Wintry Blast Brings Closures, Cancellations, Danger

More snow, freezing rain expected in several areas Tuesday
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 16, 2024 8:06 AM CST
For Much of US, Baby, It's Cold (and Dangerous) Outside
A Buffalo Bills fan sits amongst snow covered seats while waiting for the start an NFL wild-card playoff football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Buffalo, NY.   (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

Dangerously cold temperatures affected much of the Rockies, Great Plains, and Midwest on Tuesday, with wind chills below minus 30 degrees in many parts of the central US, per the AP. More than 85,000 US homes and businesses were without power early Tuesday, the bulk of them in Oregon after widespread outages that started Saturday. Portland General Electric warned that the threat of freezing rain Tuesday could delay restoration efforts. Transportation officials urged residents to avoid travel. Classes were canceled Tuesday for students in Portland and other major cities including Chicago, Denver, Dallas, across New England, and in the Washington, DC, region. Federal offices in and around the nation's capital were also closed Tuesday.

The storms and frigid temperatures affected everything from air travel and NFL playoff games to Iowa's presidential caucuses, and were also the cause of several deaths around the country. At least four people in the Portland area died, including two people from suspected hypothermia. Another man was killed after a tree fell on his house and a woman died in a fire that spread from an open-flame stove after a tree fell onto an RV. Three homeless people in the Milwaukee area are suspected to have died of hypothermia, officials said. Freezing rain and sleet was expected to continue across portions of the Southeast into Tuesday morning. Winter storm warnings were in effect in parts of Alabama, Tennessee, southeast Arkansas, northeast Louisiana and much of northern, central and southwestern Mississippi.

Moderate to heavy snowfall was expected into the Mid-Atlantic on Tuesday morning with winter weather advisories in effect from the Mid-Atlantic into New England, according to the National Weather Service. Another 2 to 4 inches of snow was expected in New York state and 6 to 8 inches of snow was expected in upper New England through Wednesday. In the Pacific Northwest, significant freezing rain was expected Tuesday morning, with ice storm warnings in effect through Wednesday morning. In parts of the Cascades into the Northern Rockies, 15 to 28 inches of snow was possible. More than 1,200 flight cancellations were already reported by daybreak Tuesday on the East Coast, following more than 3,300 cancellations of flights within, into or out of the US on Monday, according to FlightAware. (More winter weather stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X