A severe Arctic storm that hit the United States this week and disrupted the daily lives and holiday travel of millions of Americans is expected to create the coldest Christmas night on record in cities across the country from Pennsylvania to Florida.
Temperatures in Pittsburgh, western Pennsylvania’s largest city, are expected to reach just -13C, surpassing -10.5C, the coldest Christmas Eve on record in 1983, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
Tallahassee and Atlanta, the capitals of Florida and Georgia, are expected to record the coldest December 24 in history, while the federal capital, Washington, is expected to experience the coldest Christmas Eve since 1906.
Record-low Christmas temperatures were predicted due to the polar storm that hit the country and developed to cover two-thirds of the eastern United States.
The arctic cold, combined with a “bomb cyclone” of heavy snow and strong winds blowing from the Great Lakes region and into the Upper Mississippi and Ohio valleys, wreaks havoc on power systems, roads and air traffic.
US officials reported at least five deaths on Friday attributed to extreme winter weather.
Two drivers were killed and several injured in a 50-vehicle crash that blocked the Ohio Turnpike in both directions during a snowstorm near Toledo. Authorities said that due to the accident, drivers were forced to evacuate by bus to prevent freezing in their vehicles.
About 240 million people from Canada to the Mexican border and coast to coast are under some form of freeze warning, according to the air service.
The NWS said its map of current or upcoming weather hazards “shows one of the largest winter warning intervals ever”.
Nearly 1.5 million homes and businesses across the country were left without power on Friday, as electrical systems in the US were overwhelmed by increased heating demand and damage to power lines due to the storm, according to a monitoring site called Poweroutage.us.
More than 5,700 US flights were canceled Friday, according to flight tracking service FlightAware, and cold weather and blizzards have brought road travel to a virtual halt in parts of the country.
source: Noticias
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.