View of a school bus during freezing weather. Many routes have been canceled by schools due to the prevailing weather conditions, on 11 January, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Photo: ARTUR WIDAK
Tens of millions of Americans were in the pathway of dangerous and damaging weather conditions as snowstorms moved across the Northwest and Midwest, flooding threatened the East Coast and potential tornadoes were on tap in the South.
Airlines cancelled or delayed more than 7,500 flights across the US on Friday, including planes grounded at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport due to winds and blinding snow. In Iowa, Republican presidential candidates cancelled events three days out from the state's caucuses, the first of the state-by-state contests in which parties pick their nominees ahead of this year's general election.
Blizzards arrived in much of the upper Midwest on Friday morning with heavy snows and fierce winds of up to 96km/h that were expected to continue into Saturday, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned.
"This storm system is definitely dangerous," said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the NWS's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. The service cautioned against unnecessary travel, noting that visibility on some roads in Chicago was less than half a mile.
Taylor warned of risks of frostbite and hypothermia in Iowa, where temperatures for most of the state were forecast to drop to -18C. The forecast for Monday in Des Moines, the state capital, was a low of -28C. Temperatures for Monday's caucuses, which entail long meetings in churches and school gyms, are expected to be the coldest on record for that political event.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, a former ambassador and South Carolina governor, cancelled all three campaign events planned for Friday, substituting them for phone-in events.
Fred Schuster, 68, braved Friday morning's blizzard to watch Ron DeSantis, Florida's governor, campaign in Ankeny, Iowa.
"I am worried about the weather," Schuster said. "I think it's going to impact how many people attend the caucuses."
Officials cancelled a planned rally in Pella, Iowa, for supporters of Donald Trump, who is seeking a second White House term after losing 2020's election.
There were more than 130,000 power outages across five states including Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Arkansas and Tennessee, according to the tracking site PowerOutage.us.
By midmorning on Saturday, there could be three to six inches (15 to 30cm) of snow in downtown Chicago. Throughout Friday, as the snow falls, strong winds could bring whiteout conditions.
Chicago Public Schools remained open while dozens of other districts across the metro region cancelled in-person classes for the day.
The snow and wind caused more than 1200 flights to be cancelled or delayed in and out of O'Hare International Airport on Friday morning, according to FlightAware.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is expected to receive some of the heaviest snow as the blizzard will drop 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45cm), with wind gusts up to 64km/h through the weekend.
Western New York, including Buffalo, could get more than a foot of snow. But after this system pushes east, "lake-effect" snow could bring several more inches through Monday to the Buffalo area.
Another 13 million people who live near the Atlantic Ocean or large waterways in Virginia north into New England were under the threat of flooding from heavy rains and snows over the past few days.
To the south in Mississippi, some 3 million people were under the threat of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms as the NWS warned that the winds of up to 96km/h could damage roofs and take down trees and power lines.
A winter storm system was also hitting the Pacific Northwest on Friday, and tracking through the Central Rockies with heavy snow that could drop "a couple feet of snow" at the higher elevations over the weekend, Taylor said.
- This story was first published by Reuters