As a large swath of the nation’s South started to slowly defrost Thursday after a deadly encounter with a wicked winter weather system, Northern states braced for an arctic blast expected to plunge temperatures way below zero in some spots.
The death count increased to 10 – seven of them in Texas – and 550,000 homes and businesses in four states were out of power as the four-day cold front that brought ice, sleet and snow continued to extract a toll even as it subsided.
“As icing transitions to rain and then ends across the South into the Mid-South, hazards will continue because thawing ice could still cause trees and tree limbs to break,” the National Weather Service said.
Canceled flights into and out of U.S. airports were approaching 750 early afternoon Thursday, about 35% of those at Dallas Forth Worth International, but that’s considerably below the thousands of the last few days.
Now the trouble area becomes the North, where wind chills could dip as low as minus 50 because of a cold front moving in from Canada. The system is expected to hit the northern Plains and Upper Midwest on Thursday before sweeping into the Northeast and parts of the Mid-Atlantic on Friday.
The New England states are in for particularly frigid temperatures, in some cases plummeting by 40-50 degrees from Thursday to Friday. People in New England and New York state also prepared for wind and heavy lake-effect snow that could create hazardous travel conditions across the region.
Jay Broccolo, director of weather operations at an observatory on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington – which for decades held the world record for the fastest wind gust – said Thursday that wind speeds could top 100 mph.
“We take safety really seriously in the higher summits,” Broccolo said, “and this weekend’s forecast is looking pretty gnarly, even for our standards.”
TEXAS POWER OUTAGE TRACKER:400,000 outages as winter storm, ice sweep state
WHAT IS WIND CHILL?:Understanding the wind chill index and how it’s calculated
Other winter weather developments:
►A wind chill warning was in effect Thursday in northern New York, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and parts of Connecticut, the weather service said. “These wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes,” the weather service said.
►In the Texas capital of Austin, which is experiencing more than 150,000 outages, the utility company and the mayor warned residents they could be without lights and heat until later Thursday or Friday.
►Nearly 74,000 power customers in Arkansas still had no electricity Thursday afternoon, as well as 23,000 in Mississippi and 19,000 in Tennessee.
DRIVING IN THE SNOW?What to do if you’re stuck in your car during a winter storm
WHAT IS LAKE EFFECT SNOW?Here’s how it happens and how much snow it can bring with it.
Power outages remain a problem in Texas
Though the ice storm warning has expired across Texas, power outages continued to affect hundreds of thousands across the state. More than 432,000 homes and businesses had no power by early afternoon Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said at a Thursday news conference that wintry conditions have reminded the city’s residents of the “anxiety and trauma” experienced during the winter storm of February 2021 that killed at least 200 people.
Restoring electricity has been “very challenging” because of the length and nature of the storm, according to Watson.
Warming trend to bring relief to South
The National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center forecast an end Thursday to the damaging ice storm that has impacted Texas to Tennessee as “a final surge of moisture slides eastward.”
Temperatures were expected to rise above freezing in the South by Thursday afternoon, according to AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tom Kines.
Dallas and Memphis, Tennessee, could see temperatures in the mid-30s Thursday, and sunshine was expected to warm the Dallas area to the mid-40s and near 50 degrees on Friday, forecasters said.
However, overnight temperatures could drop below 32 into Friday, and while the change likely won’t bring precipitation, Kines said frozen wet spots could slicken roads Friday morning.
The bulk of the impacts was behind people in the Dallas and Fort Worth area by Thursday morning as precipitation slowly moved away, weather service meteorologist Hunter Reeves said.
“There will still be some slushy spots and many people will see better road conditions, while some are going to see barely any improvement,” Reeves told USA TODAY, adding that more widespread improvement in road conditions would begin Friday.
Ice storm warning continues in Oklahoma, Arkansas and other states
An ice storm warning remained in effect Thursday in parts of several states, the National Weather Service in Memphis said.
Officials continued to discourage travel, but people who must drive should keep an extra flashlight and food and water in their vehicles, they said.
The ice storm warning impacted over 3 million people Thursday in parts of Arkansas, southwestern Tennessee, northern Mississippi and Oklahoma.
The National Weather Service office in Dallas/Fort Worth said ice storm warnings were lifted Thursday morning as conditions improved and no advisories remained in effect in the area, though power outages and tree damage were still possible because of ice.
Wind-chill advisory in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin
A wind-chill advisory is in effect into Friday in parts of Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Wind chills could reach as low as 50 degrees below zero.
Officials advised people to wear appropriate winter clothing, including a hat and gloves, when outside.
Winter storm tracker
National Weather Radar
Contributing: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY; Associated Press
