Arctic Blast Upends Travel, Disrupts Power In US, Canada

By Staff, Agencies

Tens of millions of Americans are enduring bone-chilling temperatures, blizzard-like conditions, power outages and cancelled holiday gatherings due to a winter storm that forecasters describe as nearly unprecedented in its scope.

More than 200 million people, or about 60% of the United States population, were under some form of winter weather advisory or warning on Friday, the National Weather Service said. The agency’s weather map “depicts one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever,” forecasters said in a statement.

More than 5,200 flights within, into, or out of the US were cancelled by Friday, according to the tracking site FlightAware, causing more mayhem as travelers try to make it home for the year-end holidays. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses were without power.

In Canada, the storm caused widespread flight cancellations and school closures, and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers in Ontario and Quebec.

“This is not like a snow day when you were a kid,” US President Joe Biden warned on Thursday after a briefing from federal officials. “This is serious stuff.”

Forecasters are expecting a bomb cyclone when atmospheric pressure drops very quickly in a strong storm. The phenomenon is forecast to develop near the Great Lakes. That will stir up blizzard-like conditions, including high winds and heavy snow.