Experts are warning that unprotected skin can become frostbitten in only five to ten minutes due to the extreme cold that is wreaking havoc across the US and Canada.



REPORTED BY: Zaid Qureshi Official

A powerful Arctic winter storm has issued weather alerts for more than 135 million people ahead of the busiest travel days of the year.

The warnings stretch from coast to coast across the whole nation and down as far as Florida and the US-Mexico border in the south.

Major airports have cancelled thousands of flights as the storm gets worse.

The recent cold snap, according to forecasters, will result in the iciest Christmas in decades.

The National Weather Service predicts that by the end of this week, some parts of the nation may see temperatures between -70F and -50F.

They advised caution because frostbite is a substantial concern, particularly in significant urban locations like Des Moines, Iowa.

Frostbite typically comes from decreased blood flow.

  • How to be safe in a winter storm.
  • how humans are affected by extreme cold.

During a White House briefing on Thursday, President Joe Biden said, "This is not like a snow day when you were a kid."

El Paso, Texas, where recently arrived undocumented migrants are camped out on city streets, is expected to experience high wind gusts and low temperatures as low as 15F because of the Arctic air mass (-9.4C).

Prior to the storm, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York proclaimed a state of emergency.

Ice jams and the possibility of water "are going to inflict a lot of havoc in our neighbourhood," she predicted. Ice jams can result from large ice blocks that obstruct a river's flow and create flooding.

Kentucky, North Carolina, West Virginia, Georgia, and Oklahoma's governors

Ohio's governor, Mike DeWine, called the weather "unusual and dangerous," particularly as people travel to spend Christmas with loved ones.

The coldest Christmas in Florida since 30 years is predicted.

As a "once in a lifetime" winter weather event, the NWS warned on Thursday that "life-threatening wind chills" will hit the east coast on Friday.

Snow and severe winds are expected to cause damage and power outages in the Midwest and Canada.

The NWS issued a warning that more than 100 daily low temperature records could be tied or broken during the following three days.

  • Colorado had a temperature dip from 42F on Thursday to a record-breaking low of -9F.

  • The biggest one-hour temperature decrease was experienced in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where the temperature dropped from 43 degrees to 3 degrees in just 30 minutes. The temperature has dropped as low as -35F in certain areas of the western state.

  • Additionally, neighbouring Montana had a number of record-low temperatures.

  • There have been blizzard conditions in both North Dakota and South Dakota.

  • Up to 50 mph (80 km/h) gusts and several inches of snow are possible during the winter storm that has a winter storm warning in effect for Chicago until Saturday.

  • It is anticipated that a big snow storm would affect much of Canada's Ontario and Quebec and linger into Christmas.

More than 5,300 flights in the US have already been cancelled for Thursday and Friday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.


Major airlines including United, Delta, and American have offered to waive fees for travellers who want to reschedule their flights because they anticipate having trouble travelling.

A number of routes along the Wyoming-Colorado border had to be closed on Wednesday due to the poor visibility.