Weather

‘Once in a generation’ winter storm set to sweep across much of US

Washington, Dec 22 (EFE).- A “once-in-a-generation” winter storm is expected to sweep across large parts of the United States, the National Weather Service warned Thursday.

At a press conference on Thursday, US president Joe Biden urged the country to take the storm “seriously” and “heed the local warnings.”

“This is not like a snow day when you were a kid. This is serious stuff,” he said.

In its latest update, the NWS said a “major and anomalous storm system is forecast to produce a multitude of weather hazards” through to Saturday driven by “a dangerous and record-breaking cold air mass in the wake of a strong arctic cold front.”

“Heavy snowfall, strong winds, and dangerously cold temperatures” were forecast to affect much of the Midwest, the Great Lakes, and the northern and central Appalachian regions, the NWS said.

The NWS’ Buffalo office warned on Wednesday that the “once-in-a-generation” storm could lead to “at least scattered power outages, if not widespread outages” due to the 65 mp/h (104 km/h) winds that are being forecast for upstate New York.

Over 1,720 flights have been canceled, according to FlightAware website, with the worst affected airports being Chicago O’Hare, Chicago Midway and Denver.

Airlines have warned that snow, icy winds and cold temperatures could affect travel from Seattle on the west coast to Boston in the northeast and North Carolina in the south.

Such are the weather conditions that even Canada, a country well accustomed to snow and low winter temperatures, is facing an unusually extreme cold snap that is hitting the western provinces and is expected to spread eastward in the coming hours, bringing heavy snowfall and winds. EFE

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