The United States Weather Service warned Thursday of a “once-in-a-generation” winter storm that threatens to wreak havoc on the travel plans of millions of Americans this Christmas.
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Airlines have told travelers double for delays and cancellations after an arctic cold front gripped the center of the country on Wednesday. It should cross the Midwest on Friday and head to the East Coast.
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The National Weather Service (NWS) warned in its 0822 GMT forecast that the storm “will have widespread and potentially devastating impacts in the center and east” of the country.
“Record shivering life-threatening cold winds over the Great Plains will sweep across the eastern half of the nation on Friday,” the bulletin said.
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He also warned of wind chill with temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius in some areasand urged to take precautions.
Some places may see thermometers drop as low as -56 degrees.
Chills of this magnitude can cause frostbite in less than 5 minutes if precautions are not taken.
“Wind chills of this magnitude can cause frostbite in less than 5 minutes if precautions are not taken” while “hypothermia and death are possible even from prolonged exposure to cold,” he warned.
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The NWS said so severe gusts and heavy snow could cause serious damage to infrastructure and disrupt air and road travel.
The warning coincides with reports from the Transportation Safety Administration that travel volume on these dates is close to pre-pandemic levels, with the most movement on Thursday.
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The American Automobile Association (AAA) has estimated this more than 112 million people will travel more than 80 km between Friday and January 2, the vast majority by car.
bomb cyclone
The Federal Aviation Administration has warned that high winds and snow could delay flights at major airline hubs in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Chicago and Denver.
In Denver, the temperature is expected to plummet from a high of 10 degrees Celsius on Wednesday to 26 below zero on Thursday.
Authorities in the Colorado capital have opened the Denver Coliseum as an emergency warming center.
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AccuWeather meteorologists said so the storm could rapidly develop into what is known as a “bomb cyclone”which occurs when the pressure decreases and a cold air mass collides with a warm air mass.
The NWS in Buffalo, New York called it a “once-in-a-lifetime storm” with wind gusts exceeding 65 mph, chills from 6 to 12 degrees below zero, and scattered or possibly widespread power outages. Minneapolis meteorologists described the phenomenon as a “high-level life-threatening event” that “should be taken seriously.”
In Fort Worth, Texas, the NWS said it didn’t expect the cold snap to be as devastating as it was in February last year, when freezing temperatures killed dozens and left millions without electricity in that southern state.
And in Washington, DC, lawmakers were scrambling to agree on a $1.7 trillion budget bill before the storm disrupted their travel plans.
AFP AGENCY
