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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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US

Migrants dropped near vice president’s home on frigid Christmas Eve

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Three buses of recent migrant families arrived from Texas near the home of Vice President Kamala Harris in record-setting cold on Christmas Eve.

Texas authorities have not confirmed their involvement, but the bus drop-offs are in line with previous actions by border-state governors calling attention to the Biden administration’s immigration policies. But a spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement the migrants “willingly chose” to go to Washington, D.C., and signed voluntary consent waivers upon boarding the buses that they agreed on the destination.

The buses that arrived late Saturday outside the vice president’s residence were carrying around 110 to 130 people, according to Tatiana Laborde, managing director of SAMU First Response, a relief agency working with the city of Washington to serve thousands of migrants who have been dropped off in recent months.

Local organizers had expected the buses to arrive Sunday but found out Saturday that the group would get to Washington early, Laborde said. The people on board included young children.

Some were wearing T-shirts despite temperatures hovering around 15 degrees Fahrenheit (-9 degrees Celsius). It was the coldest Christmas Eve on record for Washington, according to the Washington Post.

Laborde said employees had blankets ready for the people who arrived on Christmas Eve and moved them quickly onto waiting buses for a ride to an area church. A local restaurant chain donated dinner and breakfast.

Most of the arrivals were headed to other destinations and expected to remain in Washington only briefly.

Renae Eze, Abbott’s spokesperson, criticized the Biden administration for its border policies, saying in a statement the federal government processed and released the migrants.

“Instead of their hypocritical complaints about Texas providing much-needed relief to our overrun and overwhelmed border communities, President Biden and Border Czar Harris need to step up and do their jobs to secure the border — something they continue failing to do,” Eze said in a statement.

Abbott’s office said last week that Texas has given bus rides to more than 15,000 people since April to Washington, New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia.

The White House condemned the move by Abbott, noting the drop-off occurred as much of the country was experiencing a deadly winter storm.

“Governor Abbott abandoned children on the side of the road in below freezing temperatures on Christmas Eve without coordinating with any federal or local authorities. This was a cruel, dangerous, and shameful stunt,” White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan said in a statement. 

Hasan said the Biden administration is willing to work with Republicans and Democrats on comprehensive immigration reform and border security proposed by President Biden, but added, “these political games accomplish nothing and only put lives in danger.”

Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, both Republicans, are strong critics of Mr. Biden on his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, where thousands of people are trying to cross daily, many to seek asylum. Officials on both sides of the border are seeking emergency help in setting up shelters and services for migrants, some of whom are sleeping on streets.

Republicans argue Biden and Harris, designated the administration’s point person on the root causes of migration, have relaxed restrictions that induced many people to leave their countries of origin. Biden has ended some policies but kept others enacted by former President Donald Trump, whose administration also grappled with spikes in border crossings and at one point separated immigrant families and children as a deterrence initiative.

The Biden administration is also grappling with how to respond to the spike in migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, overwhelming local resources and shelters. In El Paso, Texas, where its mayor declared a state of emergency, hundreds of migrants have been forced to sleep on city streets amid freezing temperatures. In fiscal year 2022, federal border authorities stopped migrants over 2.3 million times, a record high.

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US

Migrants sent from Texas arrive in frigid D.C. on Christmas Eve

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Three buses full of migrants arrived at Vice President Harris’s residence in Washington from Texas on Christmas Eve amid bitingly cold temperatures, a mutual aid group said, the latest in an influx of newcomers sent to the Northeast by Southern states.

About 110 to 130 men, women and children got off the buses outside the Naval Observatory on Saturday night in 18-degree weather after a two-day journey from South Texas, according to the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network. On the coldest Christmas Eve day on record in the District, some migrants were bundled up in blankets as they were greeted by volunteers who had received word that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) had sent the caravan.

Volunteers scrambled to meet the asylum seekers after the buses, which were scheduled to arrive in New York on Christmas Day, were rerouted due to the winter weather. In a hastily arranged welcoming, a church on Capitol Hill agreed to temporarily shelter the group while one of the mutual aid groups, SAMU First Response, arranged 150 breakfasts, lunches and dinners by the restaurant chain Sardis.

“D.C. continues to be welcoming,” the network’s core organizer Amy Fischer said. “Whether it’s Christmas Eve, whether it’s freezing cold outside or warm outside, we are always ready to welcome people with open arms and make sure they have a warm reception in this community.”

Abbott began offering asylum seekers free passage to immigrant-friendly Democratic cities on the East Coast in April, an effort to pressure the Biden administration into cracking down at the border. Other Republican governors, including Arizona’s Doug Ducey and Florida’s Ron DeSantis, have also sent buses to New York and the nation’s capital.

