At Least Seven Dead as Historic Winter Storm Brings Ice, Snow and Extreme Cold Across the United States
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A storm with nationwide reach
The winter storm spread fast and wide. From Texas, United States, to New England, United States, snow, sleet, and freezing rain overwhelmed roads, power grids, and daily life. By Sunday afternoon, more than 800,000 households were without electricity, and flight boards across the country filled with cancellations.Schools closed. Highways shut down. Airports fell silent.
More than 180 million people were under the influence of the storm, according to federal estimates.
The National Weather Service described the conditions as life threatening, warning that heavy snow and ice would persist for days and slow any recovery.
Lives lost in the cold
At least seven deaths have been confirmed across several states, many linked directly to exposure.In Louisiana, United States, the Department of Health confirmed that two men died of hypothermia. In Austin, TX, the mayor reported an exposure-related death. Authorities in Kansas, United States, said a woman whose body was found covered in snow may have succumbed to hypothermia.
Officials in Tennessee, United States, reported three weather-related deaths.
In New York, NY, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at least five people died on Saturday, though causes were still under investigation.
“It is a reminder that every year New Yorkers succumb to the cold," he wrote.
Ice becomes the most dangerous threat
Freezing rain coated trees, power lines, bridges, and roads with thick layers of ice. Even small accumulations proved devastating.Authorities in Virginia, United States, and Kentucky, United States, responded to hundreds of traffic crashes as vehicles lost traction on untreated roads.
Weather experts warned that ice accretions approaching an inch were possible in parts of the South, including Texas, Los Angeles, and Tennessee. That weight snapped branches, pulled down power lines, and left entire neighborhoods dark.
“The snow and the ice will be very, very slow to melt and will not be going away anytime soon," said Allison Santorelli, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
“That is going to hinder any recovery efforts."
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Major U.S. winter storm kills at least seven, leaves millions without power and disrupts travel nationwidePower outages and travel paralysis
The storm knocked out electricity on a massive scale. Reports showed up to one million customers without power at peak impact. Utility crews worked under dangerous conditions, often unable to reach damaged lines due to blocked roads.Air travel fared no better.
More than 11,000 flights were canceled by Sunday afternoon, with later reports pushing that figure past 16,000 cancellations nationwide. Major hubs across the Midwest, South, and Northeast shut down intermittently as ice and snow accumulated on runways.
Canada also felt the storm’s reach. In Ontario, Canada, officials estimated 15 to 30 centimeters of snowfall, triggering hundreds of additional flight cancellations.
States of emergency across the country
By the weekend, at least 24 states had declared states of emergency, joined by Washington, D.C. Governors moved quickly to mobilize resources, suspend normal operations, and urge residents to stay home.“This is certainly the coldest weather we have seen, the coldest winter storm we have seen in years," said New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
“It is bone chilling and it is dangerous."
In the nation’s capital, Mayor Muriel Bowser said:
“We are experiencing the biggest snowstorm in a decade in DC this weekend."
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear noted that ice, not snow, posed the greater danger.
“That is not good news for Kentucky," he said.
Arctic air tightens its grip
Behind the storm came brutal, record-challenging cold. Temperatures plunged 15 to 20 degrees Celsius below seasonal averages in states unaccustomed to such extremes.Meteorologists attributed the event to a disruption in the polar vortex, a massive circulation of cold air normally confined to the Arctic. As its winds weakened, frigid air spilled southward, colliding with warmer southern air and fueling powerful storm systems.
The storm is forecast to exit toward the Canadian Maritimes by Tuesday.
The cold will stay longer.
Forecasters warned that dangerously low temperatures could persist into early February, leaving ice slow to melt and communities struggling to recover long after the snow stops falling.
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