Nearly every U.S. state was under some form of weather alert on Saturday — from flood watches in the east to blizzard warnings in Iowa to wind chill warnings for more than a dozen states in the central United States.
Flight cancellations and power outages
More than 1,100 flights were canceled as of Saturday morning, according to FlightAware. This comes after more than 2,000 cancellations on Friday.
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport continued to see impacts with 9% of its flights cancelled, and Detroit's Metropolitan Wayne County canceled 13% of flights on Saturday.
Despite being a smaller airport, Buffalo Niagara International Airport saw 56% of its flights cancelled. New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Friday afternoon in western New York due to power outage conditions that made travel difficult.
As of Saturday evening, more than 443,000 customers were without power in five states — Oregon, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and New York — according to PowerOutage.us.
Oregon has the highest number of customers experiencing power outages at more than 236,000 customers, followed by Michigan with more than 101,000 customers without power.
NFL Playoffs: Postponed in Buffalo, temperatures are freezing in Kansas City
Between 1 to 3 feet of snow is expected to fall during Monday in Buffalo and the surrounding area.
Governor of Hochul books Saturday afternoon on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers was postponed to 4:30 PM ET on Monday.
“I have been in contact with @NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell regarding the dangerous conditions in Buffalo this weekend. In consultation with our emergency response teams, @BuffaloBills leadership, and the NFL, the Bills game will be postponed to 4:30 PM on Monday, ” I wrote.
In another playoff game on Saturday night in Kansas City where the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Miami Dolphins, the game-time temperature is expected to be minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit, with winds expected to feel like 20 degrees Fahrenheit to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Below zero.
Deaths in winter weather
The snow and extreme cold temperatures brought dangerous conditions and led to the death of a few people.
And in Franklin, Wisconsin — located 16 miles southeast of Milwaukee — the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office is investigating the death of a 69-year-old man who is believed to have died while snow fell on his home, according to local reports. The death is not being considered suspicious.
In Schiller Park, a suburb of Chicago, a man was found dead from exposure to the cold, becoming the first cold-related death this season, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office, the Associated Press reported.
A person is suspected to have died of hypothermia in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, after a state of emergency was declared due to dangerously low temperatures, Multnomah County officials said. The death is under investigation.
Plow trucks clear Grand Avenue with high winds and snow from Winter Storm Jerry four days before the Iowa caucuses, on January 12, 2024, in Des Moines, Iowa.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Blizzard conditions, threat of flooding and more cold
In the upper Midwest, heavy snow and gusty winds caused whiteout conditions as a blizzard blew in earlier Saturday. Des Moines, Iowa, received 9 inches of snow, and Davenport – located on the eastern border with Illinois – received 15 inches of snow.
In addition to the snow totals, winds of more than 45 mph created rough travel conditions with snow blowing and drifting.
The wintry conditions come days before Republican voters gather in Iowa for the caucus on Monday.
The northeastern region has seen heavy rainfall over the past 24 hours, but it is expected to subside as the day continues.
Some communities also experienced flooding, including those in the northern part of New Jersey that saw rain overnight Friday and into Saturday.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will visit flood-hit Paterson early Saturday afternoon, according to a schedule provided by his office.
As the wind chill continues into Monday morning, southern cities, including Dallas, Nashville and Little Rock, Arkansas, will see temperatures that feel like the single digits, while temperatures in cities including Oklahoma City and Amarillo, Texas, will feel like the lower digits. Zero.
ABC News' Matt Foster, Jessica Gorman, Ahmed Hemingway, Alex Perez and Ileana Riveros continued this report.
