Wind-chill temperatures well below zero have gripped the Plains, freezing temperatures have dipped into the South, blowing snow is making the Great Lakes region look like a shaken snow globe, extreme winds are snarling holiday travel and the cold was knocking at the door of the East Coast on Friday.
“The wind field associated with the bomb cyclone will be expansive,” Greg Carbin and Alex Lamers, meteorologists with the Weather Prediction Center, wrote in an email. “By Friday afternoon, it will be about 2,000 miles across, stretching from the central Plains of the U.S. to Newfoundland in the Canadian Maritimes and from Hudson Bay to Bermuda.”
That enormous wind field will overlap with Arctic air pouring southeast out of Canada, combining to create bitterly cold wind chills, the two of them said.
Some places have seen temperatures drop more than 20 degrees in less than an hour as the edge of the Arctic air pushed through, and forecasters with the Prediction Center said to “expect sudden changes in conditions.”
More than 200 million people — about two-thirds of the U.S. population — are under warnings or advisories for winter weather.
“This storm will likely have increasingly widespread impacts to travel going into the busy holiday travel time late this week,” wrote Robert Oravec, a forecaster with the Prediction Center, along with the potential for power outages from the expected high winds, heavy snows, significant icing and overall increased power consumption in places.
Here’s what to expect on Friday and Saturday.
The Midwest and Interior Northeast
Even with snow coming to an end in parts of the western edge of the Midwest, increasing wind gusts will lead to blowing snow and low visibility Friday.
The deepest snow will be along the southern and western shores of the Great Lakes. Some areas could possibly get two to four feet of snow.
Parts of the Midwest were already experiencing treacherous conditions Thursday evening, as the authorities warned of snow and ice on the roads.
“Road conditions are not good,” said Sgt. Alex Dinkla, a spokesman for the Iowa State Patrol, adding that the authorities had responded to more than 200 crashes between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday evening. In 12 of those crashes, passengers were injured, Sgt. Dinkla said.
Blizzard conditions in some areas, like Buffalo, could last until Saturday evening or even into Sunday.
The winds will be widespread and reaching up to at least 40 miles per hour. Even if little snow has fallen, the wind will whip it around, creating low visibility.
The Coastal Northeast
Ahead of the cold air, rain, wind and coastal flooding will be a big concern Friday morning for areas along the coast.
In Hartford, Conn., the authorities said they were preparing to be pummeled with wind and rain, which could down trees and power lines.
Eversource, an energy company that serves 1.3 million customers in Connecticut, said that with significant damage, up to 380,000 customers in the state could be left without power for between two to six days.
But as the Arctic air moves in during the day Friday, the concern turns to flash freezing, as anything that is still wet could turn to ice.
There is even a small chance that some snow may sneak in as the cold air passes through.
Wind chills on Friday evening, in places like New York City, will fall into the single digits and then will continue to plummet to 5 to 10 below zero Friday night into Saturday morning.
The South
Most of the South will be spared the winter precipitation. However, it won’t escape the cold.
Many areas, even well into the Deep South, could see wind chills in the single digits.
The problem with this cold in the South is that people are not accustomed to it, like people enduring even colder temperatures in the Plains or the Midwest.
“The most vulnerable will be those who have limited shelter, or people in homes with insufficient insulation and heating,” Mr. Carbin and Mr. Lamers said.
High winds have also knocked out power across parts of the region. Early Friday, nearly 100,000 customers in Georgia and more than 60,000 customers in Texas were without electricity, according to poweroutage.us. Tens of thousands of customers across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee had also lost power, according to the site.
The Northwest
Portions of Oregon and Washington that are sill enveloped in frigid air will see the potential for significant icing.
Winter precipitation began Thursday night and was expected to last until at least Friday evening.
Strong winds also battered the region, felling trees and power lines, and leaving more than 8,000 people in Portland without power on Thursday evening, according to Portland General Electric, a utility company.
On Thursday afternoon, the city advised those who still had power to prepare food, get a flashlight and charge devices. Portland’s mayor has also declared a state of emergency because of the storm.
Make a plan if a power source is needed for medical needs.
— City of Portland, OR (@PortlandGov) December 22, 2022
Need help with medical equipment due to lack of power? Call 211. @211info
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