A massive winter storm sweeps across the US, threatening millions with power outages, travel chaos and dangerous cold from Texas to Maine.
HOUSTON: A massive winter storm is sweeping across the United States, threatening tens of millions with blackouts, transportation chaos and bone-chilling cold.
After battering the southwest and central areas, the system began hitting the heavily populated mid-Atlantic and northeastern states with snow and freezing rain.
“The snow/sleet impacts will linger well into next week with rounds of re-freezing that keeps surfaces icy and dangerous,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
Snowfall was reported across the central US, including Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, where some spots recorded eight inches by Saturday night.
Shoppers stripped supermarket shelves as the weather service forecast huge snowfall and possibly “catastrophic” ice accumulations.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that up to 240 million Americans could be affected by the storm.
At least 20 states and the US capital Washington have declared states of emergency.
“Take this storm seriously, folks,” the NWS said on X, predicting an “astonishingly long swath” of snowfall from Colorado to Maine.
About 14,000 flights in and out of the United States had been canceled over the weekend, with thousands more delayed.
In Dallas, freezing rain pelted the Texas city and the mercury plummeted to 21F.
State officials vowed that the Texas power grid was in better shape than five years ago, when it failed during a deadly winter storm.
More than 180,000 US customers were without power as of early Sunday morning, with about 45,000 reported in Texas and about 67,000 in neighboring Louisiana.
Department of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem urged Americans impacted by the weather to “be smart, stay home if possible, take care of your family members.”
US President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform that authorities would “continue to monitor, and stay in touch with all States in the path of this storm.”
The brutal storm system is the result of a stretched polar vortex, an Arctic region of cold, low-pressure air.
Scientists say the increasing frequency of such disruptions may be linked to climate change, though the debate is not settled.
Trump questioned how the cold front fit into broader climate shifts, posting “WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???” on Truth Social.
The NWS warned that heavy ice could cause “long-duration power outages, extensive tree damage, and extremely dangerous or impassable travel conditions.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul warned residents that “five or six minutes outside could literally be dangerous for your health.”
Authorities warned of life-threatening cold that could last a week post-storm, especially in the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest.
Wind chill lows were forecast to dip to extremes under -50F in some regions, where such temperatures can cause frostbite within minutes.
