QUNEITRA, Syria (AP) — A main road in the provincial capital of Quneitra in southern Syria was blocked with mounds of dirt, fallen palm trees and a metal pole that appeared to have once been a traffic light. On the other side of the barriers, an Israeli tank could be seen maneuvering in the middle of the street.
Israeli forces entered the area — which lies in a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights that was established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement between Syria and Israel — soon after the fall of President Bashar Assad last month in the country's 13-year civil war.
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A man walks past a home that was demolished by the Israeli military, in the village of Rafid, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A man collects wood from a tree that was removed by the Israeli military during an incursion in his village of Rafid, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A shepherd guides his sheep at the foothills of Syria's tallest mountain, Mount Hermon, Jabal al Sheikh in Arabic, which was captured by Israeli forces after the ousting of the Assad regime, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Sheep graze in the foothills of of Syria's tallest mountain, Mount Hermon, Jabal al Sheikh in Arabic, which was captured by Israeli forces after the ousting of the Assad regime, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Abdelrahman Khaled al-Aqqad, 18, lies on a bed in his home after getting shot in both legs by the the Israeli military at a protest against their incursion into his village of Dawaya, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A man holds a bullet that was extracted from the abdomen of his son, who joined a protest against the Israeli military's incursion of his village, in Swisah, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Al-Moatasem Billah Adel, 21, lies on a bed in his home after getting shot in the abdomen by the Israeli military at a protest against their incursion into his village of Swisah, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Omar Mahmoud Ismail, a local official, sits on the rubble of a home that was demolished by the Israeli military, in the village of Rafid, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Workers fix an electricity grid in a Syrian village where the Israeli military made an incursion, in Rafid, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Cars drive past a roundabout hoisting the new Syrian flag after the ousting of the Assad regime, in Salam City, formerly called Baath City after the ruling party, in Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Israeli military armored vehicles block a road leading to the town of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Al-Moatasem Billah Adel, 21, lies on a bed in his home after getting shot in the abdomen by the Israeli military at a protest against their incursion into his village of Swisah, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Adel Subhi al-Ali, a local Sunni religious official, whose 21 year old son was shot in the abdomen at a protest against the Israeli military incursion into his village of Swisah, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A boy carrying bread cycles home as Israeli military armored vehicles block a road leading to the town of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
The Israeli military has also made incursions into Syrian territory outside of the buffer zone, sparking protests by local residents. They said the Israeli forces have demolished homes and prevented farmers from going to their fields in some areas. On at least two occasions, Israeli troops reportedly opened fired on protesters who approached them.
Residents of Quneitra, a seemingly serene bucolic expanse of small villages and olive groves, said they are frustrated, both by the Israeli advances and by the lack of action from Syria’s new authorities and the international community.
Rinata Fastas said that Israeli forces raided local government buildings but had not so far entered residential neighborhoods. Her house lies just inside of the newly blocked-off area in the provincial capital formerly called Baath City, after Assad's former ruling party, and now renamed Salam City.
She said she is afraid Israeli troops may advance farther or try to permanently occupy the area they have already taken. Israel still controls the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel that it captured from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed. The international community, with the exception of the U.S., regards it as occupied.
Fastas said she understands that Syria, which is now trying to build its national institutions and army from scratch, is in no position to militarily confront Israel.
“But why is no one in the new Syrian state coming out and talking about the violations that are happening in Quneitra province and against the rights of its people?” she asked.
Israel describes its activity in Syria as defensive and temporary. Officials point to the presence of Iranian-backed forces in Syria before Assad was ousted, and say they want to prevent a cross-border incursion like the Hamas-led attack that triggered the war in Gaza.
They are also wary of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamist former insurgent group that is now the dominant faction in Syria's new administration and which previously had ties to al-Qaida, although it has renounced them.
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, recently called Syria’s new leadership a “terrorist gang” and claimed that many countries wanted to recognize the new Syrian government only in order to send their Syrian refugees home.
The United Nations has accused Israel of violating the 1974 ceasefire agreement by entering the buffer zone. The Israeli army said in a statement that it “remains committed to the principles” of the agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said troops will stay in Syria "until another arrangement is found that will ensure Israel’s security.” He was speaking from the snowy peak of Mount Hermon, Syria’s tallest mountain known as Jabal al Sheikh in Arabic, which has now been captured by Israeli forces.
The new Syrian government has lodged a complaint with the U.N. Security Council about Israeli airstrikes and advances into Syrian territory.
