Winter storm blankets North Texas with snow
The winter storm that hit the country brought snow to Breckenridge, Texas.
A winter storm that President Donald Trump called “historic” continued to batter parts of the United States on Sunday, January 25, a day after hundreds of thousands of people lost power and endured dangerous conditions.
With severe winter weather in more than a dozen states, President Trump approved federal disaster declarations for South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana and West Virginia. As of Sunday morning, more than 500,000 power outages were reported across the storm’s path.
“We will continue to monitor and stay in contact with all countries in the path of this storm. Stay safe and stay warm,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on January 24.
A major winter storm in progress is expected to spread into the mid-Atlantic on Sunday night and reach the Northeast late Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. “Heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain will significantly impact much of the eastern half of the United States,” the agency said.
The Bureau of Meteorology added that frigid temperatures will “spread across the eastern two-thirds of the country this weekend, with the very cold weather continuing into much of next week.” The agency is advising people in the storm’s path to prepare themselves and their pets for “life-threatening cold.”
Here’s what you need to know about the weekend storm that continues to affect tens of millions of Americans.
How much snow has fallen so far?
Snow continued to fall across the United States on Sunday, January 25, as bone-chilling temperatures prompted hundreds of thousands of people to band together.
As snow lingers in some parts of the country, here’s an interactive map showing exactly where it’s accumulating.
Where is Winter Storm now? View live weather map
track power outages
As of early Sunday morning, more than 500,000 power outages were affecting utility customers across the storm’s path in Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and Kentucky.
“The scale and intensity of this storm is historic, and so is the response,” Drew Maloney, president and CEO of the Edison Electric Institute, told USA TODAY on Saturday. The Institute represents investor-owned electric utilities in the United States.
What is winter storm fern?
The Weather Channel identified the winter storm as “Winter Storm Fern” in news reports and social media. Television networks name storms that reach a certain threshold. However, the National Weather Service does not name the winter storm.
Well-known international systems are used to name hurricanes and tropical cyclones because it is not uncommon for multiple hurricanes or tropical cyclones to move together. Not having a name can confuse meteorologists and the public who may be at risk.
In an email to USA TODAY, the weather service said it has no plans to consider naming the winter storm.
“Unlike tropical storms, winter storms are diverse and conditions change throughout the storm’s life,” the Bureau of Meteorology said. “As such, our forecasts, watches and warnings focus on specific impacts such as wind conditions, snowfall, ice, temperature, visibility and other impacts.”
U.S. winter weather shows that winter storms are more complex than rotating cyclones moving in one direction. Roughly 30 states are under at least one type of weather advisory, but they’re not actually all part of the same storm system.
— Dinah Boyles Pulver and Doyle Rice
What should I do if the power goes out due to a winter storm?
The American Red Cross recommends people prepare emergency preparedness kits that include a cooler, ice, water, flashlights, batteries, first aid kits and seven days worth of medication in case the power goes out.
Affected households will also need to track their food during the outage. If the power is out for less than two hours, fresh food is still safe to consume. However, after four hours of power outage, food in the refrigerator must be discarded.
Staying warm during a power outage can also be difficult. However, you can prevent heat loss by avoiding opening and closing doors. Staying in the same room as your family and pets is also a strategy for staying warm, as it helps keep them warm. No matter how cold it is, it is not recommended to use a stove or oven to heat your home, as gas ovens produce dangerous carbon monoxide, which can lead to poisoning and death.
-Jonathan Limehouse
