Brutally cold weather expected to hit storm-battered South and Northeast this weekend
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis residents were urged to boil water and New Yorkers have been warned that roads could be covered in dangerous black ice this weekend as brutally cold weather sweeps across the regions.
Storms have inundated the Pacific Northwest, Midwest, Plains, South and Northeast with frigid temperatures, heavy snow, ice storms, freezing rain and high winds. Heavier than predicted snow fell in New York City, Baltimore and Washington DC on Friday.
More bitterly cold air poured into the Midwest from Canada on Friday. Several states were issued an advisory as forecasters warned that wind chills of up to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 34 degrees Celsius) could be common through Sunday morning.
A wind chill is expected to drop temperatures as much as 15 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus 26 degrees Celsius) in much of Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky and Kansas, the National Weather Service predicted.
The frigid weekend weather follows two weeks of storms that caused at least 55 deaths across the country, many of them from hypothermia or traffic accidents.
Tennessee alone recorded 19 deaths. Among them was a 25-year-old man who was found dead on the floor of a mobile home in Lewisburg after a space heater fell over and turned off, said Bob Johnson, chief deputy of the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office.
“There was ice on the walls in there,” Johnson said.
The cold days broke so many water pipes in Memphis, Tennessee, that water pressure dropped throughout the city. On Friday, Memphis Light, Gas & Water urged all of its more than 400,000 residents to boil water for drinking or brushing teeth, or to use bottled materials.
It was not clear how long the advisory will remain in effect. While about fifty fractures were being repaired, utility president Doug McGowen warned of new leaks developing.
A significant drop in blood donations, tied in part to the weather, led Blood Assurance to recommend that more than 70 hospitals in five states suspend elective surgeries until Wednesday so inventory can be rebuilt by the Chattanooga, Tennessee-based organization .
Advisories and warnings were issued in West Virginia on Saturday due to continued severe weather. The weather service said some regions could see up to 10 centimeters of additional snow, with wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour and wind chill dropping temperatures as low as 20 below zero (minus 29 degrees Celsius).
West Virginia’s Legislature left Friday after a short session because not enough lawmakers could get to the Capitol via snowy highways to vote on bills.
Snow was falling softly in Washington DC and the streets around the US Capitol were quiet. Schools closed for the second time in a week and the federal government had a two-hour delay. However, President Joe Biden still welcomed mayors from across the country to the White House for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
In Buffalo, New York, lake-enhanced snow finally moved out after parts of the city and some suburbs were buried under five feet of snow in five days. The Buffalo Bills renewed a call for snow shovelers on Friday, offering $20 an hour for help digging out Highmark Stadium before Sunday’s playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Michigan City, Indiana, received 17 inches (43 centimeters) of lake effect snow on Friday. The snow later eased as a low-pressure system moved away, but the weather service warned that “much colder air is wrapping in behind” and urged motorists to watch for patches of slick and treacherous icy conditions.
On the West Coast, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek declared a statewide emergency following deadly ice storms. The weather service reported that temperatures were finally above freezing for most areas on Friday and that snow and ice on the ground would slowly begin to melt.
More freezing rain was forecast in the Columbia River Gorge on Saturday and the area was expected to remain at or below freezing through Sunday night. Trees and power lines already covered in ice could fall if they get more, the National Weather Service warned.
“Stay safe over the next few days as our region tries to thaw,” the weather service said. “Chunks of falling ice will also remain a hazard.”
Thousands have been without power in parts of Oregon’s Willamette Valley since last weekend due to storm damage. Despite the work of repair crews, more than 63,000 customers in the state were without electricity on Friday evening, according to the website poweroutage.us.
The National Weather Service said a thaw could occur next week, when the weather forecast calls for above-average temperatures across most of the country.
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Associated Press journalists Jonathan Mattise and Kristin M. Hall in Nashville, Tennessee, Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York, Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina and Colleen Long in Washington contributed.