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 said Monday that she wished she had a metal shovel — not her plastic one — as she tried to carve a path for her beagle, Rudy, and sheltie, Emma. 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. Southern discomfort As points north and east dug their way out of snow and ice 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 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. Kevin Oden, Dallas’ director of emergency management and crisis response, said Tuesday that “our city is in a preparedness phase.” 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 spokeswoman Susan Shrock said crews will be ready Friday to address any dangerous road conditions around the stadium. “They’ll be monitoring the road conditions and they’re going to have the salt brine, they’ll have sand and they’ll have equipment on standby to address any icy conditions that might occur,” she said. The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole, but it sometimes plunges south […]