A snowstorm has made landfall in the Great Plains of North America and the Upper Midwest, killing one firefighter and leaving nearly 1 million customers without power.
Besides, thousands of flights have been delayed or canceled.
The US National Weather Service said a large swath of the northern United States from Washington state to New England remained on alert for a blizzard with snowfall of more than 46 centimeters and winds of up to 80 kilometers per hour. h and temperature drops to -40°C can occur throughout the day.
Local officials announced on Twitter that a volunteer firefighter had died in suburban Grand Rapids, Michigan, after coming into contact with a downed power line.
More than 900,000 homes and businesses lost power in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York and Wisconsin on the morning of February 23 (local time), according to Poweroutage.us.
Flight tracking website Flightware.com confirmed that at least 2,000 flights have been canceled and another 15,000 delayed due to bad weather. Many roads are impassable or potentially dangerous for drivers.
"It can be potentially dangerous for people to walk on the road in the face of thick ice," said Richard Bann, of the Weather Service's Weather Service's Forecasting Center in College Park, Maryland.
(Photo: RT)
Snow falls at a rate of 2.5 to 5 cm/h in Minneapolis, home to about 2.9 million people. New accumulated snow is added to the already 20cm thick layer of snow after the blizzard has fallen.
Video and photos on social media showed cars stuck on the road, while the streets and walkways were covered with ice and snow.
The school system in Minnesota, Minneapolis has held distance classes for more than 29,000 students in the period through this weekend. Dozens of other school districts have also suspended classes in North and South Dakota, Colorado, Michigan and Wyoming
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, nearly 20,000 homes and businesses lost power.
Rare snowfalls have been reported in the city of San Francisco while blizzard conditions are expected at high altitudes, even in the generally mild-climate Los Angeles area.
By February 25, up to 2.4 meters of snow could be expected on Mount Baldy, about 72 kilometers east of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains. Meanwhile, parts of the Ohio Valley and the southern United States could see near-record highs lasting through the weekend. Forecasters predict temperatures will hit 31°C in Jacksonville, Florida on February 26.
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