US firmly in grip of cold wave, schools, offices shut down
Annapolis: A major winter blast of snow, ice, wind and plunging temperatures in the US stirred dangerous travel conditions from central and southern states all the way to the East Coast early Monday, prompting schools and government offices in several states to close.
Snow and ice blanketed major roads across Kansas, western Nebraska and parts of Indiana, where the state’s National Guard was activated to help stranded motorists. Nearly 300,000 customers were without power early Monday across Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois and Missouri, according to electric utility tracking website PowerOutage.us.
The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for Kansas and Missouri, where blizzard conditions brought wind gusts of up to 72 kph. The warnings extended to New Jersey for Monday and into early Tuesday.
“For locations in this region that receive the highest snow totals, it may be the heaviest snowfall in at least a decade,” the weather service said.
The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole. People in the US, Europe and Asia experience its intense cold when the vortex escapes and plunges southward.
Studies show a fast-warming Arctic is partly to blame for the increasing frequency of the polar vortex extending its icy grip.
Starting Monday, the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. will experience dangerous, bone-chilling cold and wind chills, forecasters said. Temperatures could be 12 to 25 degrees (7 to 14 degrees Celsius) below normal. The Northeastern states are more likely to experience several days of cold after a mostly mild start to winter, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jon Palmer in Gray, Maine.
School closings are expected to be widespread Monday. Districts in Indiana, Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri and Kansas began announcing cancellations and delays on Sunday afternoon. Kentucky’s Jefferson County Public Schools canceled classes, extracurricular activities and athletics for its nearly
100,000 students.
