Deadly mix of weather claims 6 lives

A deadly mix of weather patterns has claimed at least six lives, officials said Sunday, while the severe weather has delayed thousands of U.S. flights. Total delays within, into or out of the United States Sunday were at 3,218 while millions prepared for Christmas travel, flightaware.com reported. Total cancellations within, into or out of the United States were at 506. Two deaths occurred in Mississippi Saturday as severe weather damaged homes and knocked down trees, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency reported. A tornado was likely to blame for damage to homes and four overturned trucks in central Mississippi, the National Weather Service reported. Another death Saturday, near Kansas City, Mo., was caused by a traffic accident, Chris Redline of the Missouri Department of Transportation confirmed. "We had to close a lot of roads in southeast Missouri because of flooding," Redline said. KWTX.com reported an Arkansas man was the third person to die on icy roads in Oklahoma. The Highway Patrol said the Hot Springs man died Saturday afternoon when his van went off icy U.S. 183 north of Seiling, and overturned. A 16-year-old boy died early Saturday after his car crashed and overturned on U.S. 64 near Tulsa, KWTX reported, and a woman was killed Friday night in a collision in northwest Oklahoma City. Six inches of rain were reported in Junction, Ill., and 7 inches in Trumann, Ark., Saturday night. Heavy rains and damaging winds were forecast for Sunday in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and up the East Coast, while above-average temperatures were expected in the mid-Atlantic states. Eight to 10 inches of snow was predicted for Iowa, Wisconsin and northwest Michigan, CNN said. Reports of freezing rain across central and eastern Michigan, including a half-inch of ice at Flint, Mich., were reported by Accuweather.com early Sunday, as well as a 52 mph wind reading at an Elkins, W.Va., airport and the spotting of a funnel cloud in Wilson County, Tenn. Freezing rain brought down power lines and caused slippery driving across New York, Accuweather.com said, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared states of emergency in Clinton, Essex, Franklin and St. Lawrence Counties. Power outages were also reported in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma Saturday night. Ahead of the eastward-moving storms, the Mid-Atlantic region saw high temperatures Saturday. Washington hit 70 degrees, and Wilkes-Barre, Pa., reached 60 degrees, Accuweather.com reported, adding the odd mix of weather comes as 94 million people prepare to travel on the roads and in the skies for the Christmas holiday.