For example, extremely cold temperatures of over minus 50 degrees Celsius are predicted for Western Canada.
The winter storm shaking North America has continued to intensify during Friday.
Meteorologists at the United States Meteorological Administration predict that the storm could bring North America the coldest Christmas in decades.
For example, extremely cold temperatures of over minus 50 degrees Celsius are predicted for Western Canada. Temperatures above minus 40 degrees have been measured in parts of the United States on Friday.
Cold records can also be broken in the south. For example, snowfall has been predicted for the subtropical state of Florida. In the south, Dallas, Texas, has already measured minus 13 degrees Celsius.
According to meteorologists, the storm will develop into a “bomb cyclone” during Friday.
A bomb cyclone means a rapidly intensifying storm. The phenomenon is accompanied by heavy snowfall and gale-force winds, which can be as strong as a hurricane.
As a weather phenomenon, a bomb cyclone is rare, but it occurs on the east coast of the United States and Canada.
The Finnish Meteorological Institute has issued exceptionally extensive weather warnings due to the storm. In the United States alone, the storm is estimated to affect more than two-thirds of the US population, or 240 million people, the news agency AFP reports.
More than a million homes and businesses without electricity
The storm caused changes to many Christmas travel plans, as thousands of flights were canceled in the United States on Thursday and Friday. Finnish time, there were already more than 4,000 canceled flights and more than 4,600 delayed flights on Friday evening, the news agency AFP reports.
The severe weather has also snapped trees and caused power outages. In the United States, more than 1.4 million homes and businesses were without electricity on Friday evening Finnish time, AP reports.
Most of the outages are in the eastern parts of the country. In Vermont, for example, residents were told to prepare for the fact that it will take days to fully restore electricity.
Also the President of the United States Joe Biden warned of a storm on Thursday.
– This is not an ordinary childhood winter day. This is a serious matter, Biden said.
A strong winter storm landed in the United States from the Pacific Ocean at the beginning of the week.
Sources: AFP, AP, Reuters