From this Friday through the weekend, a powerful winter storm is sweeping across the United States from the Midwest to the East Coast, expected to have a significant impact on approximately 150 million Americans. The National Weather Service (NWS) warns that this storm will bring heavy snow, freezing rain, and extreme low temperatures not seen since 2021, affecting about 24 states across the country.
As the storm progresses, the U.S. aviation industry is preparing for a large-scale disruption. According to data from the travel booking app Hopper, over 15,000 flights are expected to be delayed.
Dan DePodwin, Vice President of Business Forecasting at AccuWeather, stated, “This is likely to result in thousands of flight cancellations on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.”
Even hubs on the West Coast like Denver and Minneapolis, which are far from the center of the storm, may experience delays due to the domino effect.
To address potential chaos, major airlines, including Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines, and JetBlue Airways, have issued widespread travel waivers, allowing affected passengers to change their flight itineraries without fees under certain conditions and within specified timeframes.
In addition, Frontier Airlines has stated that passengers can apply for refunds if domestic flights are canceled or delayed more than 3 hours, and international flights more than 6 hours. Spirit Airlines announced for trips involving 13 cities from January 23 to 25, there will be no change fees or fare differences.
Some airlines, such as Delta, have already preemptively canceled flights in parts of northern Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee.
This arctic cold blast from Canada will drive temperatures to dangerous levels in many areas. Brian Hurley, a meteorologist at the Forecasting Center of the National Weather Service, stated, “Due to the extreme cold in the north and this storm, half of the U.S. population is under some form of weather alert.”
In Chicago, the lowest temperatures are expected to drop to -2°F on Friday and Saturday, with wind chill making it feel like -30°F (-34°C).
James Martin, store manager at J.C. Licht Ace Hardware in River North, a hardware store in Chicago, noted that space heaters have been in high demand this week as a response to the cold.
Humorously describing the locals’ coping mechanism, being a Chicagoan himself, he quipped, “We move fast. We put on layers, and more layers, and then more layers. And then we ask ourselves, ‘Why do we still live here?'”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has declared a state of emergency throughout the state, mobilizing additional personnel to monitor power supplies and assist stranded residents, urging residents to closely monitor road conditions.
Cities like New York, Boston, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. are expected to see 4 to 10 inches of wet snow. Trees and branches may collapse due to ice accumulation, causing power outages.
Snowfall in the Appalachian region and mountainous areas of West Virginia could reach 20 inches.
Meteorologists warn that in more southern regions, the main risk will be ice accumulation. From central Virginia to northern Texas, states in the southeastern U.S. could experience up to half an inch of ice accumulation.
Agricultural meteorologists suggest that the heavy snowfall may benefit dormant winter wheat in Oklahoma. According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report released on Thursday, 23% of the state is facing severe drought conditions.
However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) stated in Wednesday’s daily weather brief that the sudden temperature drop after the storm may pose a risk of cold damage to wheat fields lacking snow cover, with the ice and snow in the south and extreme cold in the north putting significant pressure on livestock survival.
For public safety, New York State has activated the “Code Blue” program, requiring social service agencies to extend shelter hours to ensure that the homeless have a place to stay.
Meteorologists anticipate that the core of this storm will gradually depart the affected areas from Sunday evening into early Monday morning.