Winter weather: 550K lose power in Texas; wind chill hits New England - USA TODAY

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As a ample swath of the nation's South started to dilatory defrost Thursday aft a deadly brushwood with a wicked wintertime upwind system, Northern states braced for an arctic blast expected to plunge temperatures mode beneath zero successful immoderate spots.

The decease number accrued to 10 – seven of them successful Texas – and 550,000 homes and businesses successful 4 states were retired of powerfulness arsenic the four-day acold beforehand that brought ice, sleet and snowfall continued to extract a toll adjacent arsenic it subsided.

"As icing transitions to rainfall and past ends crossed the South into the Mid-South, hazards volition proceed due to the fact that thawing crystal could inactive origin trees and histrion limbs to break,'' the National Weather Service said.

Canceled flights into and retired of U.S. airports were approaching 750 aboriginal day Thursday, astir 35% of those astatine Dallas Forth Worth International, but that's considerably beneath the thousands of the past fewer days.

Now the occupation country becomes the North, wherever upwind chills could dip arsenic debased arsenic minus 50 due to the fact that of a acold beforehand moving successful from Canada. The strategy is expected to deed the bluish Plains and Upper Midwest connected Thursday earlier sweeping into the Northeast and parts of the Mid-Atlantic connected Friday.

The New England states are successful for peculiarly frigid temperatures, successful immoderate cases plummeting by 40-50 degrees from Thursday to Friday. People successful New England and New York authorities besides prepared for wind and dense lake-effect snowfall that could create hazardous question conditions crossed the region.

Jay Broccolo, manager of upwind operations astatine an observatory connected New Hampshire’s Mount Washington – which for decades held the satellite grounds for the fastest upwind gust – said Thursday that upwind speeds could apical 100 mph.

“We instrumentality information truly earnestly successful the higher summits,” Broccolo said, “and this weekend’s forecast is looking beauteous gnarly, adjacent for our standards.”

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►A upwind chill warning was in effect Thursday in bluish New York, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and parts of Connecticut, the weather work said. "These upwind chills could origin frostbite connected exposed tegument successful arsenic small arsenic 10 minutes,'' the upwind work said.

►In the Texas superior of Austin, which is experiencing much than 150,000 outages, the inferior institution and the politician warned residents they could beryllium without lights and vigor until aboriginal Thursday oregon Friday.

►Nearly 74,000 power customers successful Arkansas inactive had nary energy Thursday afternoon, arsenic good arsenic 23,000 successful Mississippi and 19,000 successful Tennessee.

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Power outages stay a occupation successful Texas

Though the crystal tempest informing has expired crossed Texas, powerfulness outages continued to impact hundreds of thousands crossed the state. More than 432,000 homes and businesses had nary powerfulness by aboriginal day Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said astatine a Thursday quality league that wintry conditions person reminded the city’s residents of the “anxiety and trauma” experienced during the wintertime tempest of February 2021 that killed astatine slightest 200 people.

Restoring energy has been “very challenging” due to the fact that of the magnitude and quality of the storm, according to Watson.

Warming inclination to bring alleviation to South

The National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center forecast an extremity Thursday to the damaging crystal tempest that has impacted Texas to Tennessee arsenic “a last surge of moisture slides eastward.”

Temperatures were expected to emergence supra freezing successful the South by Thursday afternoon, according to AccuWeather elder meteorologist Tom Kines.

Dallas and Memphis, Tennessee, could spot temperatures successful the mid-30s Thursday, and sunshine was expected to lukewarm the Dallas country to the mid-40s and adjacent 50 degrees connected Friday, forecasters said.

However, overnight temperatures could driblet beneath 32 into Friday, and portion the alteration apt won’t bring precipitation, Kines said frozen bedewed spots could slicken roads Friday morning.

The bulk of the impacts were down radical successful the Dallas and Fort Worth country by Thursday greeting arsenic precipitation dilatory moved away, weather work meteorologist Hunter Reeves said.

“There volition inactive beryllium immoderate slushy spots and galore radical volition spot amended roadworthy conditions, portion immoderate are going to spot hardly immoderate improvement,” Reeves told USA TODAY, adding that more widespread betterment successful roadworthy conditions would statesman Friday.

Ice tempest informing continues successful Oklahoma, Arkansas and different states

An ice tempest informing remained successful effect Thursday in parts of respective states, the National Weather Service successful Memphis, Tennessee, said.

Officials continued to discourage travel, but radical who indispensable thrust should support an other flashlight and nutrient and h2o successful their vehicles, they said.

The crystal tempest informing impacted implicit 3 million people Thursday successful parts of Arkansas, southwestern Tennessee, bluish Mississippi and Oklahoma.

The National Weather Service bureau successful Dallas/Fort Worth said crystal tempest warnings were lifted Thursday greeting arsenic conditions improved and nary advisories remained in effect successful the area, though powerfulness outages and histrion harm were inactive imaginable due to the fact that of ice.