled up and then my wife screamed that someone hit us in the back. Spun us out to the side here and then another semi-truck that couldn't stop -- head on collision smashed us from the front," said one man who was involved in a crash.
Heavy rain flooded homes in western and central New York on Friday and large chunks of ice and water made roads impassable.
The snow that comes after the rain could accumulate up to 10 inches. Meanwhile, parts of New England are still digging out from last week's storm.
A winter weather advisory is in effect for parts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts thanks to a 30-degree drop in temperatures.
In Bryant Pond, Maine, Sophie, a dog, will be staying inside. Her owner, Brooke Rayford, says the dog got buried in the snow from last week's blizzard. Five days later, Sophie was spotted and rescued by another family member.
"You don't realize how much you love someone until you think the worst," Rayford said.
