“More than 240 million people (more than 70% of the population) are affected by weather alerts”, said the National Weather Service (NWS) in its bulletin issued this morning.
The specialized site Flightaware recorded more than 4,400 canceled flights and the most affected airports were those of Seattle, New York, Detroit, Chicago and Denveraccording to the AFP news agency.
States in climate emergency
Several states, including New York, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Georgia, and North Carolina, have declared emergencies. The phenomenon extends “from the Canadian border to the Rio Grande (on the border with Mexico)”, and from the Pacific coast, in the northwest, to the Atlantic coast, in the east, say US meteorologists.
“This is really a very serious weather alert. Please take this storm very seriously.”warned President Joe Biden.
This low pressure system causes a strong clash between a very cold air mass coming from the Arctic and a tropical one coming from the Gulf of Mexico.
A depression is a system of low atmospheric pressure, often synonymous with bad weather: its dynamics generate updrafts that cause clouds and precipitation.
The weather forecast calls for temperatures as low as -40°C in the north of the country by noon on Friday and below zero as far as the Texas coast.
Meanwhile, several cold records have already been broken: -53°C in western Canada, -38°C in Minnesota, and further south, where temperatures are usually more moderate at this time of year: -13°C in Dallas, -8°C in Houston.
This system causes heavy snowfall in the north of the country, especially in the Great Lakes region.
Power outages and road closures
Almost a million Americans were without electricity this morning, especially in the southeast of the country (Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Connecticut), according to the specialized site Poweroutage.us.
In North Dakota, the main routes are closed “due to snow and wind, with zones of almost non-existent visibility and ice,” said state authorities, who advised travelers not to go out on the routes in these conditions.
The National Weather Service warned that as the powerful Arctic front continues to “sweep across the eastern third of the nation,” impacts on travel should also be expected, particularly at one of the busiest times of the year for Americans. Christmas.
Officials in Erie County, New York, issued a travel ban Friday morning, and only emergency personnel and those previously authorized are allowed to drive. In addition, travel alerts have been issued for Niagara, Genesee and New Orleans counties.
Source: Ambito
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