Severe cold and ice storm cripple US, leaving millions without power and disrupting air travel

A powerful winter storm has hit large parts of the United States, killing at least seven people and leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity as extreme cold grips the country. Severe conditions stretching from Texas to New England have forced widespread school closures, shut down major roads, and grounded thousands of flights. The National Weather Service warned that the storm poses “life-threatening” risks, particularly due to prolonged freezing temperatures and dangerous ice buildup.

Authorities confirmed that two men in Louisiana died from hypothermia, while storm-related deaths were also reported in Texas, Tennessee, and Kansas. In Kansas, officials said a woman found buried under snow may have died from exposure to the cold. Tennessee reported three weather-linked fatalities, and Austin’s mayor confirmed an exposure-related death in Texas. By Sunday afternoon, poweroutage.us reported that more than 800,000 homes and businesses were without electricity. Air travel was heavily disrupted, with FlightAware recording over 11,000 cancelled flights nationwide. Meteorologists warn that heavy snowfall, sleet, and freezing rain, which occurs when supercooled rain freezes instantly upon contact, could persist for several days. The storm system has the potential to affect up to 180 million people, impacting more than half of the US population.

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Hundreds of vehicle crashes due to weather

“The snow and ice are going to melt very slowly,” said Allison Santorelli of the National Weather Service. “That will significantly slow down recovery efforts.” In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at least five people died over the weekend, though the exact causes remain under investigation. He noted that extreme cold continues to claim lives in the city each winter. New York Governor Kathy Hochul urged residents to remain indoors, calling the storm the harshest the state has seen in years.

“This is a brutal and bone-chilling stretch of weather,” Hochul said, adding that it could bring the longest cold snap and heaviest snowfall in recent memory. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear warned that ice accumulation, rather than snow, is becoming the state’s primary concern, increasing the risk of power outages and traffic accidents. Authorities in Kentucky and Virginia have already responded to hundreds of weather-related vehicle crashes. The storm has also impacted Canada, where heavy snow led to hundreds of flight cancellations. Ontario is expected to receive between 15 and 30 centimeters of snowfall.

Nearly half of the US states have declared emergencies, and the US Senate postponed a scheduled vote as conditions worsened. Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency, calling it the capital’s most significant snowstorm in over a decade. Weather experts attribute the storm to a weakened polar vortex, a band of strong winds that normally traps cold air over the Arctic. When these winds weaken, frigid air can spill southward, colliding with warmer air and triggering powerful storms.

Forecasters expect the system to move eastward by Tuesday but warn that dangerously cold temperatures could linger into early February. Some scientists suggest climate change may be influencing polar vortex behavior due to rising global sea temperatures.