But the issue does not appear to be a priority for Syria’s new rulers as they try to consolidate control over the country, turn a patchwork of former rebel factions into a new national army, and push for the removal of Western sanctions.
The country’s new de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has also publicly said Syria is not seeking a military conflict with Israel and will not pose a threat to its neighbors or to the West.
In the meantime, residents of Quneitra have largely been left to fend for themselves.
In the village of Rafid, inside the buffer zone, locals said the Israeli military had demolished two civilian houses and a grove of trees as well as a former Syrian army outpost.
Mayor Omar Mahmoud Ismail said when the Israeli forces entered the village, an Israeli officer greeted him and told him, “I am your friend.”
“I told him, ‘You are not my friend, and if you were, you wouldn’t enter like this,’" Ismail said.
In Dawaya, a village outside the buffer zone, 18-year-old Abdelrahman Khaled al-Aqqa was lying on a mattress in his family home Sunday, still recovering after being shot in both legs. Al-Aqqa said he joined about 100 people from the area on Dec. 25 in protest against the Israeli incursion, chanting “Syria is free, Israel get out!”
“We didn’t have any weapons, we were just there in the clothes we were wearing,” he said. “But when we got close to them, they started shooting at us.”
Six protesters were wounded, according to residents and media reports. Another man was injured on Dec. 20 in a similar incident in the village of Maariyah. The Israeli army said at the time that it had fired because the man was quickly approaching and ignored calls to stop.
Regarding the Dec. 25 incident, the Israeli military said its forces had fired “warning shots solely aimed at the air” after the crowd did not heed a call to stand back.
In the village of Swisah, Adel Subhi al-Ali, a local Sunni religious official, sat with his 21-year-old son, Moutasem, who was recovering after being shot in the stomach in the Dec. 25 protest. He was driven first to a local hospital that did not have the capacity to treat him, and then to Damascus where he underwent surgery.
When he saw the Israeli tanks moving in, “We felt that an occupation is occupying our land. So we had to defend it, even though we didn’t have weapons, ... It is impossible for them to settle here,” al-Ali said.
Since the day of the protest, the Israeli army has not returned to the area, he said.
Al-Ali called for the international community to “pressure Israel to return to what was agreed upon with the former regime,” referring to the 1974 ceasefire agreement, and to return the Golan Heights to Syria.
But he acknowledged that Syria has little leverage.
“We are starting from zero, we need to build a state,” al-Ali said, echoing Syria's new leaders. “We are not ready as a country now to open wars with another country."
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Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
A man walks past a home that was demolished by the Israeli military, in the village of Rafid, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A man collects wood from a tree that was removed by the Israeli military during an incursion in his village of Rafid, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A shepherd guides his sheep at the foothills of Syria's tallest mountain, Mount Hermon, Jabal al Sheikh in Arabic, which was captured by Israeli forces after the ousting of the Assad regime, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Sheep graze in the foothills of of Syria's tallest mountain, Mount Hermon, Jabal al Sheikh in Arabic, which was captured by Israeli forces after the ousting of the Assad regime, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Abdelrahman Khaled al-Aqqad, 18, lies on a bed in his home after getting shot in both legs by the the Israeli military at a protest against their incursion into his village of Dawaya, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A man holds a bullet that was extracted from the abdomen of his son, who joined a protest against the Israeli military's incursion of his village, in Swisah, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Al-Moatasem Billah Adel, 21, lies on a bed in his home after getting shot in the abdomen by the Israeli military at a protest against their incursion into his village of Swisah, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Omar Mahmoud Ismail, a local official, sits on the rubble of a home that was demolished by the Israeli military, in the village of Rafid, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Workers fix an electricity grid in a Syrian village where the Israeli military made an incursion, in Rafid, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Cars drive past a roundabout hoisting the new Syrian flag after the ousting of the Assad regime, in Salam City, formerly called Baath City after the ruling party, in Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Israeli military armored vehicles block a road leading to the town of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Al-Moatasem Billah Adel, 21, lies on a bed in his home after getting shot in the abdomen by the Israeli military at a protest against their incursion into his village of Swisah, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Adel Subhi al-Ali, a local Sunni religious official, whose 21 year old son was shot in the abdomen at a protest against the Israeli military incursion into his village of Swisah, on the outskirts of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A boy carrying bread cycles home as Israeli military armored vehicles block a road leading to the town of Quneitra, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The plunging polar vortex brought subfreezing temperatures Tuesday to some of the southernmost points of the U.S., threatening to dump snow on parts of Texas and Oklahoma in the coming days and contributing to a power outage in Virginia's capital that made the water unsafe to drink.
