A powerful winter storm sweeping across large parts of the United States has killed at least seven people, cut electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes and caused widespread disruption to travel and public services.
Authorities say the storm has created life-threatening conditions from Texas to New England, prompting school closures, road shutdowns and thousands of flight cancellations.
The US National Weather Service (NWS) warned that heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain could persist for several days, potentially affecting about 180 million people across the country.
More than 800,000 households were without power as of Sunday afternoon, according to data from PowerOutage.us, while FlightAware reported over 11,000 flight cancellations nationwide.
Emergency services in several states reported hundreds of traffic accidents linked to icy roads and poor visibility.
Fatalities have been reported in multiple states. Louisiana health officials confirmed that two men died from hypothermia, while authorities in Texas reported an exposure-related death in Austin.
In Kansas, officials said a woman whose body was found covered in snow may have succumbed to hypothermia.
Three weather-related deaths were also reported in Tennessee.
In New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at least five people died on Saturday, though the causes of death were still under investigation.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul urged residents to remain indoors and avoid travel, describing the storm as the coldest and most severe winter weather the state has experienced in years.
“This is bone-chilling and dangerous,” Hochul said, warning that the state could experience its longest cold stretch and heaviest snowfall in years.
Meteorologists have identified freezing rain as one of the most serious threats, as it coats surfaces with ice, damages trees, downs power lines and makes roads extremely hazardous.
Officials in Virginia and Kentucky said they responded to hundreds of crashes caused by icy conditions.
In Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency, calling it the capital’s largest snowstorm in a decade.
Nearly half of US states have issued emergency declarations, and the US Senate postponed a scheduled vote due to the severe weather.
The storm has also affected parts of Canada, with heavy snowfall and hundreds of flight cancellations reported. Ontario officials said snowfall of between 15 and 30 centimetres was expected in some areas.
Weather experts attributed the storm to a weakened polar vortex, which allowed extremely cold Arctic air to plunge southward into the United States. Forecasts indicate that dangerously cold conditions could persist into early February.
