Hundreds of thousands without power as winter storm hits US

Hundreds of thousands of homes in the United States are without power as a major storm hits the country, also leading to flight cancellations and road closures.

Snow, ice and freezing rain are creating “life-threatening” conditions stretching from Texas to New England that could last for several days, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

At least two people died of hypothermia in Louisiana, with state health officials linking their deaths to the storm, and another death was reported in Texas.

As of Sunday afternoon, more than 1 million homes had lost power, according to poweroutage.us. Meanwhile, more than 10,000 flights have been canceled, FlightAware reported.

About 180 million Americans, or more than half the population, are expected to be affected by heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain, a dangerous phenomenon in which cooled rain droplets instantly freeze on surfaces.

“The snow and ice will melt very, very slowly and won’t go away anytime soon, which will hamper any recovery efforts,” Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told CBS News, the BBC’s US media partner.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said during a news conference Sunday that the state is seeing more ice and less snow than initially expected.

“This is not good news for Kentucky,” he said. “This means the roads are even more dangerous and hazardous conditions will continue into next week.”

Weather experts have warned that one of the storm’s biggest dangers is ice, which can damage trees, bring down power lines and make roads dangerous.

More than 200 car accidents were reported in the state of Virginia as the storm moved through the state, according to local media.

The Louisiana Department of Health confirmed Sunday that the two men who died of hypothermia were in Caddo Parish, an area that includes the city of Shreveport.

Austin, Texas, Mayor Kirk Watson said on social media Sunday that “we have experienced the first death related to this winter storm. This death is related to exposure.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote in an article on X that at least five people had died in the city on Saturday, but added that the cause of their deaths had not yet been determined. He added, however, that “it’s a reminder that every year, New Yorkers succumb to the cold.”

Nearly half of states have declared a state of emergency, and schools across the country are already canceling classes in anticipation of the storm continuing on Monday. The US Senate also canceled a vote scheduled for Monday evening.

In declaring a state of emergency in the nation’s capital, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said, “We are experiencing the biggest snowstorm in a decade in Washington this weekend.”

While northern areas like Dakota and Minnesota are accustomed to subzero temperatures in winter, it’s unusual to see such extreme cold in states like Texas, Louisiana, and Tennessee, where temperatures are about 15 to 20 degrees below the seasonal average.

These states could also see about an inch of ice accumulation caused by freezing rain, a dangerous phenomenon where supercooled rain droplets instantly freeze on surfaces.

Mayor Watson and other officials in those areas are warning residents that ice and snow can melt during the day, then refreeze once the sun sets, also creating dangerous conditions on roads and weighing down power lines.

Nashville Electric Service says more than 200,000 Tennessee outages occur in and around the Nashville area. And residents can expect to be without power for several days.

“We are really concerned about the ice buildup and what that could do to road safety and our electrical infrastructure,” Tennessee Emergency Management Director Patrick Sheehan said in a video statement.

The polar vortex – a ring of strong westerly winds that forms over the Arctic each winter and contains a pool of very cold air – led to this powerful storm, weather experts say.

When the winds are strong, they stay in place, but when the winds weaken, the vortex loops further south and the cold air plunges toward the United States. When cold air meets mild southern air, the air rises and storm fronts form.

In this case, the winter storm moves north and east, clearing the Canadian maritime sector by Tuesday, but leaving more cold air in its wake. It is expected to remain dangerously cold until early February.

Some experts say climate change could influence the behavior of the polar vortex due to changes in sea surface temperatures in our warming world.