Tag Archives: extreme cold

US

As ice storm continues in the South, the Northeast braces for dangerously frigid temperatures

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CNN
 — 

As tens of thousands remain without power in Texas on Thursday amid frigid temperatures and icy roads, the Northeast is bracing for a blast of bitterly cold air that could feel well below freezing.

Texas has been bearing the brunt of a dangerous ice storm that dumped several rounds of sleet and freezing rain, causing life-threatening road conditions in surrounding states including Oklahoma, Arkansas and the Memphis area in Tennessee.

On Wednesday, Texas reported a third person had died during the storm after losing control of her truck on an icy road north of Eldorado. One person was killed in Austin in a 10-car pileup, and another person died after their car rolled over in the Dallas-area city of Arlington, officials said.

And while Thursday is expected to bring some relief from the deadly storm as temperatures slowly rise, the piling of multiple layers of ice and sleet has snapped tree branches and limbs and led to power outages for more than 360,000 homes and businesses in Texas. That means thousands of people likely don’t have proper heating or hot water as ice coats the ground.

Overnight into early Thursday, an additional quarter inch of ice could possibly glaze already slippery roads, particularly in central and northern Texas, southern Oklahoma and Arkansas.

“This will bring storm total ice accretions to over 0.5” for many locations which will raise the risk for significant tree damage and power outages, in addition to icy, dangerous roads. Sleet may also mix in at times with the freezing rain which will increase the chances for icing on the roadways,” the National Weather Service said.

By late Thursday night, the Northeast could begin feeling temperatures below zero from a separate winter storm, prompting officials in several states to announce preparations.

In Connecticut, the governor activated the state’s severe cold weather protocol beginning noon Thursday through the weekend.

“With the kind of severe cold weather that is headed our way, frostbite can develop on exposed skin in under 30 minutes. Spending long periods of time outdoors in these conditions is not only harmful, it can be fatal,” Gov. Ned Lamont said.

The governor added that shelters and warming centers are available across Connecticut, and transportation can be provided when needed.

Similarly, warming centers are expected to be available in Maine, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Vermont, officials said.

In Boston, the mayor declared a cold emergency in the city for Friday through Sunday ahead of the severely cold weather.

“I urge all Boston residents to take precautions, stay warm and safe, and check on your neighbors during this cold emergency,” Mayor Michelle Wu said.

More than 15 million people are expected to be under a wind chill watch or warning in the Northeast beginning either Thursday night or Friday morning through at least Saturday afternoon.

The National Weather Service issues a wind chill warning when the air is expected to feel -25 degrees Fahrenheit or colder.

The impending wind chill alerts would apply to all of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, northern Connecticut, much of eastern and central New York and northeast Pennsylvania.

“The air mass descending on the area Friday into Friday night is the coldest air currently in the Northern Hemisphere,” National Weather Service in Caribou, Maine, warned.

The cold air is on a path to move into the Northeast Thursday night and Friday, with the coldest period coming Friday night and Saturday morning, as temperatures fall below zero.

The northern portion of New England will see temperatures drop to 15 to 25 degrees below zero. Plus, the frigid temperatures will be joined by winds of 25 to 40 mph, making air in areas as far south as New York City feel -10 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Avoid any outdoor activities on Friday and Saturday! Cold temperatures paired with the wind chill factor could lead to potentially life-threatening conditions outdoors,” the New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a post on Facebook Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, northern New York and northern New England will feel like -35 to -50 degrees Fahrenheit with some locations experiencing wind chills as cold as 65 degrees below zero. These extreme conditions can cause frostbite in as little as five minutes.

The cold blast is expected to be brief, with temperatures rising across most of the region by Sunday afternoon.

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World

From China to Japan, deadly cold is gripping East Asia. Experts say it’s the ‘new norm’

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Hong Kong
CNN
 — 

A deadly cold snap that is gripping East Asia has killed at least four people in Japan after subzero temperatures and heavy snow brought travel chaos during the Lunar New Year holiday, with climate experts warning that such extreme weather events had become the “new norm.”

Japanese officials said all four of those who died on Wednesday and Thursday had been working to clear snow amid what Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno has called a “once-in-a-decade cold snap.”

Two of the deaths were reported in the western Niigata prefecture, with one in southwestern Oita prefecture and one in southern Okayama prefecture – where the victim had a heart attack.

In neighboring South Korea, heavy snow warnings were issued this week as temperatures in the capital Seoul fell as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit) and plummeted to record lows in other cities, officials said. Residents said it began snowing heavily overnight late Wednesday into Thursday.

On the popular tourist island of Jeju, harsh weather this week led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights while passenger ships were forced to stay in port due to huge waves, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters.

“Cold air from the North Pole has reached South Korea directly,” after traveling through Russia and China, Korea Meteorological Administration spokesperson Woo Jin-kyu told CNN.