Texas National Guard blocks migrant flow across border in El Paso

The White House condemned the action in a Christmas Day statement, saying Abbott did not plan with federal authorities before the drop-off.

“Governor Abbott abandoned children on the side of the road in below freezing temperatures on Christmas Eve without coordinating with any Federal or local authorities,” White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan said via email to The Washington Post. “This was a cruel, dangerous, and shameful stunt.”

“As we have repeatedly said, we are willing to work with anyone — Republican or Democrat alike — on real solutions, like the comprehensive immigration reform and border security measures President Biden sent to Congress on his first day in office, but these political games accomplish nothing and only put lives in danger,” Hasan said.

Abbott’s office did not respond to requests for comment or confirm publicly that it sent the buses. In a letter sent Tuesday to President Biden, Abbott described conditions at the border, saying Texas cities were unable to house the continued influx of migrants coming in from Mexico. He noted the coming Arctic weather and said the new arrivals were at risk of “freezing to death on city streets.” Temperatures in Texas dipped into the teens and 20s in some cities this weekend.

“These communities and the state are ill-equipped to do the job assigned to the federal government — house the thousands of migrants flooding into the country every day,” Abbott said.

Abbott last week deployed the Texas National Guard to try to block migrants from crossing the border at places other than official entry points, which have been essentially closed to many families and individuals because of a Trump-era policy that allows the United States to quickly send people back across the border without an opportunity to apply for asylum.

That policy, known as Title 42, has been successfully challenged in court and was set to expire Wednesday, but Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. ordered it temporarily kept in place while the Supreme Court considers a last-ditch appeal by Abbott and other Republican governors to prevent it from ending.

The Biden administration has said it is working to put new resources and policies in place at the border to deal with the large number of migrants who want to enter the country and seek asylum, a lengthy process that usually allows them to live in the United States and work while they await hearings.

In his letter, Abbott called the administration’s efforts so far a “disaster” and said: “This terrible crisis for border communities in Texas is a catastrophe of your own making.”

In D.C., the buses had been arriving all week — three from Arizona, another three from Texas — so Tatiana Laborde knew it was going to be an “intense” time. But on Friday, Laborde — who is the managing director of SAMU First Response, one of the agencies along with the mayor’s office and the mutual aid network helping with the migrants — found out about the three rerouted buses. They were scheduled to arrive Sunday morning, Christmas Day.

But then there was another surprise — the buses, from Del Rio, Tex., got in early, parking near the vice president’s Naval Observatory residence on Christmas Eve.

That destination appears to have more political significance than logistical purpose: While other buses have stopped at Union Station, the Naval Observatory is not near any other transportation hubs. The vice president was in D.C. this weekend.

Those who are boarding the stream of state-chartered buses to Democratic cities are less focused on the political maneuver than getting to a safe place, Laborde said.

“Keep in mind that this has not stopped,” Laborde said. “We have seen slowdowns during some weeks, but there’s a constant flow of migrants arriving to the District. That’s become a norm. Not all of it is negative, because it gives them an opportunity to be where they initially intended to be and where those who are asking for political asylum might have a better chance.”

In response to the influx of bused migrants from the border states and Florida, local organizations and governments have developed an apparatus of support. D.C. created an Office of Migrant Services to coordinate services, including temporary shelter, meals and medical support.

The Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, a collection of aid groups that formed in response to Abbott’s latest tactic, mobilized volunteers who could welcome the migrants when they got off the buses on Saturday, Fischer said. The aid group, warned by a nongovernmental organization in contact with the Texas Department of Emergency Management, worked with the city to charter a bus to take the immigrants to the church, where the asylum seekers were given warm clothing and hot meals.

Volunteers also helped the migrants figure out how they could get to friends and family who they had hoped to stay with or connected them with housing. Laborde said that her team was able to purchase about 90 tickets for the migrants. New York and New Jersey were the main destinations. The farthest was Boston.

From border town to ‘border town,’ bused migrants seek new lives in D.C. area

Most of the migrants on the buses that arrived Saturday came from Central America or the Caribbean, Fischer said. About half of the group was made up of families. They came from Mexico through unauthorized and treacherous points along the border, while official border crossings have remained closed under the Title 42 public health policy, a pandemic-era policy used to expel immigrants.

“This was the final stage of what was a harrowing journey for them,” she said. “Particularly the trip upward to the border is quite dangerous and violent. Then, of course, the chaos at the border and in border facilities there are reports of it being cold and cruel. So many of them were really happy to arrive to smiling faces.”

