Vast Winter Storm Knocks Out Power in 23 States

An enormous winter storm is battering a vast swath of the US, knocking out power in more than 20 states, grounding 6,000 flights, closing schools, coating roads with ice and dashing hopes for the delivery of last-minute holiday gifts.  

More than 200 million people — around 60% of the country — were under some form of winter weather warning or advisory Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Heavy snow is set to blanket the Great Lakes region and parts of northern New York and New England, with bitter cold following a front that’s now pushing into Pennsylvania and the Appalachian Mountains. 

“It’s a pretty significant storm and is so widespread,” said Rich Otto, a forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center. “This is a once in a 20- to 30-year type storm.” 

While it’s packing plenty of snow and frigid temperatures, the storm is mostly noteworthy for its size and speed. Snow, blizzard, freezes and flood warnings and advisories stretch across the central and eastern portions of the country, the northern fringe and the Deep South. It’s speedy march across the continent, meanwhile, is causing violent temperature swings. New York City was 55F (13C) at dawn. By 10 p.m., it’s forecast to be around 10.

Dangerous cold temperatures & winds will continue to affect and spread eastward through the day from the Rockies, the south, Midwest, Great Lakes & advancing across the eastern seaboard. This graphic is the forecast apparent temperature at 1 PM EST today. https://t.co/VyWINDk3xP pic.twitter.com/trOqw6c6Lt

— National Weather Service (@NWS) December 23, 2022

More than 900,000 customers are without power in 23 states, including Texas, New York, Georgia and hardest-hit Connecticut, where more than 100,000 homes and businesses are in the dark, according to PowerOutage.us. As of 7:30 a.m. 6,000 flights into, out of and around the US have been canceled, according to FlightAware, an airline tracking service, and Amtrak canceled some trains in the Midwest and northern New England. 

The storm has created “substantial disruptions” at FedEx Express hubs in Memphis and Indianapolis, potentially delaying holiday packages from arriving by Christmas, the shipping company said in a statement. 

New York has declared a statewide emergency and banned commercial traffic on the New York State Thruway from west of Rochester to the Pennsylvania border. Governor Kathy Hochul urged people who haven’t already taken to the roads to wait until Sunday to travel. Schools are closed in Buffalo, where up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) of snow may fall, and so are public offices in New Jersey.

Weather warnings and advisories stretch from Washington state to Maine and south to the Gulf of Mexico, as an estimated 112.7 million people are set to travel at least 50 miles through Jan. 2, according to automotive group AAA. It’s also threatening to disrupt liquefied natural gas exports, which have been a lifeline for Europe as it battles a historic energy crisis.

“This is not like a snow day, you know, when you’re a kid. This is serious stuff,” President Joe Biden said in a Thursday briefing. “If you all have travel plans, leave now. Not a joke.”

Extreme cold warnings covered western Canada, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada. Winter storm warnings spread across Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces. In Toronto, the country’s most populous city, forecasters have warned of a flash freeze, high winds and up to 15 centimeters (6 inches) of snow by Saturday morning.

Air Canada was warning of snow-related cancellations on December 23, 24 and 25 at the country’s biggest airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport, as well as in Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver and Quebec City.

“We continue to monitor the situation as it is evolving and we will be adapting to changes in weather conditions through the day as the storm evolves,” the airline said in an emailed statement. A number of flights were “pre-cancelled” on Friday “due to the weather, reduced airport capacity and other operational constraints.” 

Cold Records

While New York and other East Coast cities likely won’t have to contend with snow, high winds coupled with a new moon — which affects tides — raise the risk of coastal flooding from the Chesapeake Bay to the Gulf of Maine. Breakers as high as 15 feet may crash into the Long Island shoreline, and tides could rise 3 feet above normal high marks, the weather service said. 

The cold had pushed across the Plains into the Midwest and Texas and was likely to set nearly 80 records — mostly for low daily maximum temperatures — across the country, according to Marc Chenard, a senior branch forecaster at the Weather Prediction Center. 

Farmers are bracing for record cold that could cause machinery to break down, impact winter wheat growth and freeze livestock at a time of already historic food inflation.

In Texas, where the state’s electric grid was battered by cold early last year, the chill should peak through Saturday and start to moderate early next week, Chenard said. The snow from the storm won’t be that extreme for many places, though high winds will be a problem, he said.

–With assistance from Christine Buurma, Stephen Stapczynski, Mary Schlangenstein, Jordan Fabian and Danielle Bochove.