Latest winter storm: America faces coldest Christmas ever as 800,000 stranded without power and thousands of travelers – live

An arctic blast is sweeping across the United States, hitting much of the country this holiday season with a pathetic mix of perilous cold, blinding snow gusts, and flash freezing.

The powerful winter storm will have widespread, destructive and potentially crippling effects across the central and eastern United States by Christmas Eve, the National Weather Service has warned.

Forecasters are also warning of a ‘bomb storm’ – but what does that mean?

The weather phenomenon is technically called a bomb arch and whether it occurs all depends on how fast the pressure drops.

As the jet stream pushes very cold air down into the US from the Arctic, this mass of cold air encounters the warmer air in front of it.

And when atmospheric pressure drops rapidly over a 24-hour period, a severe storm, also known as a “bomb cyclone,” can occur. They usually occur over water due to the high levels of heat and humidity, so it is a rare occurrence for a bomb cyclone to occur over land.

Emergency shelters in Portland, Oregon, called for volunteers due to high demand and staffing issues when a winter storm brought snow, freezing rain, ice and freezing temperatures to the area.

An unprecedented number of people are seeking shelter in a region where thousands live outside, and many employees have been unable to make their shifts due to dangerous road conditions or illness, officials said.

Nearly 800 people slept in the city’s five shelters as of Thursday night, said Julie Sullivan-Springhetti, spokeswoman for Multnomah County, where Portland is located.

“The largest number of people I’ve ever seen come into a shelter,” she said. “We’re trying to get more support. We have the experts in charge, but this is to help people with meals and wheelchairs and get them to the right place.”

The refuges remain open until Saturday.

Hell literally froze over as the city of Michigan was hit by the winter storm that has killed at least 15 people across the US so far.

Temperatures dropped to -45C in Montana on Friday and -23C in northern Minnesota on Saturday.

The area west of Detroit, where the city of Hell is located, had temperatures around -8C on Saturday.

The power grid operator, which oversees 13 states, has urged consumers to conserve electricity as it warned it could require continuous blackouts.

PJM Interconnection serves 65 million residents in Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

“Conserving as much electricity as possible between 4 a.m. December 24, 2022 and 10 a.m. December 25, 2022 will help ensure adequate power supply,” the company said in a statement.

“CPJM continues to carefully monitor power supply conditions. She will do whatever it takes to keep the region going. If necessary, PJM may take additional steps such as: B. reducing the voltage. PJM is coordinating efforts between generators, utilities and local utilities,” the company added.

Nearly 400,000 electricity customers were left without power in the six New England states as of Saturday morning, with some utilities warning it could take days to restore power. In North Carolina, more than 415,000 customers were without power, according to poweroutage.us.

Pennsylvania-based PJM Interconnection’s emergency call for system-wide conservation advised residents to set thermostats lower than usual, delay use of essential appliances like stoves and dishwashers, and turn off unnecessary lights. Commercial and industrial consumers of electricity have also been asked to reduce their electricity supply. Utility officials said increased demand on the power grid is occurring at the same time, as some power plants struggle to operate in the extreme cold. They warned of rolling power outages.

“It will be short lived, we will do everything we can to prevent it, but it is a real possibility,” said Mike Bryson, senior vice president of operations at PJM. It includes all or part of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, DC

Energy demand in Tennessee has broken all previous records.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) delivered a record 740 gigawatt hours in the last 24 hours.

“We know that conserving energy is difficult, especially during the holiday season, and we appreciate everyone’s help and patience,” TVA’s chief operating officer Don Moul said in a statement. “TVA and local utilities continue to do everything possible to minimize disruption while ensuring that the entire power grid remains reliable.”

Hundreds of people are stuck in their cars in Erie County, New York, as the winter storm continues.

Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz told CNN that “it’s probably somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple hundred now based on the numbers we’ve seen.”

“That’s a dramatic drop from 500 or more overnight hours,” he added.

“There’s a driving ban that’s county-wide and that’s for a reason because conditions are still bad enough that it’s easy to get stuck and then you’re taking resources off the road when you really need them. ” he said.

A powerful winter storm left nearly 2 million homes and businesses across the United States without power on Saturday, while millions more worried about how the prospect of more disruptions would affect vacation and travel plans.

The blinding snowstorms, freezing rain and freezing cold that blanketed much of the country left 1.7 million homes and businesses without power, while a major electric grid operator warned the 65 million people it supplies in the eastern US that power outages could occur.

Pennsylvania-based PJM Interconnection said power plants are struggling to operate in the cold weather and urged residents to refrain from using unnecessary electricity. It issued an emergency call for the entire conservation system, urging residents in 13 states to set thermostats lower than usual, delay use of large appliances like stoves and dishwashers, and turn off nonessential lights. Commercial and industrial consumers of electricity have also been asked to reduce their electricity supply.

PJM officials said there are increased power demands across the system, while at the same time some power plants are struggling to operate in the extreme cold. They said they want people to be prepared for the possibility of power outages.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper asked the Tennessee capital’s NFL team, The Titans, to postpone their game, scheduled for Saturday, “in solidarity with our neighbors.”

The request comes amid power outages instituted by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to limit stress on the power grid.

Mr Cooper said the blackouts would continue and urged all non-essential businesses to limit their electricity use.

“TVA needs to invest in infrastructure to withstand extreme temperatures,” he said.