A first deadly cold snap

The major winter storm that swept across the central and eastern United States has killed at least five people, whitewashing the capital Washington and causing hundreds of flight cancellations. It leaves behind freezing temperatures.

Weather services predict temperatures will drop to -18°C in places, with strong gusts in the wake of the first storm of the year that moved “rapidly eastward over the Atlantic Ocean.” Monday evening.

The heavy snowfall that moved during the day from the central states to those on the east coast (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, District of Columbia), led to flight cancellations, school closures and road accidents.

More than 50 million people were affected, with nearly 200,000 still without power in the middle of the night, mostly in the state of Virginia, while 2,300 flights were canceled and thousands more delayed, according to the Poweroutage.us and FlightAware sites.

Five people have died in accidents linked to the dire conditions in the central states of Missouri and Kansas, according to local authorities.

“The roads remain dangerous” particularly because of the ice, warned the governor of Kentucky (central-east) Andy Beshear, urging people not to leave their homes.

A thick white blanket covered the streets of Washington, where sidewalks and parks became playgrounds for snowball fights by children and adults. Some even put on skis. “I feel so happy. I grew up in the snow,” Nikki White assured AFPTV, skiing on her feet and planning to take advantage of it “because it doesn’t snow much anymore” in these times of global warming.

For Patricia Kristjanson, who says she “grew up in Winnipeg, Canada,” “snow days are the best thing about being a kid, because there’s no school.”

Not far away, the federal capital’s two main airports were forced to cancel more than 500 flights.

Bad weather in the capital did not prevent Congress from certifying Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election on Monday, four years to the day after the violent assault on the Capitol by his supporters after his defeat against Joe Biden in November 2020.

While authorities warned all day Monday about the danger of traveling on snowy and icy roads, videos published by The Weather Channel showed vehicles skidding on icy roads and semi-trailers ending up in snow. roadside barriers in Kansas.

“The snow turned to ice, leading to power outages and more dangerous road conditions. Transportation safety teams are working hard to clear roads for utility and emergency crews to travel,” said Andy Beshear, who declared a state of emergency in Kentucky.

The governors of Missouri, Virginia and Maryland followed suit.

States in the southeast of the country could also experience their share of climatic misfortune, according to the weather services, which predict storms accompanied by hail, even snow in Texas, where it rarely falls in quantity, and potential tornadoes.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on X that he had declared a state of emergency ahead of these precipitations which could result in significant snowfall in Dallas.

On the west coast, however, it is violent winds that worry the authorities, with low humidity likely to encourage the spread of fires.

California firefighters put dozens of vehicles and eight helicopters on alert to prepare for these gusts of up to 160 km/h.