Storm slams South; bitter cold hits Northeast

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Snow swirled sideways in Kentucky and the typically bustling state capital of Frankfort came to frozen halt Monday as a storm walloped parts of the South, which unlike the Northeast, had been mostly spared this winter.

That all changed with a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain across the region, making roads treacherous and knocking out power to thousands of people.

Officials made certain roads were prepared this year after Southern cities -- most notably Atlanta -- were caught off-guard a year ago when a winter storm stranded thousands of people on interstates overnight. Raleigh suffered a similar fate last year.

In the Northeast, the snow stopped falling, but the temperatures were bitterly cold. New York City came close to breaking a 127-year-old record when the temperature in Central Park hit 3 degrees, just 2 degrees above the record set in 1888, said Jeffrey Tongue, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

The storm was headed toward the Carolinas overnight, and then expected to march through the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Arkansas had nearly 30,000 people without power at the peak of the storm.