Within the country there is a temperature gradient of more than 50 degrees Celsius, the broadcaster CNN reported.
Accordingly, temperatures down to minus 22 degrees Celsius were measured in the northern US states of Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota on Wednesday. In the south, on the other hand, the thermometer climbed up to 30 degrees and broke several heat records for this time of year.
According to CNN, weather warnings for more than 65 million people in 29 states were due to the winter storm on Wednesday. The north-east of the country was particularly affected. In Minnesota, several major roads were closed due to heavy snowstorms and poor visibility, it said. According to the website poweroutage.us, the power went out at times in more than 700,000 households in the states of Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin on Thursday night. The US Weather Service also warned of heavy snowfalls, strong winds and accumulating ice in the north and north-east of the USA for Thursday.
On the west coast, the cold front had already made itself felt in the past few days with sharply falling temperatures and stormy winds. According to CNN, strong gusts knocked down trees and power poles in California. On the night of Thursday, tens of thousands of people were also without electricity there. At the end of the week, heavy snowfall is to be expected in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada and also in lower-lying areas near the Pacific coast, the weather service warned.
Further south, on the other hand, temperatures of over 26 degrees would be reached on Thursday, well above the normal values for this time of year. According to scientists, climate change is exacerbating drought, heat and extreme weather.
