Winter storm threatens 60 million Americans with intense cold, snow and ice
Tens of millions of Americans are bracing for a massive winter storm Sunday, forecast to bring the heaviest snowfall and coldest temperatures to parts of the country in over a decade.
Tens of millions of Americans are bracing for a massive winter storm Sunday, forecast to bring the heaviest snowfall and coldest temperatures to parts of the country in over a decade.
Kansas, Arkansas, Kentucky and Virginia have declared states of emergency as the storm, driven by a polar vortex, moved east after striking the central United States. Southern states like Mississippi and Florida also warned of dangerous cold and treacherous conditions, according to the National Weather Service.
A polar vortex is an area of low pressure and cold air that swirls like a wheel around each of Earth’s two polar regions. Sometimes, the Arctic polar vortex wobbles and a lobe surges south, blanketing parts of North America with bitter temperatures.
As the storm moved east, around 60 million people across 30 states from the Plains to the mid-Atlantic were under weather alerts, with a developing low-pressure system threatening heavy snow and crippling ice over the next three days.
Kansas City International Airport briefly closed Saturday as crews cleared runways — delaying dozens of flights including a charter jet transporting the Kansas City Chiefs, according to The Associated Press.
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