– Source:
CNN
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See what life is like inside one of the world’s coldest places

Woo said that while scientists took a long-term view of climate change, “we can consider this extreme weather – extremely hot weather in summer and extremely cold weather in winter – as one of the signals of climate change.”

Across the border in Pyongyang, North Korean authorities warned of extreme weather conditions as the cold wave swept through the Korean Peninsula. Temperatures in parts of North Korea were expected to dip below minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit), state media reported.

In Japan, hundreds of domestic flights were canceled on Tuesday and Wednesday due to heavy snow and strong winds that hampered visibility. Major carriers Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways canceled a combined total of 229 flights.

Meanwhile, high-speed trains were suspended between the northern Fukushima and Shinjo stations, Japan Railway Group said.

China’s meteorological authority has also forecast big temperature drops in parts of the country and on Monday issued a blue alert for a cold wave – the lowest level in a four-tier warning system.

Mohe, China’s northernmost city, on Sunday saw temperatures drop to minus 53 degrees Celsius (minus 63.4 degrees Fahrenheit) – its coldest ever recorded, meteorologists said. Ice fog – a weather phenomenon that occurs only in extreme cold when water droplets in air remain in liquid form – is also expected in the city this week, local authorities said.

Other parts of Asia also felt the impacts of harsh cold weather.

Earlier this month in Russian Siberia, temperatures in the city of Yakutsk stood at minus 62.7 degrees Celsius (minus 80.9 degrees Fahrenheit) – a record for a place widely known as the world’s coldest city.

The cold was also felt in Afghanistan, where Taliban officials reported the deaths of at least 157 people as the country experiences one of its coldest ever winters with minimal humanitarian aid. Officials said temperatures in early January had plummeted to as low as minus 28 degrees Celsius (minus 18 Fahrenheit).

Yeh Sang-wook, a climate professor at Hanyang University in Seoul, attributed the extreme cold wave on the Korean Peninsula to Arctic winds from Siberia, adding that the cold wave in South Korea this year was partly due to the melting of Arctic ice caps from a warming climate.

“There has been a record melting last year and this year,” he said. “When sea ice is melted, the sea opens up, sending up more vapor into air, leading to more snow in the north.”

As climate change worsens, the region would face more severe cold weather in the future, he said.

“There is no other (explanation),” he said. “Climate change is indeed deepening and there is a consensus among global scientists that this kind of cold phenomenon will worsen going forward.”

Kevin Trenberth, from the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), agreed that “extreme weather events are the new norm,” adding, “we certainly can expect that weather extremes are going to be worse than they were before.”

He also pointed to the El Niño and La Niña climate pattern cycles in the Pacific Ocean that affect weather worldwide.

La Niña, which typically has a cooling effect on global temperatures, is one of the reasons for the current cold snap, he said.

“There’s certainly a large natural variability that occurs in the weather but … we often hear about the El Nino phenomenon and at the moment we’re in the La Niña phase. And that certainly influences the kinds of patterns that tend to occur. And so that’s a player as well,” he said.

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US

More migrants dropped outside vice president’s home in freezing weather on Christmas Eve

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CNN
 — 

Several busloads of migrants were dropped off in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington, DC, on Christmas Eve in 18 degree weather late Saturday.

An initial two busloads were taken to local shelters, according to an administration official. More buses arrived outside the vice president’s residence later Saturday evening. A CNN team saw migrants being dropped off, with some migrants wearing only T-shirts in the freezing weather. They were given blankets and put on another bus that went to a local church.

Tatiana Laborde, managing director of SAMU First Response, said her group was prepared for Saturday night’s arrivals. Busloads of migrants have been arriving in Washington weekly since April.

“The DC community has been welcoming buses from Texas anytime they’ve come since April,” she said. “Christmas Eve and freezing cold weather is no different. We are always here welcoming folks with open arms.”

It’s not clear who is responsible for sending the migrants to the Naval Observatory, though CNN reported earlier this year that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had sent buses of migrants north, including to a location outside Harris’ home.

Abbott is one of at least three Republican governors who have taken credit for busing or flying migrants north this year to protest the Biden administration’s immigration policies. He previously confirmed in September that his state had sent the buses to Harris’ residence at that time.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

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US

Christmas weather: A ‘once in a generation’ winter storm will impact nearly every state and cripple travel

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CNN
 — 

A major winter storm and cold blast will impact nearly every state and bring what the National Weather Service is calling a “once in a generation type event” that will cripple travel on some of the busiest travel days of the year.

The strengthening storm will bring more than a foot of snow and possible blizzard conditions to the Midwest, as the weather service warns of “life-threatening” wind chills for millions.

More than 90 million people are under winter weather alerts and more than 87 million are under wind chill alerts. The alerts stretch across 37 states, dipping as far south as the Texas/Mexico border.

