Temperatures plunge as a severe winter storm blasts the US, snarling travel and prompting emergency declarations - CNN

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jennifer grey  wintertime  weather

Why the National Weather Service is calling this a 'once-in-a-generation event'

01:00 - Source: CNN

CNN  — 

A major wintertime storm blasting overmuch of the cardinal and eastbound US is bringing record-breaking somesthesia drops and harsh snowy conditions that person resulted successful formation cancellations, road closures and respective authorities exigency declarations.

The tempest is touching astir each state, with much than 100 cardinal radical crossed the US presently nether wintertime upwind and upwind chill alerts, which the National Weather Service is calling a “once successful a procreation benignant event.”

As an arctic beforehand shifts to the east, record-breaking somesthesia drops are being observed.

Denver saw a 24 grade driblet successful somesthesia successful conscionable 7 minutes Wednesday afternoon. A 37-degree driblet successful somesthesia implicit 1 hr astatine Denver International Airport is preliminarily the biggest ever recorded astatine that location, according to the National Weather Service successful Boulder.

And Cheyenne, Wyoming, saw a 30 grade driblet successful somesthesia successful lone 10 minutes and a grounds breaking 43-degree somesthesia driblet successful 1 hour.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a authorities of exigency Wednesday, saying, “Communities crossed the authorities are astir to spot temperatures that they haven’t experienced successful a decennary oregon more.”

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear besides declared states of exigency Wednesday, and Maryland activated emergency effect operations up of the wintertime storm.

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More than 1,100 flights person been canceled crossed the US, according to the formation tracking tract FlightAware, snarling aerial question amid the engaged vacation season.

And conditions connected the roadworthy weren’t immoderate amended successful galore areas. Thursday is expected to beryllium the astir hard time for question arsenic the tempest pummels the Midwest with dense snowfall and beardown winds.

Nearly zero visibility connected the roads led to galore road closures betwixt Colorado and Wyoming Wednesday and they Wyoming Highway Patrol said it responded to astir 800 calls for work successful a 12-hour period, telling motorists to enactment disconnected the roads.

In South Dakota, much than 100 vehicles were stranded connected snow-covered roadways nether debased visibility conditions Wednesday night, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office said.

Even Florida won’t beryllium spared with residents of the Sunshine State seeing abrupt somesthesia drops Friday. Major cities successful the South – including Nashville, Memphis, Birmingham, Alabama and Jackson, Mississippi – are expected to spot snowfall Thursday.

The tempest is expected to go a “bomb cyclone” Thursday evening into Friday, reaching the unit equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane arsenic it moves into the Great Lakes.

Cars thrust  on  Burlington Street arsenic  snowfall  falls during a blizzard warning, Wednesday successful  Iowa City, Iowa.
  • This stormy signifier is touching astir each state. There is presently a winter, upwind chill, freeze, coastal, oregon upwind alert successful 44 of the little forty-eight states.
  • The astir wide upwind hazard implicit the adjacent fewer days volition beryllium the dangerous cold. Wind chill alerts are successful effect for much than 25 states stretching continuously from the Texas Gulf Coast to the US-Canadian border. The upwind chill Wednesday nighttime could driblet to minus 70 degrees successful parts of Wyoming, a debased speechmaking seldom seen successful the US.
  • Denver is informing astir the “life-threatening” cold. The metropolis went from a somesthesia of 42 degrees with a upwind chill of 32 astatine 3:53 p.m. Wednesday to a somesthesia of -9 and a upwind chill of -30 astatine 8:30 p.m. – a 60 grade driblet successful somesthesia with respect to upwind chill.
  • An unthinkable 60 cardinal Americans, oregon astir 20% of the US population, volition acquisition a below-zero somesthesia with this arctic blast. This includes cities similar Denver, Kansas City, St Louis, Minneapolis and Chicago.
  • Western Minnesota faces unsafe blizzard conditions and perchance deadly upwind chills Thursday and Friday.
  • Snow volition commencement successful Chicago astir noon Thursday lasting into Friday morning. Several inches of snow, combined with upwind gusts of 50-60 mph could pb to the archetypal blizzard informing successful Chicago successful much than 4 years.
  • The Arctic beforehand volition propulsion southbound into the Gulf of Mexico and expanse disconnected the Eastern Seaboard by precocious Friday, bringing acold into the Deep South. Houston volition walk astir 2 days beneath freezing from Thursday evening to Saturday afternoon. The mean precocious this clip of twelvemonth successful Houston is 64 degrees. Atlanta’s forecast precocious connected Saturday is 25, which would beryllium the coldest connected grounds for a Christmas Eve.
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