Subzero temperatures across much of the U.S. left millions of Americans facing potentially dangerously cold Sundays as Arctic storms threatened near-blizzard conditions in the Northeast and several inches of snow in parts of the South.
The National Weather Service warned that windy, subzero conditions in Montana and the Dakotas could push wind chills as low as minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56 degrees Celsius).
An estimated 95 million people were under weather warnings or advisories for wind chills below zero F (minus 17 C), according to the weather service. Forecasters said the severe cold will extend as far south as north Texas.
Officials warned people to get off the roads in Buffalo, New York, where snowfall amounts of 0.3 to 0.6 meters were forecast. The severe storm forced the postponement of the Buffalo Bills-Pittsburgh Steelers NFL playoff game from Sunday to Monday. Wind gusts of up to 50 mph were also possible, said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.
“They are expected to see both the intense snowfall and the extreme winds,” Taylor said. “That’s why they sometimes almost expect snowstorms.”
Another Arctic storm that brought heavy snow to the Rockies was forecast to move further south, possibly bringing 0.10 to 0.15 meters of snow to parts of Arkansas, northern Mississippi and western Tennessee.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency ahead of the severe weather to give trucks and trucks carrying essential supplies greater flexibility to respond.
More than 150,000 homes and businesses in Oregon were without electricity on Sunday after heavy snow and ice storms, according to poweroutage.us. Widespread outages were also reported in Michigan and Wisconsin, affecting tens of thousands of people.
Oregon’s harsh weather played a role in three deaths.
In Portland, medical examiners investigated a hypothermia death as freezing rain and heavy snow fell in a city more accustomed to mild winter rains, and hundreds of people sheltered overnight in warming centers.
Portland Fire and Rescue also reported the death of a woman in her early 30s on Saturday afternoon. A camper caught fire when a small group of people used an open fire stove to stay warm inside and a tree fell on the vehicle, causing the fire to spread. Three other people escaped, including one with minor injuries, but the woman was trapped inside, fire officials said.
Authorities in Lake Oswego, Oregon, said a large tree fell on a house during high winds on Saturday, killing an elderly man on the second floor.
Weather-related deaths were reported earlier this week in California, Idaho, Illinois and Wisconsin.