Dozens Dead as Powerful Winter Storm Sends Temperatures Plummeting Across North America

Gamaliel Vega tries to dig out his car on Lafayette Avenue after he got stuck in a snowdrift about a block from home while trying to help rescue his cousin, who had lost power and heat with a baby at home across town during a blizzard in Buffalo, N.Y., on Dec. 24, 2022. (Derek Gee/The Buffalo News via AP)

At least 38 people have died, and hundreds of thousands have been left without power in the wake of a massive pre-Christmas winter storm that swept across the United States and parts of Canada, bringing with it blizzards, flash flooding, and subfreezing temperatures.

The “once-in-a-generation” storm was created by a “bomb cyclone,“ according to forecasters, which refers to the central pressure of a low-pressure system dropping at least 24 millibars within 24 hours; meaning that a storm is intensifying quickly.

Much of the country was touched by the deadly storm, with only California being spared the freezing temperatures, because of its continental mountain ranges.

This satellite image made available by NOAA shows weather systems across North America on Dec. 24, 2022, at 12:06 p.m. EST. (NOAA via AP)

More than 200 million people, or roughly 60 percent of the United States, were issued winter weather advisories or warnings from the system, which stretched more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the Mexico border, and temperatures have plummeted, according to the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS).

In Maine, about 9,100 customers and businesses were without power as of late on Dec. 26, while more than 16,700 customers in New York had no power, according to PowerOutage.us. In Virginia, 2,300 still had no power as Christmas Day drew to a close, while in California, more than 4,600 had no power, and more than 2,100 had no power in Vermont.

Power grid operator PJM Interconnection, which serves about 65 million people in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia, has asked customers to conserve electricity and warned of blackouts if the high demand for electricity continues.

A car sits blanketed in snow on a driveway in Amherst, N.Y., on Dec. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Delia Thompson)

Deaths Reported

The storm has claimed the lives of 34 people across the United States, The Associated Press reports; four have also been reported in Canada.

In Ohio, a number of storm-related fatalities were recorded, many due to icy conditions on the road. According to reports, roughly 50 vehicles were involved in a pileup that killed at least four.

A driver in Kansas City, Missouri, was killed on Dec. 22 after plunging into a creek, and three people have died in vehicle-related incidents in Kansas.

The Tennessee Department of Health on Dec. 23 confirmed one storm-related fatality, while three people have died in Kentucky.

In Michigan, an 82-year-old woman was found dead outside of her assisted care facility on Dec. 24 as temperatures plummeted. Officials believe exposure to extreme cold led to her death, according to reports. 

A string of other states has reported deaths while in Canada, a Christmas Eve bus crash in British Columbia due to “extremely ice road conditions” killed at least four people and left dozens more injured, officials said.

An Air Canada aircraft covered with snow and ice is moved by a tug as a Westjet aircraft is seen being moved behind it at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., on Dec. 21, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck)

The severe weather also affected holiday travel plans, with more than 4,500 flights into or out of the country canceled on Dec. 25, after nearly 3,500 cancellations on Christmas Eve, according to data published by Flight Aware.

More than 6,700 flights have been delayed in total.

New York Declares State of Emergency

Buffalo appears to be one of the worst hit areas in the United States, with at least 12 deaths reported, as officials recorded the state’s coldest Christmas Eve since 1872, and at least 43 inches of snow fell on Dec. 25, according to NWS. Officials in Buffalo are bracing for more deaths as freezing conditions persist.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told CNN on Dec. 25 that this was the “most devastating storm in Buffalo’s long storied history” and is a “crisis of epic proportion.”

A winter storm rolls through Western New York on Dec. 24, 2022, in Amherst, N.Y. (Jeffrey T. Barnes/ AP Photo)

A state of emergency remains in effect in New York, and an additional 200 National Guard soldiers are being deployed to the western part of the state to assist with the emergency response to the storm, Hochul said on Dec. 25.

In an update issued late on Christmas Day, NWS said there were signs that the extreme cold weather may be ending in the next couple of days in New York.

“After being in the single digits, teens; and some 20s this afternoon, it does get more comfortable with less wind and temperatures not as harsh on Monday,” NWS said.

As for the rest of the country, NWS warned in its Dec. 25 forecast that “life-threatening cold temperatures and in combination with dangerous wind chills will create a potentially life-threatening hazard for travelers that become stranded, individuals that work outside, livestock and domestic pets.”