A powerful winter storm is set to sweep across much of the United States this weekend, bringing potentially record-breaking cold, heavy snow and ice that forecasters warn could cause hazardous conditions, power outages and travel disruptions.
The National Weather Service said the storm is expected to bring “widespread heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain” from the southern Rockies and the plains into the mid-south on Friday, before spreading east to the mid-Atlantic and New England areas this weekend. The impact in New England could linger into Monday.
As of Thursday afternoon, over 160 million Americans were under winter hazards associated with the impending storm. The agency warned of “significant and damaging ice accumulations” and the potential for power outages, tree damage and dangerous travel conditions. “Extremely cold air behind the storm will prolong hazardous travel and infrastructure impacts,” it added.
Officials are warning of bitterly cold temperatures and dangerously cold windchill that could pose a “life-threatening risk of hypothermia and frostbite to exposed skin”. In New York, between 8 and 16 inches of snow is expected for parts of the region, with the heaviest snow likely on Sunday into Sunday evening.
Governors in several states, including South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Arkansas, Virginia, Louisiana, North Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland, have declared states of emergency or a “state of preparedness” to activate emergency response resources. Meteorologist Alex Lamers told the New York Times that the storm was “likely to affect about half the US population with accumulating ice, sleet or snow”.
