Deep freeze grips the United States as winter ‘bomb cyclone’ looms large

Agencies | Washington                         

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

More than two-thirds of the US population was under an extreme weather alert yesterday as a deep freeze enveloped much of the country ahead of the holiday weekend, thwarting travel plans, knocking out power to homes and businesses and causing at least three deaths.

With a column of bitter cold that stretched from Texas to Montana starting to march eastward, more than 240 million people were under weather advisories yesterday, the National Weather Service said.

Hardfreeze warnings were posted in parts of the Southern states of Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Georgia. In Kentucky, two people were killed in car accidents and a homeless person died, Governor Andy Beshear announced yesterday.

“Please stay home and stay safe,” he said on Twitter. Numbing cold intensified by high winds even extended to the US-Mexico border, bringing single-digit wind chill temperatures to the border city of El Paso, Texas. Weather forecasters said the blizzard over the Midwest had formed into a “bomb cyclone” -- a phenomenon that occurs when the air pressure drops drastically within a 24-hour period and speeds up a storm’s intensity.

It could produce blinding snow from the northern Plains and Great Lakes region to the upper Mississippi Valley and western New York state. Exposure to such conditions without adequate protection can cause frostbite within minutes.

Severe winds, ice and snow also upended commercial air traffic during one of the busiest travel periods of the year. About 1.5 million US homes and businesses were without power on Friday, according to tracking site Poweroutage.us.