Michael Kranish and Cleve Wootson contributed to this report.

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US

A prolonged winter storm delivers power outages, snarled travel and frigid temperatures on Christmas Day

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CNN
 — 

A nearly weeklong winter storm blasting much of the US has plunged temperatures to life-threatening lows, brought blizzards and floods, and left more than a quarter million people without power on Christmas Day.

Blizzard conditions continue across the Great Lakes, while frigid cold temperatures grip the eastern two-thirds of the US, with some major cities in the Southeast, Midwest and East Coast recording their coldest Christmas in decades.

Large areas of the central and eastern US remain under wind chill warnings and advisories, as freeze warnings are in effect across the South.

New York City saw record cold temperatures on Christmas Eve at several locations, including its JFK and LaGuardia airports. The high at Central Park was 15 degrees, marking its second-coldest December 24 in at least 150 years, according to the National Weather Service.

At least 22 deaths have been attributed to dangerous weather conditions since Wednesday, and some residents in the Northeast are spending the holiday without sufficient heat or hot water as extremely cold temperatures persist.

Across the US, 275,856 homes and businesses in the US had no electricity service as of 1 a.m. ET, many of them in Maine and New York, according to PowerOutage.us. Since the start of the storm the number of outages has at times exceeded a million customers.

A power grid operator for at least 13 states in the country’s eastern half asked customers to conserve power and set thermostats lower than usual from early Saturday to 10 a.m. on Sunday because usage was straining capacity.

The operator, PJM Interconnection, serves about 65 million people in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia, and warned rolling blackouts could happen if the strain becomes too much.

In New York, utility companies Con Edison and Natural Grid US also urged customers to conserve energy, citing extreme weather conditions and increased energy demand on interstate pipelines carrying natural gas into the city.

Meanwhile, a shortage of electricity in Texas prompted the US Department of Energy to declare an emergency Friday, allowing the state’s energy provider to exceed environmental emissions standards until energy usage drops.

In Jackson, Mississippi, frigid temperatures are hampering efforts to repair a large water main break late Saturday, which has caused a loss in water pressure for residents, city officials said.

“We are grateful to the crews who are braving these frigid temperatures on this Christmas Eve night, while working to restore pressure to residents. Their sacrifice does not go unnoticed and is appreciated not only by this administration, but also by every resident who is affected,” the release stated.

The brutal weather conditions have also snarled travel during the busy holiday weekend, with more than 5,000 flights canceled Friday, more than 3,400 flights canceled Saturday, and more than 1,000 canceled for Christmas Day.

Conditions on the road weren’t any better in parts of the country amid whiteout conditions and icy and snow-covered roadways.

In New York’s Erie County – which is seeing blistering blizzard conditions – about 500 motorists found themselves stranded in their vehicles Friday night into Saturday morning, despite a county driving ban put in place during the storm, according to County Executive Mark Poloncarz.

National Guard troops were called in to help “rescue people that are stuck in vehicles,” and to give rides to medical workers so they could relieve colleagues who had been working at hospitals for more than a day, Poloncarz said.

In Seattle, Washington, online videos have documented cars sliding on the icy roads and bumping into each and residents slipping as they walked on sidewalks, CNN affiliate KOMO reported.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Saturday she will ask the federal government “for a declaration of emergency that’ll allow us to seek reimbursements for the extraordinary expenses of all the overtime and the fact that we brought in mutual aid from other parts of the state.”

New York’s three storm-related deaths were reported in Erie County. Two died in separate incidents Friday night when emergency medical personnel could not get to their homes in time for medical emergencies, Poloncarz said Saturday morning. Details about the third death, confirmed by a county spokesperson Saturday afternoon, weren’t immediately available.

“The loss of two lives in Buffalo – storm related – because people were not able to get to medical attention, is again a crisis situation that unfolds before your eyes and you realize that lifesaving ambulances and emergency medical personnel cannot get to people during a blizzard situation,” Hochul added.

Other storm-related deaths have been reported in the country. They include:

• Colorado: Police in Colorado Springs, Colorado, reported two deaths related to the cold since Thursday, with one man found near a power transformer of a building possibly looking for warmth, and another in a camp in an alleyway.

• Kansas: Three people have died in weather-related traffic accidents, the Kansas Highway Patrol said Friday.

• Kentucky: Three people have died in the state, officials have said, including one involving a vehicle accident in Montgomery County.

• Missouri: One person died after a caravan slid off an icy road and into a frozen creek, Kansas City police said.

• Ohio: Eight people have died as a result of weather-related auto accidents, including four in a Saturday morning crash on Interstate 75, when a semi tractor-trailer crossed the median and collided with an SUV and a pickup, authorities said.

