Rain "flash-freezing" on roads and sidewalks left an icy glaze kills 5 in US

Rain "flash-freezing" on roads and sidewalks left an icy glaze under feet and tires across much of the northeastern US on Sunday, causing crashes that claimed at least five lives.
A crash involving 30 to 50 vehicles on an interstate highway outside Philadelphia killed one person, and two others died in a crash involving multiple vehicles on a nearby interstate highway, police said.
In northeastern Pennsylvania, a man was killed after his car overturned on an icy road and he was thrown from it and hit by a commercial vehicle.
In Connecticut, police cited slippery conditions in a crash that killed an 88-year-old woman who struck a utility pole in New Haven.

 More than 20 cars piled up on I-76 in Philadelphia after freezing rain fell on Sunday. Slick roads caused a number of crashes, including collisions that also closed parts of Interstates 95 and 476 in and around Philadelphia. Photo / PennDOT via FoxTV

"This is the worst type of winter precipitation to combat, because it can freeze instantly and it doesn't need to be the whole pavement for vehicles crossing it to have problems," Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Eugene Blaum said.

Freezing rain and snow was expected in interior parts of the northeastern New England states, but the temperature was expected to rise into the 40s and 50s Fahrenheit (above 5 degrees Celsius) along the coast and change the precipitation to plain rain in time for the evening AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts.
On the West Coast, high winds left tens of thousands of customers without power in the Seattle area, but power companies promised Seahawks fans they'd do their best to restore power before the NFC title game against the Green Bay Packers.
In eastern Oregon, highway officials partially reopened an interstate highway Sunday after a massive crash blamed on black ice Saturday closed more than 160 miles (257kilometers) of eastbound lanes. Rain was expected in western Oregon Sunday and Monday, but not as much as fell on Saturday, when 1.8 inches (4.57 centimeters) of rain in Portland sent some untreated sewage into the Willamette River.
Dozens of spinouts and accidents were reported from northern New Jersey to southern New Hampshire on Sunday and treacherous conditions forced the closure of the New York State Thruway from Newburgh to New York City during the morning.