Temporary in the US: Routes cut, flights canceled and 240 million people affected on Christmas Eve

A rare winter storm hit the United States on Friday, closing roadways and airports across much of the country. Christmas Eve.

“More than 240 million people (over 70% of the population) are affected by weather warnings,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said in its bulletin on Friday.

The conditions They are very dangerous for circulation, the authorities warned.

Millions are expected to take to the streets and board flights for the Christmas and New Year holidays, marking a return to mobility levels before the pandemic.

The specialized site Flightaware represented more than 3,290 canceled flights. The hardest hit airports were those in Seattle (northwest), New York, Detroit, Chicago (north) and Denver (downtown).

As of Thursday, about 10 percent of flights have been canceled, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on MSNBC on Friday. “Many of the largest airline hubs are affected,” he added.

“Extreme seriousness”

“Please, take this storm seriously“, President Joe Biden urged Thursday. “I encourage everyone (…) to heed the warnings locally. Is it serious.”

in Oklahoma two people died traveling Thursday.

According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), some 112 million people will drive at least 80 kilometers between 23 December and 2 January.

Several states, including New York, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Georgia and North Carolina, They declared an emergency.

Far and wide​

The phenomenon is spreading “from the Canadian border to the Rio Grande (to the Mexican border),” and from the Pacific coast in the Northwest to the Atlantic coast in the east, US meteorologists say.

This low pressure system causes a strong shock between a very cold air mass from the Arctic and a tropical one from the Gulf of Mexico.

A depression is a system of low atmospheric pressure, often synonymous with bad weather: its dynamics generates rising currents that provoke clouds and rainfall.

This makes the current situation extraordinary: atmospheric pressure dropped very rapidly, in less than 24 hours.

Weather forecasts call for temperatures as low as 40s in the north by noon Friday and below freezing up the Texas coast.

Several have already been beaten cold discs:-53°C in western Canada, -38C in Minnesota, and further south, where temperatures tend to be more moderate this time of year: -13C in Dallas, -8C in Houston.

This system causes abundant snowfall in the north of the country, especially in the Great Lakes region.

Nearly a million Americans were left without electricity Friday morning, especially in the southeast of the country (Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Connecticut), according to the specialized site Poweroutage.us.

In North Dakota, major roads are closed “due to snow and wind, with areas of visibility and ice almost non-existent,” state authorities say, advising travelers not to travel in these conditions.

also Canada

Canada was also bracing for “unusually low temperatures for the season,” with heavy snow and possible freezing rain in some areas.

Authorities have encouraged Quebec residents, for example, to do so prepare contingency plans and carry emergency kits containing clean water, food, medicine, a first aid kit and a flashlight.”

The cold weather has led some people to take on the ‘boiling water challenge’: they post videos of them throwing boiling water into the air see it crystallize immediately.

Kamil Kraczynski and Ulysse Bellier, AFP

ap​