Heavy snow, howling winds and air so frigid it instantly turned boiling water into ice took hold of much of the nation, including normally temperate southern states.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), more than 200 million Americans were under weather warnings, as wind chills sent temperatures down as low as -55 Fahrenheit (-48 Celsius).
Here's a 10-point guide on US winter storms
1) The nation is in the grip of Deep Freeze as the Artic ‘Bomb’ Cylcone, a ‘once-in-a-generation’ winter storm with temperatures as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit (Celsius) dawn upon the country.
2) More than a million US power customers were in the dark Friday as a "bomb cyclone" winter storm walloped the country.
3) In Chicago, Burke Patten of Night Ministry, a nonprofit dedicated to helping the homeless, said: "We've been handing out cold weather gear, including coats, hats, gloves, thermal underwear, blankets and sleeping bags, along with hand and foot warmers."
4) President Joe Biden on Friday issued an alert and said, “It’s dangerous and threatening, it’s really very serious weather and it goes from Oklahoma all the way to Wyoming and Maine. ... So I encourage everyone to please heed local warnings."
5) Blinding whiteouts and hazardous road conditions were already spreading, even as 100 million people were expected to take to the roads, according to the American Automobile Association.
6) Transportation departments in North and South Dakota, Oklahoma, Iowa and elsewhere reported near-zero visibility whiteouts, ice-covered roads and blizzard conditions, and strongly urged residents to stay home.
7) Around 5,000 US flights were canceled Friday and another 7,600 delayed, according to flight tracking website FlightAware, many at international hubs in New York, Seattle and Chicago's O'Hare, AFP reported.
8) Conditions were cold enough for people to post videos of themselves carrying out the "boiling water challenge," where boiling water is thrown into the air and instantly freezes.
9) The dangerous storm is expected to hit everyone east of the Rockies — around two-thirds of the country. Though much of the West Coast will be shielded from the cold, the Arctic front is expected to pass east and south all the way through Florida.
10) Experts predict that shortly after Christmas, temperatures will start to warm up again, moving from west to east. They are likely to remain near normal through the end of the year in most of the US.
(With inputs from agencies)
