Northern regions are preparing for an arctic blast as a Canadian cold front sweeps through the Upper Midwest and an ice storm goes north after wreaking havoc in the South.
A cold front moving from Canada will bring temperatures below zero to the Northeast and New England from Friday morning through Saturday, with wind chills reaching as low as -50 degrees Fahrenheit.
The wind chills could be unprecedentedly cold from late Friday into early Saturday, according to the NWS.
Earlier this week, snow and icy conditions caused 10 deaths in the South, as well as the loss of power to 460,000 people and the cancellation of thousands of flights, including 805 on Thursday alone.
According to FlightAware.com, 120 additional flights inside, into, or out of the United States have been canceled as of Friday, and 356 flights have been delayed.
Together with a cold front from Canada, the arctic blast that destroyed Texas could inflict record low temperatures in the Northeast and New England. Pictured: The Angelina Eberly statue in downtown Austin, Texas is adorned with icicles.
At least ten lives were lost as a result of the frigid temperatures and snowfall in the south. Trucks on an icy road in West Memphis, Arkansas are depicted.
Due to the terrible weather, more than 800 flights were canceled on Thursday alone, with an additional 120 flights canceled as of Friday midnight. Pictured: A flight that was grounded at Dallas Love Field Airport
A cold front from Canada is forecast to reach the Northeast and parts of the Mid-Atlantic on Friday after sweeping across the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest on Thursday.
David Parkinson, a weather producer for CBS News, predicted record-low temperatures in areas of Minnesota on Friday and warned that a third of all Americans will begin their day with frigid winds.
On Friday, about 100 million Americans will wake up to temperatures below 20 degrees, and on Saturday, 140 million will do so.
The NWS predicted record low temperatures for many Northeastern cities. Worcester, Massachusetts was expected to reach negative 10 degrees Fahrenheit; Boston was forecast to reach negative 6 degrees Fahrenheit; and Providence was expected to reach negative 4 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature in Rhode Island is expected to drop to -6 degrees, while New York City is predicted to drop to 9 degrees.
Numerous locations in the Upper Midwest and Northeast are forecast to see record-low temperatures, with the wind chill making it feel considerably colder.
Officials have issued a warning to locals to keep off the streets, as the same winds and snow that wrecked Texas are expected to bring whiteout conditions. Wednesday saw the closure of roadways in Austin as a result of the storm.
The wind chill is anticipated to dip to – 50 degrees below zero in the north.
The weather service predicted snow squalls across the whole Northeast and warned that the accompanying high winds might cause whiteout conditions.
Due to the ‘lake effect’ of the Great Lakes, which amplifies snowfall, the NWS warned that frigid temperatures could be worsened in the North.
The head of meteorological operations at a New Hampshire observatory, Jay Broccolo, warned that Mount Washington might experience 100 mph winds.
“We take safety in the higher summits very seriously,” Broccolo told USA Today, “and this weekend’s forecast is looking pretty rough, even by our standards.”
According to the NWS, while the arctic blast is likely to be powerful, it will be brief, and conditions should begin to improve by Saturday evening.
A cactus is encased in ice after freezing rain dumped up to an inch of ice over Central Texas overnight. The weather in the south will likely continue to improve.
The National Weather Service forecasted that Boston, sections of New York City, Providence, and Worcester, Massachusetts will see record frigid temperatures.
After being pummeled by frigid weather earlier in the week, the South has began to get relief, particularly in Texas, which experienced the majority of power outages and fatalities.
According to PowerOutage, a website that monitors utility statistics, more than 400,000 people in Texas remained without power as of midday on Thursday.
More than 150,000 Austin residents remained without power as of early Thursday morning, more than 24 hours after their electricity and heat went off.
It was the second time in three years that a February freeze produced protracted power disruptions and uncertainty as to when the electricity would be restored.
In contrast to the blackouts in Texas in 2021, in which hundreds of people perished when the state’s system was brought to the brink of utter failure due to a lack of generation, the widespread outages in Austin this time were primarily caused by frozen equipment and trees falling on power lines.
The utility company of the city cautioned that power may not be fully restored until Friday.
As the state tries to repair the damage, Texans found relief and played in the snow and ice after the storm’s worst phase.
The power outage and the extreme cold did inspire some more traditional winter weather shenanigans, as a young girl went viral for her Olympic-level figure skating moves in the Texas winter, and a man took his airboat out for a spin in the extreme weather.
The head of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Pablo Vegas, guaranteed that the state’s electrical infrastructure and natural gas supply would be reliable and that the February 2021 blackouts would not be repeated.
As snow, sleet, and freezing rain continued to move through on Thursday, numerous school districts in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee, as well as those in the Dallas and Austin metropolitan areas, canceled classes.
From the west Texas border with Mexico, through Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana, into western Tennessee and northern Mississippi, winter weather watches and warnings extended.
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