First days of winter pummel U.S.
MISSION, Kan. — Millions of Americans endured bone-chilling temperatures, blizzard conditions, power outages and canceled holiday gatherings Friday from a winter storm that forecasters said was nearly unprecedented in its scope, exposing about 60% of the U.S. population to some sort of weather advisory or warning.
More than 200 million people were under an advisory or warning Friday, the National Weather Service said. The weather service’s map “depicts one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever,” forecasters said.
Power outages left about 1.4 million homes and businesses in the dark, according to the website PowerOutage. Utilities in Nashville, Memphis and throughout the Tennessee Valley said they were implementing rolling blackouts as the region battled an extreme cold front.
And more than 4,600 flights within, into or out of the U.S. were canceled Friday, according to the tracking site FlightAware.
“We’ve just got to stay positive. Anger is not going to help us at all,” said Wendell Davis, who plays basketball with a team in France and was waiting at O’Hare in Chicago on Friday after a series of flight cancellations.
The huge storm stretched from border to border. In Canada, WestJet canceled all flights Friday at Toronto Pearson International Airport, beginning at 9 a.m. And in Mexico, migrants waited near the U.S. border in unusually cold temperatures as they awaited a U. S. Supreme Court decision on whether and when to lift pandemic-era restrictions that prevent many from seeking asylum. Forecasters said a bomb cyclone — when atmospheric pressure drops quickly in a strong storm — had developed near the Great Lakes, stirring heavy winds and snow.
Even though fleets of snow plows and salt trucks had been deployed, driving was hazardous and sometimes deadly. The Kansas Highway Patrol said three people were killed in separate collisions. State police in Michigan reported multiple crashes Friday, including a pileup involving nine semitrailers.
Activists also were rushing to get the homeless out of the cold. Nearly 170 adults and children were keeping warm early Friday in Detroit at a shelter and a warming center that are designed to hold 100 people.
“This is a lot of extra people” but “you can’t” turn anyone away, said Faith Fowler, the executive director of Cass Community Social Services, which runs both facilities.
In Chicago, Andy Robledo planned to spend the day organizing efforts to check on unhoused people through his nonprofit, Feeding People Through Plants. Mr. Robledo and volunteers build tents modeled on icefishing tents, including a plywood subfloor.
“It’s not a house, it’s not an apartment, it’s not a hotel room. But it’s a huge step up from what they had before,” Mr. Robledo said.
In Portland, Ore., officials opened five emergency shelters. Fallen trees and power lines have closed roads across the Portland metro area. And nearly 50 miles of Interstate 84, a major highway through the Columbia River Gorge, were closed Friday morning.
The weather service is forecasting the coldest Christmas in more than two decades in Philadelphia, where school officials shifted classes online Friday.All bus service was suspended in the greater Seattle area Friday morning. And DoorDash suspended delivery service.
The weather service is forecasting the coldest Christmas in more than two decades in Philadelphia, where school officials shifted classes online Friday.
In Maine, gusts approaching 70 mph were reported along the coast Friday morning. Atop New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, the wind topped 150 mph.