Extreme Cold Grips Millions as US Digs Out of Deadly Snowstorm

AFP/APP

New York: Perilously cold temperatures threatened millions of Americans on Monday in the wake of a sprawling winter storm that left at least 23 people dead, knocked out power and paralyzed transportation.

A frigid, life-threatening Arctic air mass could delay recovery as municipalities from New Mexico to Maine tried to dig out following the storm, which dropped a vicious cocktail of heavy snow and wind, along with freezing rain and sleet.

Forecasters warned that much of the northern half of the country will see temperatures that are “continuously below freezing through February 1,” while “record low temperatures tonight across the South are particularly dangerous in the wake of the weekend winter storm with many still without power,” the National Weather Service said in a post on X.

While skies began clearing in parts of the country, relentless snowfall in the northeast meant parts of Connecticut saw more than 22 inches (56 centimeters) of snow, with over 16 inches (40.6 centimeters) recorded in Boston, Massachusetts.

The storm was linked to at least 23 deaths, according to a compilation of state government and local media reports, with causes including hypothermia as well as accidents related to traffic, sledding, ATVs and snowplows. One man was found unresponsive in the snow with a shovel in his hand.

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In New York City, eight additional people were found dead amid plummeting temperatures, and investigations were underway to determine the causes. It was not immediately known whether all of the fatalities were storm-related.

Electricity began blinking back on across the South, but as of Monday evening more than 550,000 customers remained without power, according to tracking site Poweroutage.com. Tennessee, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana — southern states unaccustomed to intense winter weather — were especially impacted.

Approximately 190 million people in the United States were under some form of extreme cold alert, the National Weather Service (NWS) told AFP.

Residents in the Great Lakes region woke up to temperatures cold enough to cause frostbite on exposed skin within minutes. In parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, the NWS reported early Monday morning temperatures as low as minus 23 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 30.6 degrees Celsius), with wind chills intensifying the cold.

Over the weekend, nearly half of the contiguous United States received at least a foot of snow (30.5 centimeters), and in many areas far more. The NWS said New Mexico’s Bonito Lake recorded the highest U.S. snowfall total over the weekend, with 31 inches (78.7 centimeters).

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell told journalists that trees continued to fall under the weight of encrusted ice across the Tennessee capital, sometimes knocking out power that had already been restored. Nashville and other municipalities across the country established emergency warming shelters.

NWS meteorologist Allison Santorelli told AFP that recovery from the storm was particularly difficult because so many states were affected, preventing northern states with more winter resources from assisting less-prepared southern regions.

“A lot of those locations don’t have the means or the resources to clean up after these events,” she said. “We’re particularly concerned about the folks in those areas that are without power right now.”

Polar Vortex

At least 20 states and the capital, Washington, were under states of emergency to deploy emergency personnel and resources.

Snowfall and icy pellets left roads impassable and forced the cancellation of buses, trains and flights, with thousands of departures and arrivals scrapped over the weekend.

The storm resulted from a stretched polar vortex — an Arctic region of cold, low-pressure air that typically forms a compact circular system but can sometimes elongate, sending frigid air plunging across North America.

Scientists say the increasing frequency of such disruptions may be linked to climate change, though the issue remains debated and natural variability also plays a role.

Dave Radell, a National Weather Service meteorologist based in New York, told AFP that the storm’s snow was “very dry” and “fluffy,” allowing strong winds to blow it around easily and complicate road-clearing efforts.

“That makes it even more challenging,” he said.