The cold will stick around for Christmas weekend, making this the coldest Christmas in roughly 40 years for portions of the Plains and Midwest.

Wednesday: The storm will strengthen over the Northern Plains through the day as heavy snow falls across much of the Rockies, the Northern Plains and into the Midwest. Slick roads will lead to travel headaches and airport delays through places like Minneapolis, Omaha and Rapid City.

This system will bring 5 to 9 inches of light fluffy snow across the region, with “the highest amounts just north and west of the Twin Cities,” said the weather service office in Twin Cities. While snow will steadily fall across the region, the high winds won’t kick in until Thursday.

Denver will go from a high of 47 on Wednesday to a low of minus 14 on Thursday morning. That would be the city’s coldest day in 32 years, according to the weather service.

Thursday: Thursday will be the most difficult day for travel. The storm will be hitting the Midwest extremely hard with heavy snow and strong winds. Western Minnesota will face not only blizzard conditions, but potentially deadly wind chills Thursday and Friday.

“Whiteout conditions are expected during that time with travel becoming very difficult or impossible,” said the weather service. “This event could be life-threatening if you are stranded with wind chills in the 30 below to 45 below zero range.”

Chicago could also face blizzard conditions with winds gusting as high as 50 mph, with 2 to 4 inches of snow forecast.

“Overall, concern continues to increase in the quick development of dangerous conditions Thursday afternoon with potentially significant impacts to the evening peak travel window,” warned the weather service office in Chicago.

Additionally, strong winds may knock out power lines in the Midwest, especially in areas where heavy snow fell last week and is already weighing down tree branches. This will leave millions finding a way to stay warm as temperatures plummet to well below freezing.

Snow could fall as far south as Jackson, Mississippi, Memphis and Nashville in Tennessee and even Birmingham, Alabama, on Thursday. Little to no accumulation is expected for most of the southern cities, however, Nashville could pick up about an inch of snow.

In anticipation of what will be a week of travel nightmares, United, American, Delta, Southwest and Jet Blue have issued travel waivers for dozens of airports across the country from the South to the Northeast, because in addition to snow covering roadways, low visibility could make air travel dangerous.

Friday: The storm is expected to become a “bomb cyclone” Thursday evening into Friday. A bomb cyclone is when a storm rapidly intensifies – and drops 24 millibars (a term used to measure atmospheric pressure) in 24 hours.

The storm is expected to reach the pressure equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane as it reaches the Great Lakes, with the weather service describing the strength of the low a “once-in-a-generation” event.

“This is a case in which snow totals may not tell the whole story. Even small snow amounts, when combined with very strong wind gusts and plummeting temperatures, can cause poor visibility and slick spots on roads. The sudden arrival of these conditions can increase the danger,” the weather service explained.

The storm will be over the Great Lakes on Friday and continuing to produce heavy snow across much of the Midwest. Portions of Michigan could pick up more than a foot of snow by Friday, making travel impossible at times.

Heavy rain will also blanket much of the I-95 corridor, adding to the travel troubles and lengthy airport delays.

Even in places where the snow has ended, strong winds will continue to blow 30 to 40 mph across much of the Midwest and into the Northeast.

Friday night into Saturday morning, New England will get a quick shot of snow and windy conditions.

Places that will escape the snow, won’t escape the cold. Areas from eastern Montana through the Dakotas will experience the coldest air beginning Thursday morning. Temperatures will be running 40 degrees below normal for these places. The combination of cold temperatures and windy conditions will send wind chills as low as 50 degrees below zero.

Rapid City will feel like 45 degrees below zero on Thursday morning. By Friday morning, Chicago’s wind chill will bottom out at 30 degrees below zero.

“The dangerously cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 5 minutes,” warned the weather service office in Bismarck.

Even the South will be dangerously cold. Nashville and Atlanta’s wind chill will drop to minus 11 on Saturday morning and Birmingham will feel like minus 5.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday declared a state of emergency due to the upcoming “historic low temperatures” across the state, with near zero or negative digit wind chills by midday on Friday.

The declaration will help “ensure that essential supplies, especially propane can be delivered for both commercial and residential needs,” the governor told reporters.

“Communities across the state are about to see temperatures that they haven’t experienced in a decade or more,” Kemp said.

The state will be pretreating roads and bridges in anticipation of the inclement weather and officials urged residents to avoid travel if possible.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear also declared a state of emergency, with wind gusts expected to reach 40 to 50 mph on Friday and minus 10 to minus 26 degrees wind chills expected on Saturday. Beshear asked residents to stay off roads and to have a backup heat source.

Jackson and Birmingham will both spend more than 80 hours below freezing between Friday and Monday. Houston could sit below freezing for 46 hours between Thursday and Saturday.

