US winter storm brings heavy snow, power outages, flight cancellations and at least 30 deaths. National Guard/X.
A massive winter storm continued to batter large parts of the United States on Monday, dumping heavy snow across the Northeast, coating parts of the South in ice, and leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity as temperatures plunged well below freezing. At least 30 deaths were reported across states affected by the severe cold.
The storm system brought deep snow, widespread power outages, and severe travel disruptions, while forecasters warned that the bitter cold gripping nearly two-thirds of the country was unlikely to ease anytime soon.
More than a foot (30 centimeters) of snow fell across a vast 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) corridor due to the recent winter storm, stretching from Arkansas to New England, grinding travel to a halt, canceling flights, and prompting widespread school closures on Monday.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), areas north of Pittsburgh recorded snowfall of up to 20 inches (50 centimeters). Wind chills in those regions dropped as low as minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 31 degrees Celsius) late Monday into Tuesday.
New York City experienced its snowiest day in years, with neighborhoods reporting between 8 and 15 inches (20 to 38 centimeters) of snow. While public schools were closed, approximately 500,000 students were instructed to attend classes online, reflecting changes adopted after remote learning expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of Monday evening, more than 630,000 customers nationwide remained without electricity, according to PowerOutage.com. The majority of outages were reported in the South, where freezing rain over the weekend snapped tree limbs and power lines, triggering widespread failures in northern Mississippi and parts of Tennessee.
Mississippi officials rushed cots, blankets, bottled water, and generators to warming stations in hard-hit areas following what Gov. Tate Reeves described as the state’s worst ice storm since 1994. Reeves said at least 14 homes, one business, and 20 public roads suffered major damage.id. “But this one was just unreal.”
Authorities across multiple states reported a rising number of fatalities linked to the winter storm and extreme cold.
Police said snowplows backed into and killed two people in Norwood, Massachusetts, and Dayton, Ohio. Fatal sledding accidents claimed the lives of teenagers in Arkansas and Texas.
In Emporia, Kansas, police found the body of a 28-year-old teacher buried in snow after she was last seen leaving a bar without her coat or phone.
In New York City, officials said eight people were found dead outdoors during the frigid weekend. The causes of those deaths remained under investigation as temperatures plunged between Saturday and Monday morning.
The winter storm caused widespread disruption to air travel across the country. More than 12,000 U.S. flights were delayed or canceled on Monday, according to FlightAware.com.
On Sunday, nearly 45% of all U.S. flights were canceled, marking the highest single-day cancellation rate since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Travel disruptions continued into Monday, with nearly 5,000 additional flights canceled.
The National Weather Service warned that the brutal cold affecting much of the country was not expected to subside soon. On Monday, forecasters said a fresh surge of Arctic air would reinforce freezing temperatures in regions already buried under snow and ice.
The entire Lower 48 states were forecast to record an average low temperature of minus 9.8 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 12.3 degrees Celsius), the coldest nationwide average since January 2014.
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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