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(CNN) A strong arctic gust is dropping temperatures to dangerous levels across much of the United States, and a “bomb cyclone” in the making is poised to unleash heavy snow and blizzards, especially in the Midwest this Thursday and Friday, a combination that makes the days before Christmas dangerous.
Cold air and the storm are affecting nearly every state in some way: More than 110 million people from coast to coast were under winter weather watches for snow or icy conditions Thursday morning, the National Weather Service said.
And more than 90 million people were under wind chill alerts from the Canadian border to the Mexican border and from Washington state to Florida, with sub-zero temperatures recorded as far as south Texas as of Thursday morning and expected to arrive in the southeast this Friday.
Bomb cyclone in the US: more than 1,000 flights have been canceled due to bad weather
“Potentially deadly wind chills over the Great Plains will spread across the eastern half of the nation by Friday,” the Weather Prediction Center said, and wind chills below -10 degrees Celsius have already been reported in recent two days in parts of Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming.
Some records for low temperatures were set in the West and South this Thursday morning, in some cases with unprecedented speed: Denver International Airport experienced a drop of 2.7 degrees Celsius in one hour on Wednesday, the most recorded drop in an hour there, according to the National Weather Service.
Temperatures drop as a strong winter storm hits the US, disrupting travel and prompting emergency declarations
Meanwhile, snow has been battering parts of the west and is expected to fall in the next two days across much of the eastern half of the country.
A major snowstorm is coming especially for the Midwest and Great Lakes with widespread light to moderate snowfall, but powerful winds that can make travel conditions impossible.
“Heavy snowfall rates” of 2 to 5 centimeters per hour, “along with wind gusts in excess of 80 km/h will result in near-zero visibility and considerable wind and drifting snow,” the center said. of prediction.
The storm is expected to become a “bomb cyclonic” — a rapidly strengthening storm that drops a certain amount of pressure within 24 hours — Thursday night through Friday, reaching hurricane-equivalent pressure of category 2 as you move towards the Great Lakes. This might be “a once-in-a-generation type of event,” a meteorologist with the weather service’s office in Buffalo wrote Tuesday, following noting that such strengthening doesn’t happen often in the lower Great Lakes.
Nearly 2,000 flights were canceled in the US on Thursday, according to flight tracking site FlightAware, hampering air travel amid the busy holiday season.
A “once-in-a-generation” winter storm will affect almost every US state and paralyze Christmas travel
In South Dakota, a 547 km stretch of Interstate 90 was closed in both directions Thursday morning, from Rapid City to Sioux Falls, due to blizzard-like conditions, authorities said. Near zero visibility also caused the closure of many highways between Colorado and Wyoming on Wednesday.
Even Florida won’t be spared, with residents of the Sunshine State expected to see sudden drops in temperatures this Friday. Some southern cities, including Nashville and Memphis, are expected to see snow this Thursday.
Winter storms affect vacation travel 2:03
Meanwhile, flooding is possible in parts of the Northeast, including Washington and Philadelphia, as rain hits the area Thursday before temperatures plummet overnight causing a “flash freeze.”
President Joe Biden received a weather report Thursday morning at the White House from the National Weather Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He encouraged Americans to heed warnings from local officials and stay safe in the extreme cold.
“This is really a very serious weather alert,” Biden said, adding that the White House has contacted 26 governors in the affected regions.
What lies ahead with the cyclone pump
Snow was falling early Thursday followingnoon from Oklahoma to Michigan. Snow and high winds are expected to create terrible travel conditions from eastern Montana and the northern Plains into midwestern and upstate New York. Blizzard warnings, meaning snow and 56 km/h winds will often reduce visibility to less than 0.4 km for at least three hours, went into effect Thursday morning in some of those areas. , including southwestern Minneapolis, southern and eastern Chicago, and western and northern Michigan. Cities like Minneapolis, Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Columbus and Detroit are under winter storm warnings.
More regarding extreme cold
Wind chill warnings, watches and advisories were in effect for more than 30 states from Washington to Florida as of Thursday. The Arctic front will move south into the Gulf of Mexico and sweep up the East Coast by Friday night, bringing cold to the Deep South. Daytime temperatures this Thursday may remain below freezing in the Northern Plains and barely above that in the Central Plains. Areas farther south, Texas and the Gulf Coast, will see temperatures in the single digits and below freezing Thursday night, the Storm Prediction Center said. Officials in several southern states are warning residents to take precautions. Alabama warned that this Thursday and Friday would likely be “the coldest December air mass to hit the state since 1989,” the state’s emergency management agency said. Friday’s lows in that state were expected to range from single digits in the north to 20 in the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards urged residents Thursday to stay in touch with friends and family who may struggle with the frigid temperatures. Lows for Friday and Saturday were expected to be in the sub-10s and 20s there. Two places in Wyoming set records early Thursday for the coldest temperatures ever recorded in a particular place, regardless of the date on the calendar. Those new records are minus 40 degrees Celsius in Casper and minus 33 in Riverton. Other places in the West and South set record lows Thursday for temperatures of any December 22, including several places in Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Arkansas and Washington state.
CNN’s Nouran Salahieh, Allie Malloy, Aya Elamroussi, Michelle Watson, Mike Saenz, Rebekah Riess and Robert Shackelford contributed to this report.
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