• Tennessee: The Tennessee Department of Health on Friday confirmed one storm-related fatality.

• Wisconsin: Wisconsin State Patrol on Thursday reported one fatal crash due to winter weather.

In pictures: Winter storm impacts the US


The storm system is forecast to gradually weaken as it lifts into southeastern Canada, moving slowly during the next couple of days and pulling arctic air from Canada down into much of the eastern side of the country.

The Arctic blast being felt across the eastern two-thirds of the nation will slowly moderate into Monday, but dangerous conditions will persist Christmas Day.

The cold temperatures combined with dangerous wind chills will create a potentially life-threatening hazard for travelers who become stranded, people who work outside, livestock and pets, according to the National Weather Service.

“In some areas, being outdoors could lead to frostbite in minutes,” the Weather Service warned.

As the frigid air continues to blast the warm waters of the Great Lakes, lake-effect snows and blizzard conditions are expected to continue, but slowly become less intense.

Still, strong gusty winds initially up to 60 mph accompanying the snow downwind from the Great Lakes will continue to make for extremely dangerous conditions on the road.

By Christmas night into Monday, another low pressure system coming from the Pacific will deliver the next surge of moisture toward the Pacific Northwest and then into northern California, according to the Weather Service.



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Business

PJM urges customers to conserve electricity due to frigid temperatures

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VALLEY FORGE, Pennsylvania (WPVI) — Frigid temperatures are having an effect on the power grid.

PJM Interconnection, the local electricity grid operator, is asking customers to conserve energy starting Saturday at 4 a.m. through Sunday at 10 a.m.

Electricity use right now is higher than usual and officials say conservation is important to prevent any power outages.

PJM says some steps you can take to conserve electricity are setting your thermostat lower than usual, if your health permits. Another option is avoid using major appliances like stoves, dishwashers and dryers, and turning off non-essential electric lights and equipment.

PJM says this will ensure adequate power supplies during these frigid temperatures.

PJM Interconnection is the electricity grid operator for 65 million people in 13 states and the District of Columbia.

They will continue to monitor power supply conditions and will do everything possible to keep power flowing.

If necessary, PJM states that they will reduce voltage.

Copyright © 2022 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.

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US

Heavy rain, flash freeze and frigid cold: Wild weather on the way for D.C. area

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While a powerful storm system spawns a blizzard in the Great Lakes region, it will bring a volatile stretch of weather to the D.C. area. The system’s biggest impact will be the brutally cold air that will barge through the region Friday morning. If any snow showers come through or the pavement is wet, roads could rapidly freeze, causing icy travel in the region.

Before that, the region will see primarily rain, although our colder locations may see a very brief wintry mix on the storm’s front end Thursday morning. Winter weather advisories have been issued for western Loudoun and Frederick counties, as well as locations west of that for the potential of less than 1 inch of snow and a light coating of ice.

The rain could be heavy at times, prompting a flood watch from the National Weather Service from Thursday morning to Thursday night.

Winter storm to trigger dangerous blizzard, high winds and Arctic cold

After the soaking rain on Thursday will come a wintry shock. A mega-cold front will blast the region Friday morning causing temperatures near 40 to plummet toward the teens by evening. This Arctic assault will set up the region’s most frigid December weather since at least 2004 and the coldest Christmas since 1989.

Here’s what to expect into the weekend:

  • This is a long-duration event, including heavy rain Thursday followed by a rapid drop in temperatures Friday and frigid weather over the weekend.
  • Slick spots are possible Thursday morning, primarily well west and north of the city.
  • Rain will fall most of Thursday and will be heavy at times midday through the evening.
  • A major cold front will pass through Friday morning, sending temperatures backward 35 to 40 degrees in 24 hours, and possibly leading to snow showers and a flash freeze.
  • It will be the coldest two-day Christmas holiday since 1989, with wind chills near zero Christmas Eve morning.

Most of the precipitation Thursday will be rain. Rainfall totals of about 1.5 inches should be common across the D.C. area, with some spots near 2 inches.

4 a.m. to 7 a.m. Thursday: Precipitation should begin to arrive from the west, moving into areas mainly west of Interstate 95. A very light glaze of ice is possible, mainly in elevated areas far west and north of the Beltway, perhaps following a coating of snow.

7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday: Rain should overtake the rest of the area, with some spotty freezing rain west. It may take until late morning to get temperatures above 32 degrees west of Route 15 (from Warrenton to Leesburg to Frederick). Temperatures are expected to rise through the 30s elsewhere, with rain increasing in coverage and intensity through early afternoon.

