Travelers across much of the eastern United States on Thursday braced for one of the most dangerous Christmas weekends in decades, with forecasters warning of a “bomb cyclone” that would bring heavy snow and strong winds as temperatures drop.
National Weather Service meteorologist Ashton Robinson Cooke said cold air is moving east across the central United States and about 135 million people will be affected by cold wind warnings in the coming days. Flights and train traffic in general were disrupted.
“This is not like the snowy days when you were a kid,” President Joe Biden warned in the Oval Office on Thursday after a briefing by federal officials. “This is a serious matter.”
Forecasters are expecting a “bomb cyclone” – a violent system when barometric pressure drops rapidly – during a storm that forms near the Great Lakes.
In South Dakota, Rosebud Sioux Tribal Emergency Manager Robert Oliver said tribal authorities were working to clear roads so they could deliver propane and firewood to homes, but were faced with unforgiving winds that caused snowdrifts over 10 feet in some places. He said five people have died in recent storms, including last week’s snowstorm. Oliver didn’t give any details other than to say the family was in mourning.
On Wednesday, emergency management teams managed to rescue 15 people stranded in their homes but had to stop early Thursday morning as hydraulic fluid on heavy equipment froze in minus 41-degree winds.
“We were a little scared here, we just feel a little isolated and excluded,” said Democratic Assemblyman Sean Bordeaux, who said he ran out of propane to heat the house he booked.
Temperatures are expected to drop quickly in Texas, but state leaders have vowed to prevent a repeat of the February 2021 hurricane that devastated the state’s power grid and killed hundreds of people.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is confident the state can handle rising energy demand as temperatures drop.
“I think confidence will be gained over the next few days because people see that we have ultra-low temperatures and the network will be able to work easily,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
The cold weather has spread to El Paso and across the border to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, where migrants have camped or filled shelters awaiting a decision on whether the United States will lift restrictions that have kept many from seeking shelter.
In other parts of the country, authorities feared power outages and warned people to take precautions to protect the elderly and the homeless and livestock, and to postpone travel where possible.
Michigan State Police are preparing to send additional officers to help motorists. Along Interstate 90 in northern Indiana, meteorologists warned of snow storms starting Thursday night as crews prepared to clear up to a foot of snow. About 150 members of the National Guard were also sent to help the Indiana snowbound travelers.
More than 1,846 flights within, to and from the United States had been canceled as of Thursday afternoon, according to tracking website FlightAware. Airlines also canceled 931 flights on Friday. Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports, as well as Denver’s airport, reported the most cancellations. Freezing rain forced Delta to stop flying from its hub in Seattle.
Meanwhile, Amtrak canceled service on over 20 routes, mostly in the Midwest. Services between Chicago and Milwaukee, Chicago and Detroit, and St. Louis, Missouri, and Kansas City are suspended over Christmas.
In Montana, temperatures dropped to minus 50 degrees at Elk Park, a mountain pass on the Continental Divide. Some ski resorts have announced closures due to extreme cold and high winds. Others have shortened their sentences. Schools were also closed and thousands of people were left without electricity.
In famously snowy Buffalo, New York, forecasters have predicted a “storm of a lifetime” due to snow on the lake, wind gusts up to 65 mph, power outages and the possibility of widespread power outages. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said the state of emergency would go into effect on Friday, with wind gusts expected to reach 70 mph.
Denver is also no stranger to winter storms: Thursday was the coldest day in 32 years, with temperatures at the airport dropping to minus 24 degrees in the morning.
Charleston, South Carolina, had a coastal flood warning in effect Thursday. The region is a popular tourist destination due to mild winters that can handle high winds and extreme cold.
The Gazette is an independent, employee-owned source for local, state, and national news in Iowa.
Post time: Dec-30-2022