2 weeks Ago
More than 170 million people across the United States, from the Mexican border to the Canadian border are under cold weather alerts ahead of a crippling winter storm expected to sweep through the south from Texas to Georgia, including the Gulf Coast. The storm – in combination with frigid air – will bring early this week historic snowfall, freezing rain, icy roads and other major travel disruptions to southern cities where harsh winter weather is rare. The storm is taking place amid a wider extreme winter spell across the country, originating from an Arctic blast moving south from Canada and dropping temperatures 20 to 30 degrees below average across most of the Rockies, Central and Eastern US.
Across the North, multiple cities like Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, New York City, Washington, DC, Boston and Philadelphia could go days without seeing a high temperature climb above freezing. Southern cities like Houston, Atlanta, Jackson, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee, could also see highs below freezing Monday or Tuesday. This prolonged period of cold temperatures could lead to pipes bursting.
Large cities like Austin and San Antonio in Texas and Kansas City could even see record low temperatures, with Kansas City facing a potential Tuesday low of minus 10. This cold is compounded by gusty winds, which will bring wind chill temperatures across the Upper Midwest and Northern Plains to minus 55 degrees, which can cause hypothermia on exposed skin in as little as 5 minutes. Across the Northeast, wind chills are expected to drop below zero.
Denver is forecast to have a high temperature of only 9 degrees Monday – a staggering 36 degrees cooler than the city’s normal high of 45. Dallas and New Orleans will likely see highs around freezing but gusty winds could see wind chills approaching zero. In addition to the cold, large sections of the eastern stretch of the Interstate 10 corridor from central Texas through northern Florida could see 3 to 6 inches of snow – totals rarely seen in the southern US.
In New Orleans, where snowfall was last recorded in 2009 , forecasters predict 2 to 3 inches of snow. The city’s all-time snowiest day on record dates to 1963, when 2.7 inches was recorded.
A state of emergency; airports, schools shut down On Saturday ahead of the winter storm, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency , while Texas authorities have directed state agencies to mobilize resources due to the threat of snow. All areas in Southeast Texas are expected to record below-freezing temperatures, the National Weather Service said , with wind chills as low as 10 to 15 degrees. Northern areas will experience a hard freeze, with temperatures in the 20s, the agency said.
The Houston branch of the weather service warned that freezing rain and ice could make driving treacherous until midday Wednesday , but that below-freezing overnight temperatures will remain in place until Friday. In a news conference late Sunday, Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced both civilian airports in the city will shut all day Tuesday – the coldest day of the week. New Orleans public schools will also shut on Tuesday, while schools in the Houston Independent School District – the largest in the state and the eighth largest in the country – will be closed until Wednesday, Whitmire said.
Frozen pipes and frostbite Across the South, authorities warned of the possibilities of power outages, downed trees, and frozen pipes due to the rare winter weather. “An extended period of freezing temperatures could cause ruptured water pipes,” the weather service in Atlanta noted Sunday. Houston’s mayor similarly urged residents to protect their water pipes before the frigid temperatures hit, noting that the city’s water system is already “fragile” with more than 1,000 active water leaks in Houston.
“Let me emphasize the preparation of your pipes,” Whitmire said Sunday. “Wrap your pipes if all possible.” The mayor said that he was “convinced that we are about to experience a very serious and dangerous weather episode.
” He urged residents to stay inside, to check on vulnerable neighbors and family members, and to utilize one of the city’s 24-hour warming centers. Officials are doing “everything we can” to encourage homeless people to seek refuge in warming centers, he added. Across the Midwest and Northern Plains, forecasters warn that life-threatening wind chills as cold as minus 25 to 50 degrees below zero could lead to frostbite if exposed on the skin in less than 10 minutes.
In Minnesota, Kristi Rollwagen, Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, urged residents to wear appropriate clothing and carry an emergency survival kit during the unusually cold weather, the Associated Press reported. Snowfall reports in the Northeast, flight delays ongoing While winter weather alerts have expired in Washington, DC, Philadelphia and New York City, Boston is under a winter storm warning until 7 a.m.
, where snowfall of 4-8 inches is possible. Hundreds of flights have either been cancelled or delayed in these cities. Nearly 6,000 flights within, into or out of the US Sunday were delayed and more than 1,200 were cancelled, according to flightaware.
com . As of early Monday, nearly 500 flights were delayed and nearly 400 cancelled..
