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Detroit, December 22, 2010 (FBC) A massive winter storm that swept the United States on Thursday threatened to put millions of Americans on hold on their travel plans ahead of one of the coldest Christmas days yet. In many cities.
Heading into the holiday weekend, the storm is expected to bring a blizzard to the Great Lakes region, up to 2 inches of rain and then flash along the East Coast, 60 mph (100 km/h) wind gusts and bitter cold as far south as the Mexican border. Until.
As the storm moves over the Great Lakes, a weather phenomenon known as a bomb storm is likely to develop “due to the sudden intensification of this low pressure system,” according to the National Weather Service. The weather service said the storm could produce up to half an inch of snow per hour and gusts of up to 50 mph (80 kph) in the upper Midwest and inland Northeast.
Power outages are likely, and the storm is expected to make travel by land or air dangerous or sometimes impossible.
President Joe Biden said at the White House that it is “dangerous and dangerous” and urged Americans with travel plans not to delay and travel on Thursday. “It’s not like a snow day, when you’re a kid, it’s a hard thing.”
More than half of the lower 48 states, from Washington state to Florida, are under winter weather warnings, including wind chill advisories that could affect 135 million people, said Ashton Robinson Cook, a meteorologist at the weather service.
The Mid-Atlantic and Plains areas could see some Christmas Day weather, although the record low won’t be as widespread as the storm, according to the weather service.
Philadelphia could see temperatures reach 15 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 9 degrees Celsius) on Sunday, the lowest since 1943, while Sioux City, Iowa could see 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 26 degrees Celsius) surpass the record set in the 1980s.
Travel conditions, already bad in the Great Plains region, will gradually deteriorate in the Midwest and Great Lakes region as the cold front moves east and brings more than a foot of snow, Cook said.
Snowdrifts — short, moderate to heavy snow and strong winds — are expected from Illinois to Indiana, and may bring whiteout conditions.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) reported that 112.7 million people planned to travel 50 miles (80 km) or more from home between December 23 and January 2, an increase of 3.6 million people compared to last year and close to the pre-pandemic number.
[1/7] Travelers check departure notices at Midway International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, Dec. 22, 2022, as a weather phenomenon known as a bomb storm hits the upper Midwest. REUTERS/Matt Marton
About 2,000 US flights scheduled for Thursday and Friday were canceled from more than 700 departures and destinations at two major airports in Chicago, according to flight tracking service FlightAware. Hundreds of flights were canceled in Denver.
Many US airlines leave it up to passengers to change and fare differently.
A cold front that has already blanketed the northern states is moving south through central Oklahoma and northwest Texas, where the mercury is expected to drop to 10F (minus 7C) on Thursday. Wind chills could drop as low as 40F (minus 40C) with wind gusts up to 60 mph (100 km/h).
Temperatures in the South Plains and Southeast are expected to stay below freezing — minus 30-plus degrees — for several days, the weather service predicts.
Freezing or below-freezing temperatures are expected across Florida from Pensacola to Orlando to Daytona Beach, said Greg Carbin, chief of forecasting operations at the Weather Forecast Center. The temperature can be recorded below 25 degrees.
“This is too cold for Florida,” he said.
Drivers in the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys are being warned that wet roads could quickly become icy as temperatures drop rapidly.
The weather service warned of freezing rain for parts of northwest Oregon and Washington where the storm moved late Thursday.
Georgia joined North Carolina and Kentucky in declaring states of emergency on Wednesday. Temperatures in North Georgia were forecast to hit 10F (minus 12C) with a wind chill below zero.
“We’re looking at weather that we haven’t seen in a decade or more,” Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said at a media briefing.
U.S. energy and natural gas prices in the Midwest and West Coast hit multi-year highs on Thursday.
Reporting by Tyler Clifford in Detroit, additional reporting by Rich McKay, Nandita Bose and Scott DiSavino; Editing by Jonathan Otis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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