As a massive storm engulfs the United States with heavy snow and freezing rain from the Central Plains to the East Coast, 150 million Americans are expected to experience travel disruptions, power outages, and freezing temperatures on Friday and throughout the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
Up to 20 inches (50.8 cm) of snow could fall in the Appalachians and West Virginia mountains as a result of the storm, which could affect almost half of the nation’s population. Meanwhile, most residents in the eastern United States may experience hazardous slick or frozen roads and possible power outages due to ice-laden trees and branches falling and snapping power lines, according to officials.
According to Brian Hurley, a meteorologist at the NWS’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, “half of all Americans are under some form of weather advisories due to the extreme cold in the North and the storm.”
According to a weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report released on Thursday, agricultural meteorologists stated that the heavy snow and ice might help dormant winter wheat crops in Oklahoma, where 23% of the state is under extreme drought.
However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture warned in a daily meteorological report on Wednesday that wheat fields without protective snow cover could be “at risk of cold-weather injury” due to the storm’s aftermath. Extreme cold in the north and ice and snow in the Southern Plains will put livestock under stress.
New York City, Boston, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., could receive 4 to 10 inches (10 to 25 cm) of heavy, wet snow starting on Saturday, Hurley said, with temperatures in the low 20s Fahrenheit (minus 5.5 C) in D.C., with Boston seeing a low of 7 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 14 C).
LOCAL PREPARATIONS UNDER WAY
A “Code Blue,” which mandates social service providers to extend shelter hours and make sure the homeless have access to them, was anticipated to be in effect during the storm in New York state.
Despite the forecast, Anh-Phi Tran, who has been working in the Belgian waffle food truck “Zinneken’s” for about 11 years in Boston, said he was ready to cater a weekend event. “It’s hard, but I have a space heater and of course the waffle ovens to keep me warm,” Tran said.
With severe wind chills of 30 below zero (minus 34 C) and lows of 2 degrees below zero F on Friday and Saturday, Chicago will experience a deep freeze.
At J.C., space heaters have been flying off the shelves all week. James Martin, manager of Licht Ace Hardware River North in Chicago. According to Martin, a native of Chicago, “Chicagoans know how to deal with extreme cold.” “We dress in layers upon layers and move quickly. Then we ask, ‘Why do we still live here?'”
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency, activating extra personnel and equipment to help control traffic, monitor power outages, rescue people trapped by the storm, and more. Abbott urged Texans to “remain weather-aware, check DriveTexas.org before traveling, and heed the guidance of state and local officials.”
Most locations should be free of the storm by late Sunday or early Monday. Fargo, North Dakota, will see a maximum temperature of just 5 degrees below zero on Saturday due to the bitterly cold Arctic blast of air from Canada.
According to weather forecasts, ice will be the primary storm hazard further south. Up to a half-inch of ice could build up in the Southeastern states from Central Virginia to Northern Texas.
