A deep freeze has swept across large swathes of the United States, plunging wind chills well below freezing and wreaking havoc on daily life. Earlier today, the biting cold has impacted the Rockies, Great Plains, and Midwest with wind chills dropping below minus 30 degrees, as reported by KSAT.
Power outages have affected more than 120,000 homes and businesses, chiefly in Oregon, Texas, and Louisiana since the weekend. The treacherous conditions have prompted Portland General Electric to forecast delays in power restoration due to the potential for freezing rain. Accordingly, to transportation officials', resident have been advised to stay off the roads as they are expected to be deceptively slick with ice capable of bringing down trees and power lines.
Several cities, including Portland and Chicago, have shut down schools due to the severe weather. In the nation's capital, federal offices remained closed ealier today, mirroring the widespread precaution across affected regions as far as the Hudson Valley in New York, New England, and the Washington, D.C., as reported by TribToday.
The cold snap has been linked to a string of fatalities, including suspected hypothermia deaths in Portland and the perishing of three homeless individuals in Milwaukee. A Kentucky State Police helicopter was also engaged in a critical rescue of four campers in the Red River Gorge area, whom were in good spirits "other than being cold," officials said.
Despite the frigid weather, sports and political events pressed forward. Fans braved the cold to support the Buffalo Bills in their playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, and voters turned out for the Iowa caucuses, delivering a win to former President Donald Trump on the coldest caucus night in history. Meanwhile, air travel has been mired in disruption, with the flight tracking service FlightAware reporting over 3,300 cancellations yesterday and another 1,300 earlier today, primarily affecting the East Coast. Forecasters predict that temperatures will rise midweek before another wave of cold descends over the Northern Plains and Midwest, as reported by KSAT.