The cold temperatures will stay through Christmas weekend, before finally moderating next week.



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US

Christmas weather: A ‘once in a generation’ winter storm will impact nearly every state and cripple travel

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CNN
 — 

A major winter storm and cold blast will impact nearly every state and bring what the National Weather Service is calling a “once in a generation type event” that will cripple travel on some of the busiest travel days of the year.

The strengthening storm will bring more than a foot of snow and possible blizzard conditions to the Midwest, as the weather service warns of “life-threatening” wind chills for millions.

More than 90 million people are under winter weather alerts and more than 87 million are under wind chill alerts. The alerts stretch across 37 states, dipping as far south as the Texas/Mexico border.

The cold will stick around for Christmas weekend, making this the coldest Christmas in roughly 40 years for portions of the Plains and Midwest.

Wednesday: The storm will strengthen over the Northern Plains through the day as heavy snow falls across much of the Rockies, the Northern Plains and into the Midwest. Slick roads will lead to travel headaches and airport delays through places like Minneapolis, Omaha and Rapid City.

This system will bring 5 to 9 inches of light fluffy snow across the region, with “the highest amounts just north and west of the Twin Cities,” said the weather service office in Twin Cities. While snow will steadily fall across the region, the high winds won’t kick in until Thursday.

Denver will go from a high of 47 on Wednesday to a low of minus 14 on Thursday morning. That would be the city’s coldest day in 32 years, according to the weather service.

Thursday: Thursday will be the most difficult day for travel. The storm will be hitting the Midwest extremely hard with heavy snow and strong winds. Western Minnesota will face not only blizzard conditions, but potentially deadly wind chills Thursday and Friday.

“Whiteout conditions are expected during that time with travel becoming very difficult or impossible,” said the weather service. “This event could be life-threatening if you are stranded with wind chills in the 30 below to 45 below zero range.”

Chicago could also face blizzard conditions with winds gusting as high as 50 mph, with 2 to 4 inches of snow forecast.

“Overall, concern continues to increase in the quick development of dangerous conditions Thursday afternoon with potentially significant impacts to the evening peak travel window,” warned the weather service office in Chicago.

Additionally, strong winds may knock out power lines in the Midwest, especially in areas where heavy snow fell last week and is already weighing down tree branches. This will leave millions finding a way to stay warm as temperatures plummet to well below freezing.

Snow could fall as far south as Jackson, Mississippi, Memphis and Nashville in Tennessee and even Birmingham, Alabama, on Thursday. Little to no accumulation is expected for most of the southern cities, however, Nashville could pick up about an inch of snow.

In anticipation of what will be a week of travel nightmares, United, American, Delta, Southwest and Jet Blue have issued travel waivers for dozens of airports across the country from the South to the Northeast, because in addition to snow covering roadways, low visibility could make air travel dangerous.

Friday: The storm is expected to become a “bomb cyclone” Thursday evening into Friday. A bomb cyclone is when a storm rapidly intensifies – and drops 24 millibars (a term used to measure atmospheric pressure) in 24 hours.

The storm is expected to reach the pressure equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane as it reaches the Great Lakes, with the weather service describing the strength of the low a “once-in-a-generation” event.

“This is a case in which snow totals may not tell the whole story. Even small snow amounts, when combined with very strong wind gusts and plummeting temperatures, can cause poor visibility and slick spots on roads. The sudden arrival of these conditions can increase the danger,” the weather service explained.

The storm will be over the Great Lakes on Friday and continuing to produce heavy snow across much of the Midwest. Portions of Michigan could pick up more than a foot of snow by Friday, making travel impossible at times.

Heavy rain will also blanket much of the I-95 corridor, adding to the travel troubles and lengthy airport delays.

Even in places where the snow has ended, strong winds will continue to blow 30 to 40 mph across much of the Midwest and into the Northeast.

Friday night into Saturday morning, New England will get a quick shot of snow and windy conditions.

Places that will escape the snow, won’t escape the cold. Areas from eastern Montana through the Dakotas will experience the coldest air beginning Thursday morning. Temperatures will be running 40 degrees below normal for these places. The combination of cold temperatures and windy conditions will send wind chills as low as 50 degrees below zero.

Rapid City will feel like 45 degrees below zero on Thursday morning. By Friday morning, Chicago’s wind chill will bottom out at 30 degrees below zero.

“The dangerously cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 5 minutes,” warned the weather service office in Bismarck.

Even the South will be dangerously cold. Nashville and Atlanta’s wind chill will drop to minus 11 on Saturday morning and Birmingham will feel like minus 5.

Jackson and Birmingham will both spend more than 80 hours below freezing between Friday and Monday. Houston could sit below freezing for 46 hours between Thursday and Saturday.

The cold temperatures will stay through Christmas weekend, before finally moderating next week.



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