1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday: Frequent periods of rain should persist, heavy at times. There could be a rumble of thunder. Temperatures are expected to rise to near 40 degrees in our colder areas to the northwest to the mid-50s to the south and southeast. There may be strong winds, with gusts of 40 mph.

7 p.m. Thursday to 7 a.m. Friday: It’s expected to turn showery late evening, and winds should ease slightly. Much of the overnight could be dry, but showers are a growing risk toward dawn. Temperatures should remain mild into the overnight before cooling toward 40 degrees by sunrise.

We’ll likely awaken to temperatures near 40 degrees on Friday, and that may be as high as they get for a while. Between about 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., an Arctic front will sweep through, with increasing winds and plummeting temperatures.

“Onset of strong winds with the front’s arrival could be quite sudden and dramatic,” Capital Weather Gang severe weather expert Jeff Halverson said. “With the ground very wet from the rain, isolated treefalls and spotty power outages are possible.”

During the transition, some snow or mixed precipitation may fall. Any lingering wet spots on paved surfaces could ice over.

“Weather models have been advertising the potential for snow showers behind the front,” said Wes Junker, CWG winter weather expert. “Even without any snows showers, puddles on roads are likely to freeze, so there could be slick spots.”

If there is any snow as the front passes, the chance for icy roads increases, Junker said. If the front comes through without precipitation, strong winds could help dry out pavements before they have the chance to freeze.

By early afternoon, wind chills should plunge to the single digits and teens in most areas because of wind gusts between 40 and 50 mph. Temperatures will rapidly drop through the 20s during the afternoon.

Gusts should ease somewhat into evening but still blow around 25 mph to 35 mph through Friday night, leading to wind chills near zero. Wind chills into the minus-teens to minus-30s are likely in the mountains to the west.

If you must travel Friday, consider carrying emergency supplies such as blankets, food and water in case of delays.

A frigid Christmas weekend

Under clear skies, lows on Christmas Eve morning are expected to range from about 10 to 15 degrees (maybe a little warmer downtown). Expect afternoon highs of only 20 to 25 degrees with wind chills no higher than the teens.

On Christmas Day, lows will range from the single digits to midteens. Afternoon highs may end up milder than Saturday’s but still only reach the mid- and upper 20s.

It’s close to a guarantee that this will be the coldest two-day Christmas holiday since 1989. That year, the high was 23 with a low of 10 on Christmas Eve, and the high was 29 with a low of 11 on Christmas Day. A few cold records in the region could fall.

If the low temperature dips to at least 16 degrees either Saturday or Sunday, it will match the coldest of 2022.

If it dips to 15 or lower, it would be the coldest since January 2019. Since 2000, only three December days have seen temperatures of 15 degrees or lower, most recently in 2004.

Jason Samenow and Dan Stillman contributed to this report.

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World

Major storm to soak D.C. area before a frigid Christmas weekend

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An explosive storm system is slated to develop in the Washington area late in the workweek, bringing a combination of wind and cold to create the coldest Christmas holiday in several decades.

The storm is expected to track to the west of the Appalachians and into the Great Lakes. The Washington area is primarily in the warm sector of the storm, which will limit wintry weather but mean plenty of rain. The volatile setup should provide plenty of weather action to close out the week.

Blockbuster storm, bitter arctic outbreak to blast U.S. ahead of Christmas

The D.C. area will see its most significant effects from this extreme weather pattern after the cold front passes on the back end of the Great Lakes storm Friday. Temperatures will plummet below freezing and winds will roar, and we can’t rule out some snow showers or flurries. Washingtonians will experience the coldest air of the season so far.

A little wintry mix possible early Thursday

We could see a little wintry precipitation in the region just as the storm system moves into the area Thursday, provided it’s early enough in the day. Even if that happens, any sleet, snow or freezing rain would probably be brief and focused west of the Interstate 95 corridor.

With temperatures mainly above freezing as precipitation arrives, the winter weather potential from this system on the front end seems even less threatening than last Friday’s storm, which mainly produced rain in the area (aside from some freezing rain far west and northwest).

The milder temperatures are mainly the result of high pressure sliding off the northeast coast before the storm arrives, which helps set up a warmer wind flow off the ocean. The storm center is also expected to be more powerful compared with last week’s, which should help deliver plentiful and relatively warm south winds ahead of the Arctic front that won’t arrive until late Friday.

The Baltimore/Washington Weather Service office has western counties of our area under a slight risk of wintry weather Thursday and Friday, but no risk in the immediate area. Anything in the way of significantly disruptive wintry weather should be confined to mountainous areas to our west.

After picking up around 2 inches of rain late last week, another inch or two of rain seems ready to visit late this week.

