A ‘once-in-a-generation’ storm across most of the United States was intensifying on Friday as blizzard conditions and hurricane-strength winds grounded thousands of flights and left nearly one-and-a-half million homes without power.
The brutal ‘bomb cyclone’ is ‘gaining strength rapidly’ and threatens temperatures colder than Mars in some Midwest states. The deadly Arctic storm just days before Christmas has threatened the holiday plans of millions of Americans and triggered alerts across the country.
Nearly two-thirds of the United States is under a winter weather alert, with snow causing thousands of flight cancelations ahead of the busiest weekend of the year. The latest figures from FlightAware said 3,100 flights were canceled for Friday alone, following the grounding of thousands more on Thursday.
More than 10,000 flights were also delayed by the weather and the knock-on effect is likely to mean the chaos continues once the storm has passed. Seattle-Tacome Airport closed its runways indefinitely on Friday morning to de-ice the surfaces. Americans are also warned against traveling by road, as the icy conditions and powerful winds turn highways and freeways into potential deathtraps.
Some 200 million Americans – about 60 percent of the population – are under some form of winter weather advisory as subfreezing chills and power outages are set to disappoint those scrambling to be with loved ones over Christmas.
Hard-freeze warnings were posted across the Gulf Coast states of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida, while significant icing was possible from a separate arctic blast hitting the Pacific Northwest.
The horrendous conditions have also caused inevitable delays to last-minute parcel deliveries. FedEx said it experienced ‘substantial disruptions’ at hubs in Memphis and Indianapolis. UPS said deliveries and pickups at hubs in Louisville, Kentucky and Rockford, Illinois, were impacted.
By late Thursday, most of the Lower 48 states, from Washington state to Florida, were under wind-chill alerts, blizzard warnings or other winter weather advisories.
Strong winds across the country saw powerlines down with the highest number of outages seen in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana, according to poweroutage.us.
Subfreezing temperatures will arrive just in time for the weekend across the Ohio River Valley and Northeast. At least five people were killed in Oklahoma as the roads turned icy.
Many residents in the Ohio River Valley woke to freezing temperatures on Friday morning and by 10 am, the temperatures in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will be 8 degrees, according to Accuweather.
In New York City, the cold weather will arrive by lunchtime on Friday and as the sun sets, subfreezing temperatures will be spreading across New England. From Ohio to Maine, Friday night is expected to be frigid with winds gusting over 70 mph in some locations.
Accuweather’s Friday morning forecast said: ‘A powerful storm gaining strength rapidly will create a vast zone of high winds from the North Central states to the Northeast today. (SOURCE)
