Arctic blast: Record-breaking cold weather forecast for many states
A vast winter storm has commenced its journey across the United States and is expected to unleash dangerously frigid temperatures and severe weather conditions throughout the weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued weather alerts for nearly every state, cautioning about blizzards, “large hail,” thunderstorms, and tornadoes. Wind chills as low as -45F (-42C) are anticipated in Iowa, where voters are gearing up for the state’s caucuses on Monday.
This marks the third major storm in the United States this week. As the three-day weekend began, thousands of flights faced delays or cancellations, and power outages started affecting people on Friday.
In preparation for the storm in the western part of the state, New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency, activating the National Guard.
A wind advisory has been issued, warning of gusts reaching up to 50mph (80km/h) from Texas to New York.
Texas is bracing for lower temperatures and increased frost, reminiscent of the Great Texas Freeze of 2021.
The NWS issued a wind chill watch in parts of Texas through Saturday, emphasizing the risk of hypothermia and frostbite, with predicted wind chills dropping to -25F (-32C).
The average low temperature in Texas is forecasted at 15F (-9C), raising concerns among state energy suppliers.
Governor Greg Abbott assured residents during a press briefing on Friday that precautions were in place, including backup generators and ample fuel to prevent a repeat of the 2021 power grid collapse.
However, there were still over 3,000 power outages in Houston on Friday afternoon, according to local distributor CenterPoint Energy.
In Alabama, more than 11,000 customers experienced power loss, although the weather conditions were reportedly less severe than initially anticipated, according to a local meteorologist.
In the area where Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana meet, the NWS said there was a risk of “damaging winds, large hail, and possibly a strong tornado”.
Further north, record-cold temperatures brought by frigid wind chills were predicted, with over a foot of snow forecasted in some places like upper Michigan.
Up to 8in (20cm) of snow was forecast in Chicago, Illinois.
Over 80,000 Illinois residents were without power as of Friday morning, according to poweroutage.us, as flight cancellations and delays in the region have swelled. Chicago Mayor Donna Johnson told the Weather Channel that she was among those to lose power.
The state’s governor, JB Pritzker, wrote to Texas Governor Abbott, requesting an immediate pause in sending migrants to the state by plane and bus. He said in a letter that the weather could threaten the lives of families and children.
The mix of cold, snow, and high winds is expected to bring blizzard conditions to other nearby states.
Winter storm warnings were issued in Iowa, where Republican voters are supposed to gather on Monday to select their state’s presidential nominee, as well as Wisconsin, northern Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan.
In northern Missouri, wind chills up to 35 degrees below zero were predicted, along with 2-4in of snow, and wind gusts up to 45mph. Those cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes, the NWS warned.
“We call it ‘life-threatening’ for a reason,” a local Missouri branch of the service wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Take it seriously. This kind of cold does not happen very often.”
Wind chill warnings ranging from -55F (-48C) to -35F (-37C) have been issued across the northwest, from Washington to North Dakota, and down to Nebraska and Kansas.
In Hawaii, wind advisories have also been issued warning locals of wind gusts over 75mph.
However, rapid bursts of wind have already begun plaguing some parts of the US.
Over 4,000 miles away, in Fort Myers, Florida, local news footage showed residents battling wind gusts up to 30mph. And storm surges in the area were predicted to be up to 18ft high.
The storm has also been disruptive in Iowa, a state hit by snow and frosty temperatures earlier this week.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Friday canceled her in-person events scheduled in the state due to “potentially dangerous weather conditions”.
Ron DeSantis also canceled two in-person events “due to unsafe weather”, his campaign said, though Vivek Ramaswamy and Donald Trump are still scheduled to press on ahead of Monday’s caucuses in the Hawkeye State.
Iowa’s transportation department urged drivers to stay off the roads, warning of “treacherous driving conditions” across most of the state, with some routes impassable and drivers possibly encountering “whiteout conditions, drifting snow, and slick roads”.
Canadian officials issued weather warnings on Friday to every province and territory in the country.
Residents in Ontario, Quebec, and Maritimes were told to brace for up to one foot of snow and extreme cold temperatures.
Wind chills in parts of Ontario and Quebec were forecasted to reach -30C (-22F) to -38C (-36F), bone-chilling temperatures only half as cold as the -67F predicted for parts of Alberta.
