'NO TRAVEL Advised', As Massive Winter Storm Sweeps US
Category: World News
More than 1,500 flights were canceled across the United States by Thursday
morning as a massive winter storm upended holiday travel plans with a triple
threat of heavy snow, howling winds and bitter cold.
At least five
states — Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Georgia and North Carolina — have
already implemented emergency plans and others were likely to follow.
“This is not like a snow day when you were a kid,” President Joe
Biden told reporters at a White House briefing on the weather and transport
turmoil.
“This is serious stuff,” he added, urging people to heed
warnings from local authorities.
Blinding whiteouts and hazardous
road conditions were already being seen in parts of the country slammed by a
dangerous Arctic front.
AccuWeather forecasters have said the storm
could rapidly strengthen into what is known as a “bomb cyclone” through a
process known as “bombogenesis,” when the barometric pressure drops and a cold
air mass collides with a warm air mass.
National Weather Service
(NWS) forecaster Michael Charnick tweeted a video showing drivers struggling
along a highway between Colorado and Wyoming, where the temperature with wind
chills plummeted to -40 degrees Fahrenheit (-40C).
The NWS
released key safety messages on its Twitter account, warning snow squalls —
bursts of moderate to heavy snow lasting an hour or two — had already happened
or were expected from the Central Plains to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
“People exposed to extreme cold are susceptible to frostbite in a
matter of minutes,” the agency cautioned.
“Areas most prone to
frostbite are uncovered skin and the extremities, such as hands and feet.
Hypothermia is another threat during extreme cold.”
READ: Dreaded Flu Heading Towards Britain Could Kill As Many One Million People- Experts
Blizzard conditions stranded 100 motorists in Rapid City and Wall in
South Dakota, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office tweeted.
“NO
TRAVEL advised,” the sheriff’s office added.
In Minneapolis and
Saint Paul, more than eight inches (20.3 centimeters) of snow accumulated over
a 24-hour period, the NWS said in a Thursday morning update.
In
Buffalo, New York, forecasters called it a “once-in-a-generation storm” with
wind gusts of more than 65 miles per hour (105 kilometers per hour), wind
chills as low as 10 to 20 degrees F below zero, and power outages.
Let them enjoy their good weather and good government
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