A colossal winter storm system is sweeping across the United States, unleashing a barrage of snow, freezing rain, and life-threatening cold from the Southwest to the Northeast. The National Weather Service has issued grave warnings of potentially “catastrophic” ice accumulations and massive snowfall, placing tens of millions of Americans under threat of widespread blackouts and severe transportation disruptions.
In an unprecedented response, at least 16 states alongside the nation’s capital, Washington D.C., have declared states of emergency. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy indicated that the storm’s reach could impact a staggering 240 million citizens. The travel sector is already in chaos, with over 3,400 U.S. flights cancelled on Saturday and an additional 1,100 delayed, according to flight tracking data.
Local governments are urging extreme caution. In Houston, the country’s fourth-largest city, Mayor John Whitmire directed residents to secure themselves in place for the next 72 hours. Dallas experienced plummeting temperatures to 21°F (-6°C) amid freezing rain, while officials in Texas sought to reassure the public that the state’s power grid was significantly reinforced since its catastrophic failure during a deadly 2021 winter storm.
The storm’s trajectory is set to batter the heavily populated mid-Atlantic and northeastern regions, with forecasts predicting an “astonishingly long swath” of winter hazards from New Mexico to Maine. The National Weather Service cautioned that icy conditions would “linger well into next week,” creating persistently dangerous surfaces for driving and walking.
Meteorologists attribute the severe weather event to a stretched polar vortex—a large area of cold, low-pressure air from the Arctic that has contorted from its typical circular formation into an oval shape, spilling frigid air across North America. While the scientific community continues to debate the precise role of climate change, evidence suggests a increasing frequency of such polar vortex disruptions.
The political dimension emerged as former President Donald Trump, a known skeptic of climate science, used his social media platform to question, “WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???”
In preparation for the storm’s peak, the federal government announced preemptive closures of its offices on Monday. From New York, Governor Kathy Hochul warned that mere minutes outdoors could pose serious health risks, urging citizens to protect property, use heaters safely, and check on vulnerable neighbors. The dangerous cold is expected to persist for up to a week after the storm, particularly in the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest, where wind chills could plunge below -50°F (-45°C)—conditions capable of causing frostbite within minutes.