Monster Winter Storm Kills at Least 10 Across United States, Triggers Widespread Disruptions

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — A powerful winter storm sweeping across large swathes of the United States has killed at least 10 people, crippled travel, and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes, as officials warned that dangerously cold conditions would persist for days due to an Arctic air mass trailing the system.

The storm, which brought snow, sleet, and freezing rain from the South to the Northeast, prompted emergency declarations in at least 20 states and the US capital, Washington.

Authorities repeatedly urged residents to stay off roads amid treacherous conditions, while the National Weather Service (NWS) warned that the same hazardous weather would continue into Monday morning.

In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said five people were found dead outdoors over the weekend during freezing temperatures. While he stopped short of confirming the deaths were directly caused by the weather, he said they underscored the risks posed by extreme cold.

“There is no more powerful reminder of the danger of extreme cold,” Mamdani told reporters.

Texas authorities confirmed three fatalities, including a 16-year-old girl who died in a sledding accident. In Louisiana, the state health department said two people died from hypothermia.

Power outages spread rapidly as ice and snow brought down power lines, particularly in states unaccustomed to severe winter weather. The PowerOutage.com tracking site showed more than 840,000 customers without electricity as of Sunday night, with the majority of outages concentrated in the South.

Tennessee alone reported more than 300,000 residential and commercial customers without power, while Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia each saw outages exceeding 100,000.

The outages have raised serious safety concerns as the South endures bitter cold that the NWS warned could approach record lows. Officials from Texas to North Carolina and New York advised residents to remain indoors.

“Stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary,” Texas’s Emergency Management Division said in a post on X.

As the storm advanced northeastward on Sunday, it blanketed densely populated cities, including Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, with snow and sleet. Washington, DC residents awoke to several inches of snow followed by heavy sleet, prompting the preemptive closure of federal offices on Monday.

Air travel was severely disrupted. Major airports in Washington, Philadelphia, and New York canceled nearly all flights, while FlightAware reported that more than 19,000 flights nationwide had been scrapped since Saturday.

President Donald Trump, sheltering at the White House during the storm, said his administration was monitoring the situation.

“We will continue to monitor and stay in touch with all States in the path of this storm. Stay Safe, and Stay Warm!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Meteorologists say the storm is being driven by a stretched polar vortex — a large region of cold, low-pressure air that typically remains concentrated over the Arctic. When distorted, it can allow frigid air to plunge far south into North America.

The NWS warned that heavy ice could cause “long-duration power outages, extensive tree damage, and extremely dangerous or impassable travel conditions,” particularly in regions less accustomed to intense winter storms.

It also cautioned that life-threatening cold could linger for up to a week after the storm, especially in the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest, where wind chills were forecast to plunge below minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 45 Celsius), cold enough to cause frostbite within minutes.

Scientists say such polar vortex disruptions may be occurring more frequently, potentially linked to climate change and rapid warming in the Arctic, though the extent of that connection remains debated.

Trump, who has repeatedly questioned climate change science, weighed in on social media during the cold snap, asking:

“WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???”

For now, forecasters and emergency officials warn that the immediate focus remains on public safety, as millions of Americans brace for prolonged cold, power disruptions, and continued impacts to daily life.