After a Weekend Bomb Cyclone, Record Snow and Dangerous Cold Tighten Their Grip on the Eastern United States

A vast region wakes to extreme cold

A broad swath of the United States remained locked in dangerous cold after a powerful bomb cyclone swept through over the weekend. From the Gulf Coast to New England, communities continued to dig out from heavy snow, ice, and biting wind chills as forecasters warned that frigid conditions would persist into Monday morning.

About 150 million people were under cold weather advisories or extreme cold warnings across the eastern United States. In many areas, temperatures stayed well below seasonal norms, even as readings slowly began to inch upward during the day.

“This is an impressive cold shot," said Peter Mullinax, a National Weather Service meteorologist in College Park, MD. “Daily records are being seen down in the South."

North Carolina buried under historic snowfall

The storm delivered historic snowfall to North Carolina, United States, where accumulations reached levels rarely seen in the region. In eastern parts of the state, James City recorded 18 inches, while Swansboro measured 17 inches. Other reports included 22.5 inches in Faust, 16 inches in Lexington, 12 inches in Jacksonville, and 11 inches in Charlotte.

Around Charlotte, NC, nearly a foot of snow fell, ranking as a top five snow event of all time for the city. Fresh powder covered roads, neighborhoods, and airport runways. At Raleigh-Durham International Airport, snow lingered overnight as crews worked to restore operations.

The impact on travel was severe. More than 2,800 flights were canceled Saturday, followed by at least 1,800 more on Sunday, according to FlightAware. Over 800 cancellations involved Charlotte Douglas International Airport alone.

On the ground, conditions deteriorated quickly. A crash on Interstate 85 northeast of Charlotte triggered hours-long backups, with dozens of trucks stranded. State officials reported more than 1,000 traffic collisions and two road deaths over the weekend.

Cold deepens, ice becomes the next threat

As snow settled, another danger emerged. Refreezing.

The National Weather Service office in Raleigh, NC, warned that wind chills would drop near zero degrees Fahrenheit early Monday. Snow and ice were expected to linger, with overnight refreezing making roads hazardous.

Gov. Josh Stein urged residents to avoid travel if possible. “Please stay off the roads unless it is absolutely necessary," he said, warning that black ice would remain a threat throughout the week as nighttime temperatures stayed below freezing.

Florida shivers under rare cold

Far to the south, the storm’s reach was just as striking. Florida, United States, experienced rare freezing conditions, with temperatures falling into the 20s in the Panhandle and 30s in South Florida. Light snow flurries were reported in the Tampa Bay area, an unusual sight for the Sunshine State.

The cold stunned wildlife. In South Florida, iguanas went dormant, falling motionless from trees as temperatures dropped. Farmers scrambled to protect crops as ice formed on strawberries and oranges, using water sprays to shield plants from freeze damage.

Meteorologists noted that this was the coldest air mass in South Florida since December 1989, with multiple daily and February record lows set in cities including Sanford, Melbourne, and Daytona Beach.

Power outages and long recovery in the South

The prolonged cold compounded problems from earlier winter storms. Across the South, more than 160,000 utility customers were without power Sunday afternoon, including tens of thousands in Mississippi, TN, and Florida.

In Nashville, TN, the electric utility said it expected 90 percent of customers to have power restored by Tuesday, with near-complete restoration by the following weekend. Gov. Bill Lee expressed concern over the length of outages, while officials described the storm as unprecedented.

In Mississippi, authorities called it the worst winter storm since 1994. Around 80 warming centers were opened, and National Guard troops delivered supplies by truck and helicopter.

Jamita Washington, a resident of Vicksburg, MS, described nights without power and bitter indoor cold.
“It’s been frustrating," she said. “But there’s people in a worse position than we are."

Coastal damage and roaring winds

Along the coast, strong winds and high seas added to the destruction. On Hatteras Island, in the community of Buxton, NC, officials reported that an unoccupied beachfront house collapsed under heavy surf. Nearby, dozens of homes sustained damage, raising concern about coastal vulnerability during intense winter storms.

In Kitty Hawk, NC, resident Susan Sawin described conditions that felt closer to a nor’easter than a typical snowstorm.
“It was blowing around like crazy," she said. “The house shook."

Snowdrifts piled up to two feet outside her home. Despite the intensity, she said advance warnings helped residents prepare, even as businesses closed for days at a time.

Wind, records, and lingering cold

Beyond snow, the storm unleashed powerful wind gusts, reaching 50 to 60 miles per hour along parts of the East Coast. Forecasters warned of coastal inundation of 2 to 4 feet along the Outer Banks and 1 to 2 feet near Nantucket, MA.

Cold records fell well beyond the Southeast. Columbus, OH, reported a low of minus 9 degrees, breaking a record set in 2004. Islip, NY, dropped to 0 degrees, surpassing a 2019 record.

By Sunday afternoon, around 52 million people remained under cold weather alerts. Wind chills plunged into the teens and 20s across the Carolinas and Georgia, with single digits and below zero in parts of the interior Northeast.

Forecasters said the worst of the extreme cold would gradually ease, but temperatures were expected to remain 5 to 15 degrees below average across the eastern half of the country well into the coming weekend.