Memphians are being urged to boil their water and New Yorkers are being warned that roads could be covered in dangerous black ice this weekend as bitter cold and severe weather continues across the country.
Frigid air will move into the Midwest from Canada on Friday, with wind chills as low as -30 degrees Fahrenheit likely to become common into Sunday morning, forecasters warn, putting several states on alert. was issued.
More snow than expected fell in New York City, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. on Friday.
Over the past two weeks, storms with low temperatures, heavy snow, ice storms, freezing rain, and strong winds have battered the Pacific Northwest, Midwest, Plains, South, and Northeast.
Wind chills will cause temperatures to drop as low as -15 degrees Fahrenheit across much of Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky and Kansas, the National Weather Service predicted.
Weather is refreshing over the weekend after a series of storms that left at least 55 people dead across the country, many of them linked to hypothermia and traffic accidents.
Tennessee alone recorded 19 deaths. Among them was a 25-year-old man who was found dead on the floor of a mobile home in Lewisburg after a heater tipped over and shut off, said Bob Johnson, chief deputy with the Marshall County Sheriff's Office. Men were also included.
“There was ice on the wall there,” Johnson said.
Days of cold snaps in Memphis, Tennessee, caused many water mains to break, causing water pressure to drop across the city.
On Friday, the Memphis Light, Gas and Water Authority urged all of its more than 400,000 residents to boil water or use bottled supplies for drinking and brushing their teeth.
It is unclear how long this recommendation will remain in effect. About 50 ruptures have been repaired, but utility president Doug McGowen warned that new leaks were occurring.
Blood Assurance is offering elective surgeries to more than 70 hospitals in five states through Wednesday to allow the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based organization to rebuild its inventory after blood donations have significantly decreased due in part to the weather. It was recommended that it be cancelled.
Advisories and warnings were issued in West Virginia on Saturday due to severe weather. Up to 4 inches of additional snow could fall in some areas, with wind gusts up to 40 mph and temperatures dropping to 20 degrees below zero, the weather bureau said.
The West Virginia Legislature left after a short session Friday after not enough lawmakers were able to make it to the Capitol through snow-covered highways to vote on the bill. .
Snow was falling lightly in Washington, D.C., and the streets around the U.S. Capitol were silent. Schools were closed for the second time in a week, and the federal government imposed a two-hour delay.
But President Joe Biden still welcomed mayors from across the country to the White House for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
In Buffalo, New York, lake-enhanced snow has finally moved out after five days of burying parts of the city and suburbs in five feet of snow.
The Buffalo Bills renewed their recruitment efforts Friday for snow shovels, offering them $20 an hour to help dig up Highmark Stadium before Sunday's divisional playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs. .
Michigan City, Indiana, received 17 inches of lake-effect snow on Friday. The snow has since weakened as the low pressure has passed, but the Japan Meteorological Bureau warns that “even colder air is rolling in behind the snow,'' warning drivers to be on the lookout for patches of slippery and dangerous black ice. I called on them to do so.
On the West Coast, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek on Thursday declared a state of emergency for the entire state in response to a deadly ice storm.
The weather bureau reported that temperatures on Friday will finally rise above freezing in most areas, and snow and ice on the ground will gradually begin to melt.
More subfreezing rain is expected in the Columbia River Gorge on Saturday, and the region is expected to remain near or below freezing until at least Sunday night. The National Weather Service warned that trees and power lines already covered in ice could fall if more ice covers them.
“Please stay safe over the next few days as snow continues to melt in our region,” the Bureau of Meteorology said. “Falling ice blocks also remain a hazard.”
Thousands of people have been without power in parts of Oregon's Willamette Valley since last weekend due to storm damage.
Despite the work of repair crews, more than 63,000 customers in the state were without power as of Friday night, according to the website poweroutage.us.
The National Weather Service said temperatures are forecast to be above average across much of the country next week, which could lead to a thaw.