The heaviest rainfall is most probable between late Thursday and Friday morning. There could even be a rumble of thunder Thursday night or Friday given the warmth and moisture surging north ahead of Friday’s cold front.

Here’s what some recent model runs are showing for precipitation, both in D.C. and the range for the local area in parenthesis.

  • European ECMWF — 0.9 inches (0.75-1.5 inches)
  • American GFS — 0.9 inches (0.75 to 1.5 inches)
  • Canadian GEM — 1.2 inches (1 to 1.5 inches)

Washington has seen 2.41 inches of rain in December compared to 3.41 inches as an average for the entire month. The next storm should push the city near and above normal for precipitation this December.

How much temperatures will drop and when

Friday is setting up to be a wild day for temperatures locally. Readings soaring into the mid-50s to around 60 seem a good bet east of the Blue Ridge in the morning, as the storm center swirls through the Great Lakes and a strong cold front approaches the region.

Current weather modeling suggests the front passes Washington in the midday, and temperatures immediately plummet rapidly in its wake. Numbers could fall off to and below freezing in western parts of the area during the afternoon, then in D.C. and east by sundown or so.

As cold air rushes into the area, it will quickly cool enough for any precipitation left behind the front to become snow. There probably won’t be much falling at this point, but some flurries, snow showers or a brief snow squall could blow by. Under the right conditions, a coating or so could fall in spots.

By Friday night, the region is looking at wind chills as least as cold as the single digits locally and below zero in northern Maryland, as well as elevation off to our west.

Winds may briefly gust near 50 mph as the cold front moves through Friday, which may lead to downed trees and power outages given the wet ground. Gusts of 30 to 40 mph could be common into the evening. Winds will probably drop to the 20-plus range by later Friday night.

Given gusts of 20 to 30 mph Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, wind chills will likely stay brutal through the weekend. Single digits will persist on Saturday, with teens more likely Sunday.

Coldest Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in decades

On Christmas Eve morning, low temperatures will hit the midteens to low 20s without rising much during the day. Afternoon highs of mid-20s to near 30 seem a decent target for now.

It will be even colder Christmas morning, with minimum temperatures ranging from about 10 to 20. Afternoon values may be a touch less frozen than Saturday, but the area should remain at or below 32 for a second straight day, with highs in the upper 20s and low 30s.

Average temperatures for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be 47 for a high and 33 for a low in the city.

The last time both were in the 30s was back in 2004. To find the last time temperatures didn’t rise above freezing on either day, we look back to 1999. Right now, 2022 looks like the coldest for the two-day holiday since 1989, when highs reached 23 on Christmas Eve and 29 on Christmas Day.

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US

A frigid, snowy pattern could invade the U.S. during Christmas week

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Weather models are in strong agreement that blasts of frigid air will plunge into the northern Plains, Midwest and eastern United States in the days leading up to Christmas. Some of this air — 30 or more degrees below average — might be the coldest in late December in at least two decades.

At the same time, there are increasing odds of significant winter storminess in the eastern half of the nation between Wednesday and Christmas Eve. While far from a lock, Mother Nature may deliver a white Christmas for a swath of the Midwest and eastern United States.

See how much snow your hometown gets for the holidays

The frigid weather and possibility of snow will coincide with a peak time for holiday travelers.

At roughly a week out, it’s not possible to forecast exactly where a storm might form and what areas will see snow or rain or remain dry. But between Dec. 22 and 24, the chance of a significant storm between the Midwest and East Coast is above normal.

The primary setup for our potential outbreak of wintry weather involves strong high pressure building over the eastern Pacific Ocean toward the Alaska Aleutian Islands.

That high acts as a force field, deflecting the jet stream around it. The jet — which separates frigid and more mild air — will bulge toward the Arctic Circle in central North America before crashing southward over the central and eastern United States.

We can glance at a model of the trajectories of air parcels in the atmosphere for clues about the origins of next week’s air mass. If we run the model for Christmas Eve in the Midwest, it traces the air back to Nunavut, Canada, between the Northwest Passages and Baffin Bay, adjacent to Greenland.

The initial blast of cold will drive southward into the northern Rockies and northern Plains on Monday and Tuesday, reaching the Great Lakes Tuesday into Wednesday. Some of the coldest areas near the border with Canada could see temperatures 30 to 40 degrees below normal, meaning highs around minus-10 and lows from minus-20 to minus-30. Subzero temperatures could reach as far south as the central Plains.

The core of the cold will probably remain over the north central United States through midweek, although temperatures 10 to 20 degrees below normal could reach parts of the South and the eastern United States late in the workweek.

