America warned of dangerous frosts: invasion of Arctic air

Sub-zero temperatures across much of the United States left millions of Americans facing potentially dangerous cold on Sunday as Arctic storms threatened near-blizzard conditions in the Northeast and several inches of snow in parts of the South, the Associated Press reported.

The National Weather Service warned that windy, sub-zero conditions in Montana and the Dakotas could bring wind chills as low as -70F (-56C). About 95 million people had weather warnings or advisories for temperatures down to -0F (-17C), according to the weather service. Forecasters said the extreme cold could extend as far south as northern Texas.

Officials warned people to stay off roads in Buffalo, New York, where snowfall of 1 to 2 feet (0.3 to 0.6 meters) was forecast. A severe storm forced the Buffalo Bills-Pittsburgh Steelers NFL playoff game to be postponed from Sunday to Monday. Wind gusts of up to 50 mph (80 kph) were also possible, said Zach Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

“Both heavy snowfall and high winds are expected,” Taylor said. “That’s why it’s expected that snowstorm-like conditions will occur at times.”

Zac Taylor warned of the risk of frostbite and hypothermia in Iowa, where the Republican caucuses will be held on Monday. The forecast for Monday in Des Moines, the state capital, was a low of 18F (-28C), with temperatures expected to be the coldest on record in the Caucasus.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, a former ambassador and governor of South Carolina, canceled all three campaign events scheduled for Friday, replacing them with phone calls.

More than 700 flights within, in or out of the U.S. were canceled Sunday, FlightAware reported. More than half of the flights to and from Buffalo-Niagara International Airport were canceled, and the Denver Post reported 150 flight cancellations and about 250 delays at Denver International Airport. Dozens of flights were also canceled or delayed at Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Another Arctic storm that brought heavy snowfall to the Rocky Mountains is forecast to move further south, potentially bringing 4 to 6 inches (0.10 to 0.15 meters) of snow to parts of Arkansas, northern Mississippi and western Tennessee.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency ahead of the severe weather to give utilities and trucks transporting essential supplies more flexibility to respond.

Snow, sleet and freezing rain are also expected early this week in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and the southern Appalachians, the weather service said in its forecast. Cold air will reach the deep South, bringing rare weather of 14 degrees Fahrenheit to Atlanta on Tuesday.

The extreme weather is reminiscent of the February 2021 freeze that left millions of people in Texas and other central U.S. states without power, water and heat for days, and the December 2022 winter storm that nearly collapsed power systems and natural gas in parts of the eastern half of the country, the Associated Press notes.

Texas power grid operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas (Ercot) forecast power demand on Tuesday will exceed last summer’s all-time high and warned that power supplies could be disrupted on both Monday and Tuesday.

Ercot on Sunday issued a public notice calling for energy conservation from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET on Monday. The operator has asked Texas government agencies to implement all energy reduction programs at its facilities during this time. “Operating inventories are expected to be low Monday morning due to continued cold temperatures, record demand, and unseasonably low winds,” the grid operator said in a statement.

More than 150,000 homes and businesses in Oregon were without power Sunday after heavy snow and ice storms, according to data. poweroutage.us. Massive outages affecting tens of thousands of people were also reported in Michigan and Wisconsin.

Severe weather in Oregon played a role in three deaths. In Portland, medical examiners were investigating hypothermia deaths as the city, more accustomed to mild winter rains, experienced freezing rain and heavy snow and hundreds of people sheltered overnight in warming centers. Portland Fire and Rescue also reported the death of a woman in her 30s on Saturday afternoon. The van caught fire when a small group of people used an open flame stove to keep warm inside and a tree fell on the vehicle, causing the fire to spread. Three other people escaped, including one with minor injuries, but a woman was trapped inside, fire officials said. Authorities in Lake Oswego, Oregon, said a large tree fell on a home during high winds Saturday, killing an elderly man on the second floor.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the freezing weather is “associated with a broad area of ​​arctic high pressure spreading from the Canadian Prairies.” According to the NWS, high pressure is “responsible for dangerously low temperatures extending from the Pacific Northwest all the way to the Rust Belt.”

Weather-related deaths were reported earlier in the week in California, Idaho, Illinois and Wisconsin.