Deep freeze chills US as massive storm brings blizzards, high winds
A shroud of bone-chilling Arctic air covered the US East Coast and Midwest on Saturday, creating dangerous conditions as tens of millions of people struggled to clean up from a blizzard that dumped deep, drifting snow in many areas last week.
Wind chill and freeze warnings stretched from New England to Ohio and Pennsylvania, while the National Weather Service warned of freezing rain in Missouri and areas to the northeast.
In some of those places, exposed skin could freeze within 30 minutes, said meteorologist Dan Petersen of the National Weather Service’s Maryland-based Weather Prediction Center.
In New England and the Middle Atlantic states, the storm forced hundreds of schools to close and commuter rail services to suspend or reduce service.
Cold and snowy weather was blamed for at least 18 deaths in the past few days, including four in North Carolina traffic accidents and three in Texas.
“The magnitude of the cold and the area of coverage of the cold is really what’s impressive to me,” said meteorologist Ed Vallee, owner of Vallee Weather Consulting.
Killington, the famous Vermont ski resort, closed on Saturday even though snow conditions were excellent, saying wind chill on the slopes was at least –46 C.
“It’s just too cold to put folks out there,” the resort said on its website.
The brutal cold in parts of the East Coast and Midwest shows no sign of abating this weekend, but a thaw should begin on Monday, said meteorologist Bob Oravec of the Weather Prediction Center. Before then, conditions will probably worsen.
The brutal cold in parts of the East Coast and Midwest shows no sign of abating this weekend, but a thaw should begin on Monday, said meteorologist Bob Oravec of the Weather Prediction Center. Before then, conditions will probably worsen.
In the more populous Northeast, New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport set an all-time low for Saturday at –13 C, Oravec said.
The airport had closed from Thursday to Friday morning when snow created white-out conditions.