- Written by Brandon Drennon and Nadine Youssef
- BBC News, Washington and Toronto
Watch: Video shows the impact of the snowstorm in Iowa before the caucus
A major winter storm has brought icy winds and heavy snow to large parts of the United States, disrupting travel and leaving thousands without power.
Extreme cold weather will follow in the Arctic over the weekend, with temperatures dropping to nearly -50 degrees Fahrenheit (-45 degrees Celsius) in some areas.
About 10 inches (25.4 cm) of snowfall in Iowa, where the 2024 election cycle begins on Monday, turned campaign events upside down.
Meteorologists described the weather as “life-threatening winter weather.”
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued weather alerts for nearly every state, with snow expected through Saturday from as far west as Oregon to as far east as Maine. More than 70 million people are under winter weather warnings.
The severe weather led to the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights as of Friday, most of which were scheduled to depart from Chicago, according to flight tracking service FlightAware.
Nearly 200,000 people were without power as of Friday evening, with Michigan and Wisconsin the most affected.
Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told the BBC that Midwestern states, including eastern Iowa, northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, had already received between 6 and 10 inches of snow as of Friday evening.
Former President Donald Trump's campaign on Friday canceled three out of four in-person campaign events he was scheduled to hold over the weekend before the Iowa caucuses. Other candidates, including Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, had to cancel campaign events due to the state's severe weather.
More snow is expected in the area on Saturday, as the upper part of Michigan near the Great Lakes could get close to 2 feet of snow.
The storm system is expected to eventually move northeast into Canada, affecting parts of Ontario and Quebec.
Image source, Chicago Tribune via Getty Images
Flights were canceled in Chicago, where at least 7 inches of snow fell on Friday
Southern states will also see their own mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain over the weekend, which will be concentrated in eastern Oklahoma, northern Mississippi and western Tennessee.
In parts of Texas, the National Weather Service issued a wind chill warning through Saturday, warning of hypothermia and frostbite. Wind chills there were expected to drop to -25 F (-32 C).
The average low temperature in Texas was expected to reach 15 degrees Fahrenheit (-9 degrees Celsius), sparking some concern among the state's energy suppliers, who have seen their power grid collapse in 2021.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told residents in a news conference on Friday to be “extremely cautious” and expect “extremely cold temperatures,” adding that warming centers will be available for those in need.
But he added that another power outage for days was unlikely.
In the wake of the storms, there will be a bone-chilling arctic cold front, which has already been felt in western Canada, where temperatures with wind chills near Whistler, British Columbia, dropped to around -58 degrees Fahrenheit (-50 degrees Celsius) on Thursday.
Edmonton, Alberta, is expected to see its coldest day in more than 50 years, with Environment Canada warning that temperatures could reach -40°F (-40°C) overnight into Saturday.
The extreme cold has already caused a series of disruptions, including the cancellation of flights from Calgary and the shutdown of the “air handling” system at an Edmonton hospital, causing patients in the emergency department to be temporarily moved.
As cold air moves eastward, the NWS's Hurley said it's very likely parts of the U.S. will see record low temperatures, especially in Montana and the Dakotas.
Wind chill warnings ranging from -55°F (-48°C) to -35°F (-37°C) were issued across the Northwest, from Washington to North Dakota, all the way into Nebraska and Kansas.
In northern Missouri, wind temperatures are expected to reach 35 degrees below zero, along with 2-4 inches of snow, and wind gusts of up to 45 mph. The National Weather Service warned that cold wind chills can cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.
“We call it 'life threatening' for a reason,” a local chapter of the service in Missouri previously wrote on Twitter. “Take it seriously. This kind of cold doesn't happen very often.”
