Dec 23 (Reuters) – More than two-thirds of the U.S. population was under an extreme weather alert on Friday as a deep freeze swept across much of the country ahead of the holiday weekend, disrupting travel plans, cutting power homes and businesses and causing at least three deaths.
With a bitter cold front stretching from Texas to Montana beginning to march east, more than 240 million people were under weather advisories Friday, the National Weather Service said. Freeze warnings were posted for parts of the southern states of Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
In Kentucky, two people were killed in car crashes and a homeless man died, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Friday.
“Please stay home and stay safe,” he tweeted.
The bitter cold intensified by strong winds also extended to the US-Mexico border, bringing wind chill temperatures into the single digits in the border city of El Paso, Texas.
Further north, heavy snowfall was forecast in parts of Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York, including more than 35 inches in Buffalo, Weather Service meteorologist Ashton Robinson Cook said.
The map of existing or impending winter hazards “depicts one of the largest scales of winter weather warnings and advisories ever,” the agency said.
Extreme weather disrupted families and holiday plans just days before Christmas. About 1.5 million U.S. homes and businesses were without power Friday, according to the tracking site Poweroutage.us. About 187,000 customers were without power in North Carolina alone, where strong winds have hampered restoration efforts.
In Maine, with about one-tenth the population of North Carolina, power was restored to more than 114,000 customers Friday afternoon.
Strong winds, ice and snow also disrupted commercial air traffic during one of the busiest travel times of the year.
[1/3] A driver drives through a flooded road at high tide during a winter storm in Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S., December 23, 2022. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
More than 4,000 flights in the US were canceled on Friday, according to flight tracking service FlightAware. About 500 flights in or out of Seattle’s main airport were grounded after a separate storm system brought ice and freezing rain to the Pacific Northwest.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) had estimated that 112.7 million people planned to travel 50 miles (80 km) or more from home between Friday and January 2. That number is likely to drop due to treacherous weather complicating air and road travel heading into the weekend.
Officials in the Buffalo area of New York imposed a driving ban.
“If there’s any good news, it’s that the storm has moved quickly in some areas,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told MSNBC on Friday. Many airports, like Denver, are expected to recover quickly from a wave of delays and cancellations. Other centers like Chicago could recover later on Friday, he said.
‘BAND UP’
Last-minute holiday gift purchases may also have little chance of reaching their destinations by Christmas. FedEx Corp ( FDX.N ) said on Friday customers could expect possible delays for some package deliveries across the country due to disruptions at hubs in Tennessee and Indianapolis.
Weather forecasters said the storm over the Midwest had formed into a “bomb cyclone” — a phenomenon that occurs when air pressure drops drastically within a 24-hour period and accelerates the intensity of a storm. It could produce blinding snow from the northern Plains and Great Lakes region to the upper Mississippi Valley and western New York state.
Along the East Coast, rain and westerly winds pushing seawater ashore could cause 3 feet of coastal flooding, with flash freezes and black ice possible, the Weather Service said.
The lowest temperature in the US on Friday morning was recorded in Havre, Montana, registering minus 38 Fahrenheit (minus 38 Celsius). But forecasters predict some relief in the coming days. In Montana and throughout the northern Rockies and High Plains, temperatures could rise 40 to 60 degrees over the weekend.
For now, meteorologist Cook said: “Hold up and stay inside if you can and check on your neighbors.”
Reporting by Gabriella Borter, Steve Gorman, Rich McKay Susan Heavey, Laila Kearney, Scott DiSavino, Jonathan Oatis, Aleksandra Michalska and Aurora Ellis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
