A massive winter storm moving east across the United States is bringing bitter cold and life-threatening temperatures to dozens of states heading into Christmas weekend. A widespread flash freeze is forecast across the Midwest, East and South as heavy rains are accompanied by freezing temperatures as far as Florida.
Dangerous wind chills and snow accumulation are expected across much of the US, prompting multiple cold weather warnings and watches for more than 150 million Americans, Fox Weather reported.
As of early Friday morning, blizzard warnings are in effect for more than 11 million people across the Northern Plains, Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, including Bismarck in North Dakota, Sioux Falls in South Dakota, Rochester in Minnesota, Des Moines in Iowa, South Bend in Indiana, Grand Rapids in Michigan and Buffalo in New York.
Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories have also been issued from the central and northern Plains east to the Midwest, the Great Lakes, the Mid-South, central Appalachians, and the northeastern interior, including the cities of Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City in Missouri, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Memphis and Nashville in Tennessee.
THE ‘BOMB CYCLONE’ WILL IMPACT HOLIDAY TRAVEL WITH BLIZZER AND COLD TEMPERATURES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY
A pedestrian navigates a snow covered sidewalk as temperatures stay in the single digits on December 22, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois.
(Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The FOX Forecast Center reports that the highest snowfall totals associated with the storm will likely be in the western Great Lakes region. More than a foot of snow could accumulate in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, western Lower Michigan and far north Wisconsin.
Light snow accumulations can also be seen as far south as northern Oklahoma, northern Arkansas and parts of Tennessee as an arctic cold front pushes up the Gulf Coast.
Heavy snowfall of up to 8 inches in less than 24 hours was already reported in Minneapolis-St.Paul Wednesday night, while the Denver metro area recorded between 3 and 6 inches of snow.
A combination of snow and strong wind gusts in excess of 50 mph also caused near-blackout conditions in parts of Colorado and Wyoming on Wednesday. In addition to the snowfall, FOX Weather said weather watching sites on the Plains have reported temperature drops of more than 30 degrees in less than an hour as the arctic front moves east.
WYOMING HIGHWAY PATROL COMPARES WINTER STORM TO ANTARCTIC AS IT RESPONSES TO HUNDREDS OF CALLS
The winter storm is expected to peak Friday over the Great Lakes. Blizzard conditions from eastern Wisconsin and far northeastern Illinois to parts of Michigan, northern Indiana, northern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and western New York will experience blizzard conditions as heavy snow combined with intense gusts of wind will accompany wind chills well below zero.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, strong winds between 40 and 80 mph will likely knock out power for thousands of people in the Great Lakes and Northeast, potentially causing a life-threatening situation.
CHRISTMAS BLIZZARD, ICE STORM COULD LEAVE THOUSANDS OF US WITHOUT POWER IN THE MIDDLE OF A NICE COLD
President Biden confirmed Thursday that the White House has contacted at least 26 governors in the affected states and is prepared to provide federal assistance.
The president told reporters that the storm is “not like a snow day” and that those planning to travel for Christmas should leave early before a meeting with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Weather Service. (NWS).
‘LEAVE NOW’: BIDEN ISSUED A HUGE WARNING ABOUT THE MONSTEROUS WINTER STORM SWEEPING US AROUND
A man shovels the sidewalk as another man clears snow with a power broom Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, in downtown Minneapolis.
(Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Cold air will also rise to the south and east on Friday, sending record temperatures as far south as Florida over the holiday weekend.
Friday morning low temperatures are expected to be in the teens and low single digits in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, Alabama and Georgia, prompting hard freeze warnings across much of the South. Several other places across the South may not exceed 20 or 10 years on Friday, setting records for lowest maximum temperatures.
DEADLY CHRISTMAS WEEK BLIZZARD INTENSIFIES INTO POWERFUL BOMB CYCLONE AS ARCTIC AIR SPREADS ACROSS THE EAST
Subzero temperatures will likely be some of the coldest in at least five years for many areas east of the Mississippi River, and wind chill advisories will extend as far as the Gulf Coast. For parts of north Texas and Oklahoma, the wind chill watches are the first issued in the area in 11 years.
“Areas like Oklahoma, Arkansas, North Texas and North Louisiana, and the Mississippi Delta: You need to be prepared for cold weather and potential power outages as wind gusts will be quite strong along with the possibility of freezing,” he said. FOX Meteorologist steve bender.
FOX Weather reported that Dallas Fort Worth International Airport could drop below 10 degrees Friday, likely the coldest December temperature since 1989. Nashville’s expected low of around 10 degrees would be its coldest December reading since 2010. Houston will drop to around 17 degrees Friday morning and will have trouble reaching the freezing mark during the day.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
FOX forecasters said the arctic air will continue through the weekend, even reaching Florida on Saturday, where low temperatures will drop to near freezing as far south as Orlando by Christmas morning.
