One of the worst winter storms to hit the US | World | T.W.

More than 5,000 flights were canceled across the U.S. on Thursday (12.22.2022) as major winter storm Elliott upended holiday travel plans with a triple threat of heavy snow, hurricane-force winds and extreme cold.

Several states have declared states of emergency, including New York, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Georgia and North Carolina. This cold front is expected to reach South Texas.

There were reports of snow-covered roads from all over the country and the media reported countless accidents.

The winter storm, described as “erratic” by meteorologists, affected the Midwestern part of the country, with freezing temperatures as it moved northeast.

Dangerously cold Arctic air of historic proportions is expected to bring heavy rain, followed by snow on the East Coast and wind gusts of 100 km/h, bringing extreme cold to the border with Mexico, the National Weather Service said. National Weather Service (NWS).

Biden: “This is a very serious weather warning”

President Joe Biden warned Americans to take the storm “very seriously” and to follow the recommendations of officials.

“This is actually a very severe weather warning. And it goes from Oklahoma to Wyoming and from Wyoming to Maine. And there are real consequences, so I encourage everyone to follow local advisories,” he told reporters. The Oval Office.

Biden insisted that this was not like a normal snow day, but a “serious one,” while revealing that his administration had attempted to contact the 26 governors of the affected states.

Threatened Christmas holidays

According to the FlightAware website, 2,400 flights to or from the United States have been canceled this Thursday, and another 2,300 flights have been canceled tomorrow, Friday.

Chicago’s O’Hare, Chicago Midway and Denver airports were hit hardest by the cancellations.

Airlines have indicated that snow, icy winds and low temperatures could affect travel from Seattle on the nation’s west coast to Boston in the northeast or North Carolina in the south.

“Dangerous” temperature.

In its latest update Thursday, the NWS predicted a “major freak storm” for the weekend with snow, strong winds and “dangerous” low temperatures.

The NWS indicated that there will be “unprecedented dangerously cold air” reaching the Ohio and Tennessee valleys from the Arctic front.

According to local media, temperatures as low as -59 °F (-50 °C) have been reached in northern Idaho, while some of the nation’s major cities will face extreme conditions of -34 °F (-36 0.6 °C) on Friday ) Chicago, Illinois, Minneapolis, Minnesota -32 °F (-35°C), and -21°F (-29°C) in Denver, Colorado.

The weather event will cover watersheds in the northern Great Basin, parts of Nevada, Utah and California, Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming, the northern Midwest, the Great Lakes and the central and northern Appalachians.

The NWS said there will be “unprecedented dangerously cold air” from the arctic front reaching the Ohio and Tennessee valleys tonight.

Even a country like Canada, accustomed to snow and low winter temperatures, is facing unusually severe cold to hit the western provinces, and the snow is expected to spread eastward with more snow and wind in the coming hours.

jc (efe, CTV News Ottawa, The Washington Post, Reuters, NBC5)