The monster storm that blanketed 30 states on Feb. 1-2 with heavy snow, ice, hard winds, and frigid cold also took a toll on the movement of fertilizer and agricultural commodities last week. The storm system impacted a third of the U.S. population as it cut a wide swath from New Mexico to New England, crippling agricultural operations across the Midwest and Southern Plains and prompting fears about damage to wheat and citrus crops.
Southern Plains sources reported on Feb. 1 that the Port of Catoosa at Tulsa, Okla., had closed due to more than a foot of snow. Attempts to reach the Port Authority in Tulsa on Feb. 2 were unsuccessful because the office remained closed for a second day due to more than 14 inches of snow accumulation and wind chill temperatures that were expected to plummet to minus 25 degrees at midweek. The port reopened on Feb. 3.
Arkansas River ports at Fort Smith, Ark., and Van Buren, Ark., also closed early Feb. 1 due to severe weather conditions that included subzero wind chills. “This one’s definitely for the record books,” posted one Tulsa resident in response to an online news story Tuesday. “Just about everything that can be closed has been closed.”
Railroads, including Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Norfolk Southern, warned customers of delays due to heavy snow, ice, and extreme cold. The Associated Press reported that nearly 7,000 U.S. flights were canceled on Feb. 1, and another 5,300 flights had been cancelled on Feb. 2 by midmorning. At least 1,900 flights were canceled again on Feb. 3 as airports across the nation tried to get back to normal operations, according to Houston-based FlightAware.
CF Industries Holdings Inc. reported on Feb. 1 that it was experiencing “cold weather issues” in the restart of its No. 1 UAN plant at Woodward, Okla. However, it did not idle because of the storm. The ammonia production facility there had gone down the previous week due to other issues, and the company reported that it had commenced restarting the plant on Jan. 30.
LSB Industries Inc. reported on Feb. 2 that its Pryor, Okla., nitrogen facility had cut back to minimum rates “until transportation can move again,” as a result of the storm. LSB CEO and Chairman Jack Golsen told Green Markets at midweek that “trucks and trains are stuck for now,” but the company expected the facility to return to normal rates by the end of the week.
CVR Energy Inc. confirmed at midweek that its Coffeyville, Kan., nitrogen facility was operating normally throughout the storm.
The DeBruce Companies, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Gavilon LLC, reported that it sent its Kansas City, Mo., employees home at 1 p.m. Tuesday due to worsening weather conditions. The office reopened for normal hours on Feb. 2. The Kansas City area collected 8-12 inches of snow from the storm, with wind chills dropping to minus 15. Attempts to reach the Kansas City Port Authority were unsuccessful on Feb. 2.
During the height of the storm on Feb. 1, Interstate 70 across Missouri was closed nearly from Kansas City to St. Louis due to whiteout conditions and 40 mph winds, the first time in the freeway’s history. The Interstate was reopened on Feb. 2.
One of the storm’s hardest blows hit the Chicago area, where more than 20 inches of snow fell on Feb. 1-2. Calls to several sources in Illinois and Indiana at midweek went unanswered or were greeted with messages that the office had closed due to the storm. Chicago O’Hare reported 20.2 inches of snow by midmorning Wednesday, the third-highest snowfall total in the city’s recorded history after the blizzards of 1967 and 1999.
The weather forced PotashCorp to close its Northbrook, Ill., office on Feb. 2, but the company confirmed on Feb. 3 that its Lima, Ohio, nitrogen facility was unaffected by the storm and was operating normally despite significant power outages in the Lima area.
Power outages from the storm were widespread, and included rolling blackouts in Texas, wind-related outages throughout the Midwest, and ice-related outages in the Northeast. In Ohio alone, more than 200,000 homes and businesses were without power at midweek, while some 123,000 utility customers saw their electricity cut overnight in Chicago on Feb. 1-2
Wind chills in northern Illinois were expected to fall to 20-30 below zero at midweek. In North Dakota, wind chills on Feb. 2 ranged from 35-55 below zero, and in Minnesota wind chill temperatures ranged from 25-35 below zero.
The frigid temperatures and hard winds threatened livestock throughout the Midwest. Reuters reported that work schedules were altered or facilities closed at some eight pork plants in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Missouri, including two Cargill Inc. pork factories in Ottumwa and Beardstown, Iowa. In addition, grain elevators and processors in several midwestern states were shuttered because of the storm, including large facilities operated by Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland Co.
Several Southern Plains sources talked of the threat of winterkill to winter wheat crops as temperatures plummeted and high winds cleared fields of protective snow cover. “This cold weather and wind may ding up some of the exposed hill sides and terrace tops,” said one Kansas source at midweek, but he noted that growers in his trade area remain optimistic overall about how crops look at this point.
Northern Texas sources told Green Markets at midweek that temperatures were down to 1 degree, with wind chills expected to dip to minus 19. Reuters reported that grapefruit and orange crops in Texas could be severely damaged by the bitter cold temperatures, with some estimates predicting that half of normal production from the Rio Grande Valley could be lost.
Snowfall amounts in Boston were expected to range from 12-18 inches by late Wednesday as the storm dealt its final blows. Freezing rain was expected to dump three quarters of an inch of ice on New York City at midweek. Areas of northern New York reportedly received more than a foot of snow from the storm.