A second, reinforcing blast of cold may dive into the northern Plains and Upper Midwest Wednesday and Thursday, pushing frigid air even farther south and east. Minneapolis should expect lows well below zero while Chicago may see highs only in the teens for much of the second half of next week.

By Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, much of the eastern half of the country may see temperatures 10 to 30 degrees below normal.

There are signs a third shot of frigid air could enter the northern Plains around Christmas Day before barreling south and eastward about 10 days from now.

The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center places high odds of below average temperatures in the central and eastern states both 6 to 10 and 8 to 14 days into the future.

The potential for snowfall will stretch from the Plains to the East Coast during the second half of next week. Here’s what we know:

  • Central states: As the jet stream dives south over the Plains, a disturbance embedded within that flow could cause some snow to break out over the central and northern Plains before sweeping across the Midwest and Tennessee and Ohio valleys. The exact of track of any disturbance is still unclear, as is the location of the rain/snow transition line; the timing would probably be around Wednesday into Thursday.
  • Mid-Atlantic and Northeast: The disturbance that could bring snow to the central states could evolve into a major East Coast storm. It would have plenty of jet stream energy to feed off and could draw abundant moisture from the Atlantic Ocean. However, it’s still highly uncertain if and where a coastal storm might form and what areas will be hardest hit. The timing of this storm would probably be between Thursday and Christmas Eve.

It’s important to remember the approximate timeline with which meteorologists can cast predictions — understanding that the first blast of cold is still three days away and the possibility of a storm five to seven days away:

At seven to 10 days in advance, forecasters can identify large-scale patterns favorable for cold (or warm) air outbreaks and big storms. That means estimating the approximate shape of the jet stream, which would offer insight into temperature trends — and where storms might form.

At five to seven days in advance, forecasters can start estimating temperature differences from normal. That’s why they can say, for instance, that the impending air mass over the Plains has the potential to be 30 degrees or more colder than average. They can also begin spotting the ingredients needed to make a storm — but can’t tell yet whether they’ll overlap just right.

At three to five days in advance, forecasters can provide a prediction of high and low temperatures with adequate accuracy for planning purposes. They can also tell if a storm will form, and gauge roughly how strong it will be. They might also be able to determine where, within 100 miles or so in either direction, a storm will track. They can’t yet reliably give forecasts of specific rain or snow totals because small shifts in the track could markedly change those amounts.

At one to two days in advance, forecasters know where the storm will go, about how much rain or snow will fall, how bad the winds will be, and how long it will last. They can provide specific snowfall forecasts and guidance for planning purposes.

On the day of, forecasters can identify “mesoscale” influences, or gauge how smaller-scale (about the size of a few counties) features will locally affect conditions. That might mean pinpointing where a 10-mile-wide stubborn snow band will set up, or where the greatest tornado risk of an afternoon might be.

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US

After a frigid Tuesday, a warmup is coming, followed by more bitter cold

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“We have another shot of arctic air coming in here later Friday and Saturday. … It’s going to be very similar to what we saw” Tuesday, said Hayden Frank, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norton. “It may be a little bit windier, so wind chills may actually be lower late Friday night into Saturday morning.”

Saturday will remain very cold, with a high in Boston of about 15 degrees and a low temperature that night around 8 degrees, before highs rise into the 30s again Sunday and remain there for the next few days, forecasters predicted.

The coming warmup, however short-lived, will be a welcome return to normal for area residents, who faced bitter cold Tuesday as the wind chill in Boston dropped to as low as 13 degrees below zero.

Motorists and pedestrians in downtown Boston were told Tuesday to avoid the section of Milk Street between Broad and India streets because a water main broke around 6 a.m. Subfreezing temperatures were the likely cause of the break, which resulted in water surfacing on the roadways, according to Tom Bagley, a spokesman for the Boston Water and Sewer Commission.

The work continued into the evening but was expected to be completed before the night was over, Bagley said.

“We’re in the trench now, trying to put the section together, and hopefully have the water online by about 8 o’clock this evening,” he said shortly after 6 p.m. He said workers would begin restoring the roadway on Wednesday, Bagley said.

A wind chill advisory was in effect until 4 p.m. for portions of Worcester, Franklin, Hampshire, Middlesex, and Hampden counties, as wind chills plunged to nearly 20 below zero.

“The cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes,” the advisory said. “Use caution while traveling outside. Wear appropriate clothing, a hat, and gloves.”

A water main break on Milk Street between Broad and India streets in Boston on Tuesday.Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff

It was 13 degrees at Logan International Airport at 1:54 p.m. Tuesday, and the wind chill was negative 3 degrees. In Fitchburg the temperature was 11 degrees at 2:52 p.m. and the wind chill was negative 2 degrees.

