The Arctic cold is advancing in the United States and record low temperatures are feared

An arctic cold wave that has been spreading for several days has covered the United States this Sunday while snow and wind storms threaten to bring the mercury back very low, with record freezing temperatures in the heart of the country.

In areas of some central states temperatures between 30 and 40 degrees below zero are expected, with the prospect of influencing everything from American football semifinals to presidential campaigns.

At the same time, thunderstorms and increased snowfall They forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights. According to the FlightAware platform, which monitors air traffic, more than 750 flights were canceled across the country this Sunday. Another 1,200 were delayed.

More than 1,100 flights were canceled on Saturday and more than 2,000 on Friday. Among the most affected airports are O’Hare, in Chicago, and Metropolitan Wayne County, in Detroit.

ANDIn fact, the first cold-related death of the year was recorded in Chicago, in the suburb of Schiller Park. He was a 60-year-old man who died Thursday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The power grid was also affected, as can be seen on the PowerOutage.us website. In Oregon, in the northwestern United States, Around 158,000 people were without electricity, after a winter storm that caused at least one death from hypothermia. Heavy snow and wind gusts of more than 70 kilometers per hour were also reported in the Midwest.

The winter storms, in fact, ended up hitting the Iowa caucuses, the first official appointment in the race to become the Republican candidate for president of the United States

Former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) yesterday encouraged his followers not to be intimidated by the extreme cold and to go to the polls en masse on Monday to support him. Trump had planned to arrive in Iowa much earlier, but heavy snow on Friday delayed his trip It caused the cancellation of most of the public events he had.

The National Weather Service warned yesterday that 95 million citizens are in areas affected by a freezing air warning, while some southern states, such as Tennessee or Arkansas, could be hit by winter storms this Sunday.

In some parts of the state of Montana, On Sunday the thermometer read 34 degrees below zero and similar temperatures were also expected to the north in Kansas, with 46 degrees below zero possible in North and South Dakota. In Saint Louis, the National Weather Service warned of unusual and “life-threatening” cold.

Grant Rampton, 25, in Des Moines, braved a wind chill of -29 degrees Celsius to go sledding with friends on a golf course, battling the cold by wearing layers of insulating clothing and socks and staying constantly on the move.

Temperatures in parts of Iowa could drop to 26 degrees below zero this Monday cWhen state elections begin presidential primary season. And forecasters said it wouldn’t be until Wednesday before the subzero wind chill disappeared.

Elsewhere, if the problem wasn’t snow and wind, it was water: Record tides hit the Northeast, flooding some homes in Maine and New Hampshire. The northeastern coast was hit with 2.5 to 5 centimeters of rain in the morning, and a storm surge amplified what was already the highest tide of the month, National Weather Service meteorologist Michael Cempa said.

Source: EFE and AP agencies