About a third of the US population lives in areas that are threatened by storms. According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, driving weather can even be life-threatening.
17:05•Updated 20:08
Christmas traffic in the United States is in danger of drifting into chaos, as the winter storm brings heavy snowfall, strong and freezing winds and, in some places, the most severe frost for decades to much of the country.
The coldest Christmas in 40 years is predicted for the central parts of the country. The cold will stay over the US during the Christmas holidays.
Weather warnings have been issued for 37 states all the way to the Texas-Mexico border. More than one hundred million people live in warning areas, or about a third of the US population, according to the country’s Meteorological Institute according to the news channel CNN. (you switch to another service)
“Difficult or impossible to travel”
The most difficult day is predicted to be Thursday, which is expected to be the busiest Christmas travel day. The storm will hit the Midwest and Northwestern United States particularly hard.
According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, traveling is very difficult or impossible. Getting stuck in snow in freezing windy freezing weather can be life-threatening, it says.
At its worst, the frost can reach 45 degrees in some places. In freezing weather, frostbite can occur in five minutes without protection, The British broadcasting company BBC says. (you switch to another service) This means hard times, especially for the homeless, states Oregon State Broadcasting Corporation OPB. (you switch to another service)
High winds can also cause power outages, especially in areas where the snow load on trees is high due to last week’s heavy rains.
At least a thousand flights have been canceled across the United States. The most cancellations have been in Chicago and Denver, CNN says.
According to the Flight Tracker tracking tool, the number of flights canceled on Thursday evening Finnish time was already 1,825 and 3,700 flights were late.
The impact of the cancellations on Christmas is big, as Chicago and Denver are important stopovers for travelers heading to other parts of the country.
Even in Florida it’s cold
On the night between Thursday and Friday, the storm is expected to turn into a so-called bomb cyclone.
A bomb cyclone is formed in an atmosphere that quickly becomes low pressure. It is accompanied by heavy snowfall and gale-force winds that can be as strong as a hurricane.
At that time, even a small snowfall can severely reduce visibility.
Heavy snow is forecast for the northwestern United States and the Midwest. Even in regions without rain, strong wind is combined with frost.
Temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing in about four-fifths of the United States, as far south as Texas. Even Florida is getting its coldest Christmas in 30 years. In Oregon and Washington, in the northwestern United States, Christmas is the coldest in perhaps a couple of decades.
A state of emergency has been declared for Kentucky and North Carolina.
Christmas flights in Vancouver are also in trouble
In Vancouver, Western Canada, this week’s snowfall has resulted in numerous flight cancellations.
On Wednesday, the Vancouver International Airport announced that it will limit the arrival of foreign flights for two days in order to ease the congestion caused by the cancellations, the news agency Reuters reports.