At the Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire, the temperature dropped to 30 degrees below zero, frigid enough that a weather observer there was able to freeze a dish of spaghetti with a fork hovering inches above the plate, suspended by frozen noodles. Posted to Twitter, the image had been shared 400 times by evening.

The frigid temperatures made travel more dangerous, and Massachusetts State Police reminded people to be prepared before venturing outdoors.

“Motorists should make sure they have adequate gas, charged phone & blankets/extra jackets in case they break down & have to wait for help,” State Police tweeted. “Also-it’s against law to keep pets tethered outdoors in these conditions. Pls don’t leave them in a parked car either.”

Students at the Cambridgeport School at 89 Elm St. in Cambridge had to be evacuated and put on buses Tuesday morning as firefighters put out a small fire at the school.

“Students have been relocated to @MBTA & city school buses to shelter from the extreme cold,” Cambridge fire officials tweeted. “Students not picked up here will temporarily relocate to the HS field house.”

Emily Sweeney can be reached at emily.sweeney@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @emilysweeney. Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeremycfox.



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Science

Mars helicopter: NASA’s Ingenuity rotorcraft survives first frigid night

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Jezero Crater, an ancient lake bed on Mars and the current site of the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter, can drop to temperatures of minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s low enough to do significant damage to the helicopter’s electrical and battery components.

The 4-pound helicopter finally separated on April 3 from the belly of the Perseverance rover, where it has been stashed since before the rover launched from Earth in July.

Ingenuity went through a series of movements to unfold from beneath the rover, which looked like the metamorphosis of a butterfly, before dropping the final 4 inches to the Martian surface.

“This is the first time that Ingenuity has been on its own on the surface of Mars,” said MiMi Aung, Ingenuity project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, in a statement. “But we now have confirmation that we have the right insulation, the right heaters, and enough energy in its battery to survive the cold night, which is a big win for the team. We’re excited to continue to prepare Ingenuity for its first flight test.”

When Ingenuity does fly, which could happen as soon as April 11, it will be the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. In a nod to the first such feat conducted on Earth, Ingenuity carries a swatch of fabric from the Wright brothers’ plane, Flyer 1.

Ingenuity, the first rotorcraft sent to Mars, presented a challenge to the engineers who designed it for several reasons. It needed to be small enough to tuck up under the rover without endangering Perseverance’s mission, which is the first to search for evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars.

Ingenuity also had to be lightweight in order to fly through the Martian atmosphere, which has just 1% of the atmosphere present on Earth, while still having enough power to heat itself and survive the frigid Martian nights. The thin nature of the atmosphere on Mars makes it harder to generate lift and get aloft.

Soon after Perseverance deposited Ingenuity in the center of its airfield, the rover backed away from the helicopter. This allowed the helicopter’s solar array to gather critical sunlight.

Perseverance sent back images of the helicopter’s four legs sitting on the surface on April 4. The helicopter’s blades, currently stacked in alignment on top of each other, will be released on April 7, and the mission team on Earth will send commands to the helicopter to “wiggle” the blades.

The helicopter also needs to go through some checkouts of its computers, which will help Ingenuity autonomously fly through the Martian atmosphere.

Now that Ingenuity isn’t borrowing power and heat from the rover, the helicopter will send back information on the performance of its power and thermal control systems over the next two days. This will allow the helicopter team to configure the settings necessary to make sure Ingenuity survives the next 30 days of its mission.

Ingenuity is a technology demonstration, which means that its mission is short compared to the rover’s two-year plan to explore Jezero Crater. Now that the helicopter is on the Martian surface, it has 31 Earth days, or 30 Martian sols, to conduct up to five test flights.

During the first flight, the helicopter will attempt to rise about 10 feet (3 meters) in the air from the middle of its flat 33-by-33-foot (10-by-10-meter) airfield, make a turn and touch back down. The trial should last for about 30 seconds. Future flights will test the helicopter’s ability to fly higher and longer.

Meanwhile, the Perseverance rover will sit on a nearby overlook and observe the flight, capturing images, video and audio. Those will reach Earth in the days after the first flight.

Once Ingenuity’s journey comes to an end, the rover will focus on its science mission and begin studying rocks and collecting samples that will be returned to Earth by future missions.

“Our 30-sol test schedule is frontloaded with exciting milestones,” said Teddy Tzanetos, deputy operations lead for the Ingenuity Mars helicopter at JPL, in a statement. “Whatever the future holds, we will acquire all the flight data we can within that timeframe.”

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