From Texas to Florida, arctic weather grips nation
Cold expected to ease in coming days
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Subfreezing conditions and treacherous roadways have contributed to dozens of deaths this month across the U.S., where states as far south as Texas and Florida remain shivering under deadly arctic weather Sunday. But the numbing cold is expected to ease up in the coming days.
Nationally, winter storms have claimed at least 72 lives around the U.S. this January, many involving hypothermia or road accidents.
On Sunday, crews in Memphis, Tennessee, continued to work around the clock to find and fix broken pipes that were causing low water pressure throughout the system. Memphis Light, Gas and Water President and CEO Doug McGowen told reporters Sunday afternoon that crews are making progress and he expects most of the 700,000 people the utility services to have water restored over the next 24 hours.
The continued cold weather is also responsible for at least 27 deaths in Tennessee, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.
Just south in Mississippi, the state’s Emergency Management Agency said Sunday that 11 people have died of causes related to frigid weather since Jan. 14.
Elsewhere, freezing rain, sleet and high wind gusts later Sunday would make traveling in parts of Kansas and Oklahoma particularly treacherous, the National Weather Service said. Wind chills in Iowa made it feel like minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit in some parts.
But the end of subzero temperatures — which blasted into the U.S. on Friday — was in sight for parts of the country. The daily high temperatures in Iowa’s capital of Des Moines, for example, were expected to stay above freezing starting Monday.
“With no additional replenishment of arctic air from Canada, a steady warm-up is in store for the mid-section of the country,” the weather service said.
In western New York, Buffalo Bills fans were getting ready for another home playoff game Sunday evening against the Kansas City Chiefs, with temperatures forecast around 20 degrees Fahrenheit, winds around 10 mph and a slight chance of snow showers. On Friday and Saturday, hundreds of people showed up at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park to help shovel snow out of the stands for the second week in a row, earning $20 an hour.
In Vermont, temperatures in the single digits to low teens didn’t stop ice anglers and snowmobilers from their sport, and young ski jumpers braved the cold as they competed in northern New Hampshire. But 23 skiers and snowboarders had to be rescued in frigid temperatures on Saturday after becoming lost in the backcountry in Killington, Vermont, police said.