A historic winter storm with polar temperatures is battering much of the United States for the third consecutive day, leaving a preliminary death toll of at least 21 people, more than one million homes without power, and thousands of flights canceled, according to authorities and official reports.
In the Great Lakes region of northern United States, residents woke up on Monday to extreme temperatures below -20°C, while the advance of an Arctic air mass threatens to worsen weather conditions in the coming days.
Wind chill as low as -45 °C due to polar vortex
The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that the extreme cold will intensify across the northern Great Plains and parts of the central United States, where wind chill could reach -45 °C, levels capable of causing frostbite in minutes.
Experts point out that this storm is related to a disruption of the polar vortex, a mass of cold air that normally stays over the North Pole but on this occasion shifted southward, affecting large areas of the United States.
Snowfall, ice, and massive power outages
Heavy snowfalls, exceeding 30 centimeters in at least 20 states, caused widespread power outages. According to PowerOutage.com, nearly 800,000 customers were still without power on Monday morning, mainly in the southern part of the country.
- Tennessee: more than 250,000 customers without power
- Mississippi: at least 150,000 affected
- Louisiana: more than 100,000 without power
“The restoration of service could take several days, as many of these areas are not prepared for winter phenomena of this magnitude”, meteorologist Allison Santorelli explained to AFP.
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Deaths from extreme cold and hypothermia
The weather conditions have caused at least 21 deaths. In New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani reported that five people were found dead outdoors over the weekend.
“There is no more powerful reminder of the danger of extreme cold and the vulnerability of many residents, especially the homeless”, the mayor said.
In Texas, three deaths were confirmed, including a 16-year-old girl who died in a sledding accident. Louisiana reported two deaths from hypothermia, while in Iowa one person died in a weather-related crash.
Airports paralyzed and thousands of flights canceled
The storm’s impact has also been severe on air travel. Airports in Washington, Philadelphia, and New York remained virtually paralyzed.
According to FlightAware, more than 19,000 flights have been canceled since Saturday, in addition to thousands of delays across the country.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that a small plane with eight people on board crashed after taking off from an airport in Maine, without confirming whether weather was a factor.
Trump reacts to the winter storm
President Donald Trump called on the public to exercise extreme caution and stay safe as the storm advances.
“We will continue to monitor the situation. Stay safe and warm”, he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
However, the president also took advantage of the phenomenon to make a skeptical comment about climate change, writing: “What happened to global warming?
Scientists point out that the increase in disturbances in the polar vortex could be linked to climate change, although they acknowledge that natural variability also influences these extreme events.
Meanwhile, authorities from Texas to North Carolina and New York urged the public to stay home, avoid unnecessary travel, and follow weather alerts.
