Winter’s Grip of Across America
Winter storms are coming to both sides of the country, and there’s more very cold air heading to the central and eastern parts of the United States by the weekend.
Since last week, at least 43 people in nine states have died because of the coldest winter air and many snow and ice storms across the US.
Oregon has been hit really hard. Two ice storms happened in a row, causing trees and power lines to fall since Saturday, and now a third storm is on the way.
In the Portland, Oregon area, at least 10 people have died from the storms and cold since Friday. On Wednesday, three people died when a tree branch knocked down a power line that fell on their vehicle. The live wire killed them when they got out of their SUV.
The ice storm causing all this trouble left the Northwest on Wednesday night, and another storm is coming on Thursday morning. Freezing rain will happen again in Washington and Oregon, and heavy snow might come to parts of the Cascades.
More ice will build up in the Northwest as the freezing rain keeps going until Friday. This might make tree branches break and power lines get damaged.
Because of the previous storms, more than 45,000 homes and businesses in Washington and Oregon still didn’t have power early on Thursday.
On Friday, more snow will come to parts of the Midwest and East when two parts of the atmosphere collide. Snow might start in Chicago on Thursday night, and by Friday morning, it could reach the interior Northeast and central Appalachians.
There will also be more mix of snow and freezing rain in the Mississippi and Tennessee valleys on Thursday. This might make travel dangerous in parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
Cities in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast that just got through a very snowy week will see more light-to-medium snow. Around 1 to 3 inches of snow are expected from the Midwest to the East. Some areas near the coast might get close to half a foot of snow by Friday night.
Philadelphia might get between 4 and 6 inches of snow on Friday. This much snow hasn’t fallen in a single day in the city for more than three years.
It won’t be a big snowstorm, but the mix of snow and windy winds might make travel difficult. More cancellations and delays might happen, especially since schools and government offices were already closed by the big storm earlier in the week.
The little break from the really cold weather on Wednesday in the central US and Thursday in the South and East won’t last long. More very cold air will come to the north-central US later on Thursday and quickly move to the central and eastern US by Friday afternoon.
This time, the cold won’t be as strong as the one earlier in the week, but temperatures will have a hard time reaching freezing in places like Oklahoma City, Nashville, Philadelphia, and New York City on Friday. Chicago won’t even get past the teens, and Minneapolis will stay in the single digits on Friday as the harsh cold settles in.
Wind chills in the central US will drop back to very low levels by Friday, making the risk of frostbite and hypothermia higher, Winter’s Grip of Across America, Storms
Recent Climate – Winter’s Grip of Across America, Winter’s Grip of Across America, Storms and Cold Create Challenges
