Northern states brace for an arctic blast as a cold front sweeps through the upper Midwest from Canada and an ice storm heads north after devastating the south.
The National Weather Service warned of sub-zero temperatures in the Northeast and New England from Friday morning through Saturday, where wind chills could drop to as low as minus 50 degrees due to a cold front from Canada.
“The Windchills have the potential to do that [a] once in a generation cold from late Friday to early Saturday,” the NWS warned.
The frigid weather is predicted after snow and ice left 10 dead in the south earlier this week, along with 460,000 people who lost power and thousands of flights canceled, with 805 canceled on Thursday alone.
According to FlightAware.com, 120 additional flights within, to or from the United States have been canceled and 356 more delayed as of Friday.
The Arctic blast that has devastated Texas is moving north, which combined with a cold front out of Canada could result in record low temperatures in the Northeast and New England. Pictured: Icicles hang from the statue of Angelina Eberly in downtown Austin, Texas
The freezing cold weather and snowfall caused a disaster in the south, killing at least 10 people. Pictured: Stalled trucks on an icy road in West Memphis, Arkansas
On Thursday alone, more than 800 flights were canceled due to the storm, and 120 additional flights were canceled after midnight on Friday. Pictured: A grounded flight at Dallas Love Field Airport
A cold front from Canada will move through the northern plains and upper Midwest on Thursday and is expected to hit the northeast and parts of the mid-Atlantic on Friday.
CBS News weather producer David Parkinson forecast record lows in parts of Minnesota on Friday and warned about a third of all Americans would start their day with freezing winds.
“Nearly 100 million Americans will start their day below 20 degrees on Friday and 140 million on Saturday,” he said.
The NWS forecast record slumps for several cities in the Northeast. Worcester, Massachusetts would hit minus 10 degrees; Boston was predicted to reach negative 6; Providence Rhode Island is expected to drop to minus 6 degrees and New York City is expected to drop to 9 degrees.
Record low temperatures are forecast for many cities in the upper Midwest and Northeast, with forecast chill winds making it seem even colder
Officials are warning residents to stay off the streets as the same winds and snow that have ravaged Texas are expected to arrive, causing whiteout conditions. Pictured: Roads closed in Austin on Wednesday after the storm
Wind chill in the north is expected to drop to minus 50 degrees below zero
The weather service forecast snow gusts across the northeast and warned that the accompanying high winds could create whiteout conditions.
The NWS warned that freezing temperatures could be exacerbated in the north due to the Great Lakes “lake effect” increasing snowfall.
Jay Broccolo, director of weather operations at a New Hampshire observatory, warned that wind speeds could reach 100 miles per hour in the state’s Mount Washington area.
“We take safety very seriously on the higher peaks,” Broccolo told USA Today, “and the forecast for this weekend is looking pretty bad even by our standards.”
The NWS said that while the Arctic blast is expected to be intense, it will be short-lived and weather should improve late Saturday.
A cactus is covered in ice after freezing rain blasted through central Texas overnight with up to an inch of ice. The weather in the south should continue to rise
The National Weather Service forecast record-low temperatures in Boston, parts of New York City, Providence and Worcester, Massachusetts
After freezing weather hit the South earlier this week, relief is beginning to be seen, particularly in Texas, which has seen the bulk of the power outages and deaths.
More than 400,000 customers in Texas were still without power as of Thursday noon, according to PowerOutage, a website tracking utility.
Frustration mounted in Austin, where more than 150,000 residents were left without power early Thursday, more than 24 hours after power and heating went out.
For many, it was the second time in three years that a February frost led to prolonged power outages and uncertainty about when the lights would come back on.
Unlike the Texas power outages of 2021, when hundreds of people died after the state’s power grid was pushed to the brink of total blackout due to lack of generation, Austin’s major outages this time were largely due to frozen equipment and falling trees on power lines.
The city’s utility company warned that power might not be restored until Friday.
After the worst part of the storm, Texans found relief and played in the snow and ice while the state worked to recover from the damage
The blackout and deep freezes inspired some more traditional winter weather hijinks when a young girl went viral for showing off some Olympic figure skating moves in the Texas winter while a man took his airboat for a spin in the wilderness weather
Pablo Vegas, who heads the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, vowed that the state’s power grid and natural gas supply would be reliable and that there would be no repeat of the February 2021 power outages.
School systems in the Dallas and Austin areas, as well as many in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee, closed Thursday as snow, sleet and freezing rain continued to penetrate.
Vigils and warnings of wintry conditions stretched from the western Texas-Mexico border through Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana to western Tennessee and northern Mississippi.