The bad weather, which is moving from the central states to those on the East Coast (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, District of Columbia and southern New York State, where the eponymous megalopolis is located), has led to flight cancellations and closures. of schools and road accidents.
More than 50 million people are affected, with around 300,000 still without power as of Monday afternoon, while 2,300 flights have been canceled and thousands more delayed, according to the Poweroutage.us and FlightAware sites.
In Washington, a white coat covers the streets. In places, up to 30 centimeters of snow is expected, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
The sidewalks and parks of the federal capital are the playground for joyful snowball fights between children and adults.
Some even put on skis.
“Growing up in the snow”
“I feel so happy. I grew up in the snow”, exclaims Nikki White to AFPTV, her “mother’s” skis on her feet and enjoying “because it doesn’t snow much anymore” in these times of global warming.
Likewise Patricia Kristjanson, who says she “grew up in Winnipeg, Canada”, where “snow days are the best thing about being a kid because there’s no school”.
400 km to the north, New York City and its large suburbs of Long Island and Westchester, in the extreme south of the rural state of the same name, began to see roads and roofs of buildings covered with the first snowflakes. .
But this does not represent more than one cm in Central Park, the green — and white for the occasion — lung of Manhattan, and on the runways of JFK and LaGuardia airports in Queens and Brooklyn, according to the NWS, for the megacity of nine million souls with traditionally very marked seasons.
But on Monday, all attention is on Washington, where Congress certified Donald Trump’s victory in the November 5 presidential election, four years to the day after the violent assault on the Capitol by the Republican’s supporters following his defeat against Joe Biden in November 2020.
Not far away, the federal capital’s two main airports, Dulles and Ronald Reagan, have been forced to cancel more than 500 flights since 6:00 a.m. (11:00 GMT).
Five people have died since Sunday in accidents linked to the dire conditions, according to local media, including three in the central states of Missouri and Kansas.
Potential tornadoes
Weather services had warned of the amount of snow expected to fall, particularly in Ohio and the Appalachian Mountains from the southeast to the northeast, warning against any “dangerous” travel on snowy and icy roads.
“Snow has turned to ice, leading to power outages and more dangerous road conditions. Transportation safety teams are working hard to clear roads to allow utility crews and emergency responders to move around,” said Kentucky (east-central) Governor Andy Beshear, calling on residents to stay at home.
The governors of Missouri, Virginia and Maryland declared a state of emergency, like Kentucky.
Videos posted by The Weather Channel show vehicles skidding on icy roads and tractor-trailers ending up in roadside barriers in Kansas.
According to the country’s weather services, thunderstorms accompanied by hail and potential tornadoes could hit the southeastern states. These powerful winds could cause property damage and “extended power outages,” the NWS warned.
In the center and east of the country, temperatures are expected to drop to -18°C in places with strong gusts of wind.
Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and more severe due to human-caused climate change.
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