The arctic blast that descended on much of the U.S. east of the Rockies over the weekend has caused hundreds of car accidents, thousands of flight cancellations and delays, and led communities to set up warming shelters, including one at a roller rink.
As the cold front moved southward Tuesday, it prompted a cold weather advisory for the Gulf Coast and pushed the low temperature in El Paso, along Texas' border with Mexico, to 31 degrees (minus 0.5 Celsius), with an expected wind chill factor ranging from 0 to 15 degrees (minus 18 to minus 9 Celsius) early Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Road crews in the Kansas City area, which has received about 11 inches (28 centimeters) of snow in recent days, have struggled to keep up with clearing the area's streets and highways.
“I don’t know what super powers some think snow removal teams have but 2 days of straight snow & ice isn’t going to disappear overnight,” the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, wrote Monday in a Facebook post.
In frigid northern Virginia, Carol Grayson wished she had a metal shovel — not her plastic one — as she tried to carve a path for her beagle, Rudy, sheltie, Emma, on Monday.
The great grandmother, who declined to give her age, said shoveling through nearly frozen snow that went up to her knees was “like climbing Mount Everest.” Her neighborhood in Alexandria was once populated with teenagers who’d offer to help. But they’ve all grown up and moved away.
“We’re not used to it here, and we’re just not prepared,” Grayson said.
As points in the Midwest, north and east dug their way out of snow and ice on Tuesday, communities in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas were preparing for their own helping. A low-pressure system was expected to form as soon as Wednesday near South Texas, which could bring several inches of snow to the Dallas area and the lower Mississippi Valley, the weather service said.
In Texas, crews treated the roads in the Dallas area in anticipation of a storm that was expected to bring up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) of snow on Thursday. As much as 6 inches (15 centimeters) was expected farther north, near the Oklahoma border, said weather service meteorologist Sarah Barnes.
The storm is expected to make for slick roads Friday as 75,000 fans head to AT&T Stadium in Arlington to watch Texas play Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. Arlington officials said Tuesday that crews had started treating bridges and overpasses, and would have salt, sand and equipment on standby near the stadium.
The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole, but it sometimes plunges south into the U.S., Europe and Asia. Some experts say such cold air outbreaks are happening more frequently, paradoxically, because of a warming world.
The eastern two-thirds of the U.S. were dealt another day of colder-than-usual temperatures. And the snow and ice in the central Plains through the Ohio Valley into the Atlantic is likely to linger for a few days, which will mean opportunities for constant refreezing and black ice. That could create treacherous road conditions.
A Kentucky truck stop was jammed Monday with big rigs forced off an icy and snow-covered Interstate 75 just outside Cincinnati. Michael Taylor, a long-haul driver from Los Angeles carrying a load of rugs to Georgia, said he saw numerous cars and trucks stuck in ditches and was dealing with icy windshield wipers before he pulled off the interstate.
“It was too dangerous. I didn’t want to kill myself or anyone else,” he said.
Hundreds of car accidents were reported in Virginia, Indiana, Kansas and Kentucky, where a state trooper was treated for non-life-threatening injuries after his patrol car was hit.
Virginia State Police responded to 650 crashes, some of which were likely storm related, between Sunday afternoon and Monday night, including one that was fatal. Police said other weather-related fatal accidents occurred Sunday near Charleston, West Virginia, and Monday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Kansas had two deadly crashes over the weekend.
More than 1,000 flights into or out of the U.S. were already delayed Tuesday morning, according to tracking platform FlightAware. More than 2,300 flights were canceled Monday and at least 9,100 more were delayed nationwide.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport reported that about 58% of arrivals and 70% of departures had been canceled. The airport announced early Tuesday that it had reopened all runways after closing them Monday evening so airport crews could focus on snow removal and prevent refreezing on the airfield.
Many were in the dark as temperatures plunged. About 200,000 customers were without power Tuesday across Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois and Missouri, according to electric utility tracking website PowerOutage.us.
In Virginia’s capital city, Richmond, a weather-related power outage caused a temporary malfunction in the water system, officials said Monday. The city issued a boil-water advisory to its more than 200,000 residents and promised to get the system back online as quickly as possible. The advisory could be lifted as soon as Wednesday, Mayor Danny Avula said at a news conference.
The malfunction forced Virginia’s Capitol and General Assembly buildings to close Tuesday, a day before the start of the legislative session.
G. Paul Nardo, clerk for the House of Delegates, told lawmakers and staff in a Tuesday email to vacate the buildings or find somewhere else to go if they were headed to the capital.
“The water pressure has gone kaput,” he wrote.
