WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- More than 500 flights were canceled on Thursday as a winter storm brought rain, sleet and freezing rain across the U.S. southeast, CNN reported.

    In Georgia, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport canceled 450 incoming and outgoing flights, according to the report.

    A few planes in Atlanta were de-iced earlier in the day, but most didn't need it as temperatures stayed above freezing.

    In North Carolina, Charlotte's Douglas International Airport, 75 flights were also canceled.

    The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for portions of Georgia and the Carolinas until midnight Thursday.

    The warning said snow will become mixed with sleet and freezing rain during the afternoon, and that could down trees and power lines.

    Schools and businesses in the area were closed on Thursday or opened late, and more than 2,000 homes and businesses in western North Carolina were without electricity.

    Temperatures in the Carolinas were forecast to rise a bit by Friday, so any ice that accumulated on Thursday shall be melt within the next 24 hours.

    Farther north, light freezing rain was expected to develop in the Washington D.C. area on Thursday night and then turn to snow.

    Meanwhile, a second winter storm hit Oklahoma and Arkansas early Thursday, closing schools and keeping roads icy.

    The storm came a day after an earlier one dumped snow and freezing drizzle on the U.S. southeast, causing dozens of accidents and four deaths.