FOX Weather’s Max Gorden is in Hamburg, New York, where a bomb cyclone is bringing whiteout conditions to the area.
A storm turned into a bomb cyclone on Friday, creating messy and deadly weather across the US in the countdown to Christmas.
At least nine deaths have been attributed to the winter storm and power outages have soared past 1 million.
From coast to coast, millions of people are seeing ice, dangerous cold, flooding and snow this Christmas week.
Coastal flooding closes roads
Coastal flooding in Ogunquit, Maine, on December 23, 2022, during a Christmas week winter storm that turned into a bomb cyclone. (Image: BeachmereInn / Twitter)
(FOX Weather)
Coastal flooding is a significant threat along much of the Northeast and New England coasts.
Moderate widespread flooding continued Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
At high tide, flooding engulfed coastal towns in Maine and Connecticut, where the bomb cyclone prompted warnings of high winds, coastal flooding and flash flooding.
Video from Wells and Ogunquit, Maine, showed large waves crashing onto coastal roads. Residents were asked to avoid driving on oceanfront roads.
Numerous roads were closed in New England due to strong winds and possible infrastructure damage.
The FOX Forecast Center warned of nearly 3 feet of storm surge in places like Portland, Maine.
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Meanwhile, in the Great Lakes, massive waves between 14 and 18 feet high are forecast for Hamburg, New York, where several evacuation orders are in effect for a coastal neighborhood.
“All my clothing is just a sheet of ice,” said FOX Weather correspondent Max Gorden as waves crashed around him from Lake Erie in Hamburg.
Transport problems
A plane takes off at O’Hare International Airport on December 22, 2022, in Chicago. A wintry weather system bringing snow, high winds and sub-zero temperatures has wreaked havoc on holiday travel during one of the busiest days of the year for airlines. (Photo by Scott Olson)
(Getty Images)
It doesn’t matter if travelers are going to their destinations by plane, train, boat or car; this storm has not spared any mode of transportation.
The winter storm has been blamed for at least nine deaths in five states.
Eight victims were linked to accidents caused by dangerous road conditions. A North Texas man died due to exposure to sub-freezing temperatures, according to FOX 4 Dallas.
Airlines have proactively canceled flights with nearly 3,700 cancellations nationwide, with the biggest impacts in places like Seattle, New York, Chicago, Denver and Atlanta.
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Flooding wreaked havoc on the New Jersey Transit System on Friday, covering tracks in Hoboken.
Flooding at the NJ Transit Hoboken station on December 23, 2022, due to the winter storm. (Photo: Michelle Romano)
(FOX Weather)
New Jersey Department of Transportation officials placed restrictions on multiple interstate highways beginning Friday because of a possible freeze.
Staten Island ferry service was temporarily suspended Friday due to strong winds and high tides.
In the Mid-South, wind chills dropped below freezing with some areas forecast to drop to 25 below. Snowfall in Tennessee has created low road visibility.
In Ohio, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office has declared a Level 2 snow emergency, telling drivers that unless they “absolutely must be on the road, please stay off the highways.”
Snow and low visibility closed several highways in Kentucky on Friday, including parts of Interstate 71. Several crashes were reported on Interstate 64, where slick conditions were creating dangerous driving.
Bitter cold, blowing snow and sea smoke
FOX Weather’s Robert Ray is in Chicago and reports how cold it is as sea smoke rises from Lake Michigan.
For the Midwest, snow, wind, ice and dangerously cold temperatures are causing crashes and destroying every last one–Small shopping plans in places like Chicago and Minneapolis.
FOX Weather Correspondent Robert Ray was in Chicago, where sea smoke was rising from Lake Michigan creating an eerie landscape in Chicagoland.
WHAT IS SEA SMOKE? SEE THE RARE PHENOMENON
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Charles Zajicek uses a power sweeper to clear snow from the sidewalk Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, in downtown Minneapolis. The Twin Cities saw 8 inches of snow on Wednesday followed by winds of up to 50 mph and wind chills that reached -35 degrees F on Thursday and Friday. (Photo by Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
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Commuters wait for a bus while temperatures are in the single digits on December 22, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. A wintry weather system bringing snow, high winds and sub-zero temperatures has wreaked havoc across much of the county ahead of the holidays. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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People travel in downtown Milwaukee as Wisconsin prepares for a winter storm that could bring blizzard conditions in the coming days, causing possible power outages and making holiday travel conditions hazardous. (Photo by Alex Wroblewski for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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Pedestrians navigate a snow-covered sidewalk as temperatures hover in the single digits on December 22, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois.
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A plane takes off at O’Hare International Airport on December 22, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. A wintry weather system bringing snow, high winds and sub-zero temperatures has wreaked havoc on holiday travel during one of the busiest days of the year for airlines. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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Travelers arrive for flights at O’Hare International Airport on December 22, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. A wintry weather system bringing snow, high winds and sub-zero temperatures has wreaked havoc on holiday travel during one of the busiest days of the year for airlines. As of 8:00 a.m. more than 400 flights out of O’Hare had been canceled. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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Javier Galicia was engrossed in his work, clearing snow from a sidewalk along Ave. 4th S. Near S. 35th St. Thursday, December 22, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minn. Although it was cold, Galicia did not complain. The Twin Cities saw 8 inches of snow on Wednesday followed by winds of up to 50 mph and wind chills that reached -35 degrees F on Thursday and Friday. (Photo by David Joles/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
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Up and down the central US, more than 200 million people are under Wind Chill Advisories and Warnings. More than half of the US has snow on the ground.
The south is not spared from cold and wind.
Snow falls on Broadway, a popular tourist street in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 22, 2022. (Photo by SETH HERALD/AFP)
(Getty Images)
Friday morning low temperatures were in the teens and single digits as far south Oklahoma, Arkansas AND Tennesseeaccording to the FOX Forecast Center, while temperatures remained in the mid-teens TEXAS to Georgia.
Nashville police responded to 34 accident calls Friday, mostly due to icy road conditions earlier in the day.
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Ice and cold continue
Freezing rain blankets the Seattle area on December 23, 2022.
(Scott Sistek/FOX Weather)
The winter storm started in the West earlier this week before starting to spread a stormy weather bingo across the Midwest and northern plains.
Temperatures dropped nearly 40 degrees within an hour in Denver on Wednesday, and life-threatening cold weather remains in place across much of the West.
An arctic front kicks up dust as it rolls into Denver on December 21, 2022.
(Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment / FOX Weather)
According to the NWS in Denver, the Mile High City scored it second coldest day thursday with a minimum of 15 degrees.
A significant ice storm is shutting down multiple modes of transportation in the Pacific Northwest on Friday.
About a quarter inch of ice built up in Seattle on Friday, creating dangerously slick conditions.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport reopened one runway Friday after de-icing.