Fingerhut reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press reporters Bruce Schreiner in Shelbyville, Kentucky; Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky; Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, Julie Walker in New York; Joshua A. Bickel in Cincinnati; Jamie Stengle in Dallas; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
Read more of the AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment
People board a bus to an overnight shelter during a winter storm, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Idris Mills, right, hands out food to patrons inside a daytime warming shelter, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Plow trucks take to the streets after loading with salt in Philadelphia, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
A worker clears snow from an apron before guiding a Delta Air Lines jet at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Mich., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Jackson Strohbeck, with Baxmeyer Construction Co. Inc, dumps a load of snow on, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, as he and several other front-loader operators work to clear the parking lot at the Crossings at Northwest in St. Ann, Mo. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
Hundreds of passengers wait to clear a security checkpoint as Kansas City International Airport worked to return to normal flight operations following flight delays and cancellations during a winter storm, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
A workman clears steps at the Capitol as snow falls ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Police from nearby Arlington, Va., arrive at the Capitol to help reinforce the security presence ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Workers clear the plaza at the Capitol as snow falls ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Hundreds of passengers wait to clear a security checkpoint as Kansas City International Airport worked to return to normal flight operations following flight delays and cancellations during a winter storm, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025 in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Rosie Henson, from left, Charlotte Hall and Jaya Demni play around in the snow near Schifferstadt Museum in Frederick, Md.,on Monday, Jan. 6. 2025. (Ric Dugan/The Frederick News-Post via AP)
A worker clears snow from an apron before guiding a Delta Air Lines jet at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Mich., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
A Delta Air Lines jet is deiced before takeoff at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Mich., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
"Aurelia Roma", a 1994 Italian marble sculpture by Manuel Neri, is wrapped for the season as she stands in the pool of the Estate House terrace surrounded by snow at Laumeier Sculpture Park in Sunset Hills, Mo. on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
A man wearing a Venezuelan flag starts a moped as snow begins to fall again, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
St. Ann resident Troupe El checks for traction on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, after getting his vehicle stuck trying to enter St. Charles Rock Road from the Crossings at Northwest in St. Ann, Mo. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
John Lovrich uses his Yamaha Kodiak 450 4x4 all-terrain vehicle to plow snow near his home in the Cambria City section of Johnstown, Pa., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Thomas Slusser/The Tribune-Democrat via AP)
Josh Williams, of Johnstown, shovels snow from the walkway at First United Methodist Church on Vine Street in downtown Johnstown, Pa., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Thomas Slusser/The Tribune-Democrat via AP)
A runner passes on a snowy morning as it falls over Center City, Philadelphia, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Truckers fight the weather as they stop on Interstate 44 in Fenton, Mo. to change wiper blades as sleet falls on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
A person crosses a street as heavy snow falls Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
A snowplow clears the area as snow blankets Capitol Hill ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Dave Thomasson uses an electric snowblower to clear his driveway in the Webster Oaks subdivision of Webster Groves, Mo. as residents started clearing a path on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
Law enforcement officers stand guard at the Capitol as snow falls ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Carl Rich uses a snowblower to clear his driveway during a winter storm, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
A person clears off a car during a winter snow storm in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A person walks near the Washington Monument during a winter snow storm in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
People ski during a winter snow storm in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A runner makes his way through a snow-covered street in Indianapolis, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
A workman clears steps at the Capitol as snow falls ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Police from nearby Arlington, Va., arrive at the Capitol to help reinforce the security presence ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
A pedestrian makes their way though a tunnel along the snow-covered Monon Trail in Carmel, Ind., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Snow covers vehicles parked at the Helix Garage in downtown Lexington, Ky., on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader via AP)
Vehicles drive along Main Street in Lexington, Ky., on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader via AP)
A person walks his dog in view of the Capitol during a winter snow storm in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Traffic makes it way on snow-covered U.S. 31 in Carmel, Ind., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Snow covers homes during a winter storm, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Workers clear the plaza at the Capitol as snow falls ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
National Park Service workers shovel a pathway during a winter storm at the White House, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Heavy snow falls as a person walks along U.S. Route 42 in Florence, Ky., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
People engage in a snowball fight as U.S. flags, along the base of the Washington Monument, fly at half-staff in memorial to former President Jimmy Carter, who died at the age of 100, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A child catches snowflakes with their tongue during El Museo del Barrio's 47th annual Three Kings Day parade, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Law enforcement officers stand guard at the Capitol as snow falls ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A person holds an umbrella as they walk during a winter storm, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
