As conditions worsen, thousands of flights have been canceled or delayed, upending holiday travel plans for many.
Multiple people are dead, and more than 1 million customers have been left without power. Holiday travelers are encountering delays and cancellations after a monstrous winter storm sent temperatures plunging across much of the United States.
Heavy snow and blizzard conditions continue around portions of the Great Lakes, and as much as 2 feet of snow could fall on the eastern side of Lake Erie through Friday. Snowfall totals Friday afternoon ranged from 1 inch in Telluride, Colorado, to 22 inches in East Jordan, Michigan. Gusty winds have snapped trees, taking down wires and causing structural damage.
The brutal cold is expected to continue through the holiday weekend for much of the eastern U.S., with wind chill alerts extending all the way to South Florida.
More than 200 million people, or around 60% of the U.S. population, were under some form of weather warning or advisory.
What to know
- The storm system reached bomb cyclone criteria.
- The severe weather is causing travel chaos across the U.S.
- At least 17 people have died in weather-related fatalities. The deaths occurred in Oklahoma, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Ohio, Kansas and Nebraska.
- In Kentucky, Louisville Gas & Electric and KU said they were performing “service interruptions an attempt to “minimize extended impacts.”
