Introduction to the Winter Storm
The United States is bracing for more freezing cold as a winter storm leaves at least 29 dead. Many in the U.S. faced another night of below-freezing temperatures and no electricity after a colossal winter storm heaped more snow Monday on the Northeast and kept parts of the South coated in ice.
By CHARLOTTE KRAMON and RUSS BYNUM
The Storm’s Impact
Deep snow — over a foot (30 centimeters) extending in a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) swath from Arkansas to New England — halted traffic, canceled flights and triggered wide school closures Monday. The National Weather Service said areas north of Pittsburgh got up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) of snow and faced wind chills as low as minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 31 degrees Celsius) late Monday into Tuesday.
Bitter Cold and Power Outages
The bitter cold afflicting two-thirds of the U.S. wasn’t going away. The weather service said Monday that a fresh influx of artic air is expected to sustain freezing temperatures in places already covered in snow and ice. And forecasters said it’s possible another winter storm could hit parts of the East Coast this weekend. There were still more than 670,000 power outages in the nation Monday evening, according to poweroutage.com. Most of them were in the South, where weekend blasts of freezing rain caused tree limbs and power lines to snap, inflicting crippling outages on northern Mississippi and parts of Tennessee.
Death Toll and Destruction
A rising death toll included two people run over by snowplows in Massachusetts and Ohio, fatal sledding accidents in Arkansas and Texas, and a woman whose body was found covered in snow by police with bloodhounds after she was last seen leaving a Kansas bar. In New York City, officials said eight people were found dead outdoors in the course of the frigid weekend. Parts of Mississippi were reeling in the aftermath of the state’s worst ice storm since 1994. Officials scrambled Monday to get cots, blankets, bottled water and generators to warming stations in hard-hit areas.
Impact on Daily Life
The University of Mississippi, where most students hunkered down without power Monday, canceled classes for the entire week as its Oxford campus remained coated in treacherous ice. Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill said on social media that so many trees, limbs and power lines had fallen that “it looks like a tornado went down every street.” A pair of burly, falling tree branches damaged real estate agent Tim Phillips’ new garage, broke a window and cut off power to his home in Oxford. He said half of his neighbors had homes or vehicles damaged.
Flight Disruptions and School Closures
The U.S. had more than 11,000 flight delays and cancellations nationwide Monday, according to flight tracker flightaware.com. On Sunday, 45% of U.S. flights got cancelled, making it the highest day for cancellations since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. New York City saw its snowiest day in years, with neighborhoods recording 8 to 15 inches (20 to 38 cm) of snow. Though public schools shut down, roughly 500,000 students were told to log in for online lessons Monday. Snow days off from school melted away in New York, the nation’s largest public school system, after remote learning gained traction during the coronavirus pandemic.
Bitter Cold Grips Much of the Nation
Meanwhile, bitter cold followed in the storm’s wake. Communities across the Midwest, South, and Northeast awakened Monday to subzero weather. The entire Lower 48 states were forecast to have their coldest average low temperature of minus 9.8 F (minus 12.3 C) since January 2014. In the Nashville, Tennessee, area, electricity returned for thousands of homes and businesses Monday, while more than 170,000 others awoke bundled up in powerless homes after subfreezing temperatures overnight. Many hotels were sold out overnight to residents escaping dark and frigid homes.
Storm Leads to Deaths in a Number of States
In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office said at least eight people were found dead outside as temperatures plunged between Saturday and Monday morning, though the cause of their deaths remained under investigation. In Emporia, Kansas, police searching with bloodhounds found a 28-year-old teacher dead and covered in snow. Police said she had was last seen leaving a bar without her coat and phone. Police said snowplows backed into two people who died in Norwood, Massachusetts, and Dayton, Ohio. Arkansas and Texas reported two deaths apiece, including fatal sledding accidents that killed a teenager in each state.
Conclusion
The winter storm has left a trail of destruction and death in its wake, with at least 29 people reported dead and thousands more without power. The bitter cold is expected to continue, with forecasters warning of another potential winter storm hitting the East Coast this weekend. As the nation struggles to recover from the storm, it is clear that the impact will be felt for days to come.
FAQs
Q: How many people have died as a result of the winter storm?
A: At least 29 people have been reported dead as a result of the winter storm.
Q: How many power outages are there in the US?
A: There are still more than 670,000 power outages in the nation, according to poweroutage.com.
Q: What is the forecast for the rest of the week?
A: The bitter cold is expected to continue, with forecasters warning of another potential winter storm hitting the East Coast this weekend.
Q: How many flights were delayed or cancelled on Monday?
A: The U.S. had more than 11,000 flight delays and cancellations nationwide Monday, according to flight tracker flightaware.com.
