If you’re just now catching up, here are some of the storm’s latest developments:
Rising death toll: At least 15 people have died across multiple states, including New York, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, Kansas and Missouri.
Power outages: More than 1.7 million customers across the US are still without power as of Saturday morning, according to Poweroutage.Us. Before daylight on Saturday, utility companies were making progress on restoring power, but numbers could grow throughout the day as strong winds are forecast for much of the Midwest and Northeast. In states like North Carolina and Tennessee, residents are told to expect temporary power outages as the weather puts a strain on electricity providers.
Bitterly cold temperatures: More than 100 million people in the US remain under wind chill alerts Saturday morning. Some alerts have begun to expire across portions of the central and eastern regions of the country.
Holiday impacts: The winter storm has upended holiday travel for three consecutive days now, as airlines have canceled more than 9,000 flights in total between Thursday, Friday and advance cancellations on Saturday nationwide. More than 1,600 flights have been canceled so far Saturday across the country. Couriers including Amazon, the US Postal Service, UPS and FedEx are warning customers of disruptions to their operations in the final delivery day before Christmas due to the storm.
Migrants warm themselves by a fire next to the US-Mexico border fence on December 22 in El Paso, Texas. (John Moore/Getty Images)
As freezing temperatures from a coast-to-coast winter storm arrive in El Paso, Texas, some migrants who haven’t turned themselves in to border agents or officials after crossing the US-Mexico border are having a difficult time finding shelter.
The city has opened government-run shelters at its convention center, hotels and several unused schools, but is unable to accept migrants who don’t have documentation from Customs and Border Protection, said El Paso city spokesperson Laura Cruz Acosta.
The city must follow state and federal policies, which she said require migrants to have documentation in order to receive shelter at government-run facilities.
If undocumented migrants show up at government-run sites, they are connected with Customs and Border Protection to start the process of turning themselves in, or are connected with shelters run by nongovernmental organizations on the ground, she said.
As dangerously cold temperatures arrive this week, US border officials are warning migrants seeking to enter the country of the dire weather.
“Extremely cold, below freezing temperatures are expected along the Mexico and United States border during the next several days,” Hugo Carmona, acting associate chief of US Border Patrol Operations, said in a video statement. “Do not risk your life and that of your loved ones trying to cross the river or the desert. Help avoid human death and tragedy, stay home or remain in a safe shelter. This is a warning of extreme importance.”
Read more here and watch how migrants are coping with below freezing temperatures, in the video below:
Many locations in the eastern US are in for their coldest Christmas Eve in decades.
Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Tallahassee are all forecast to have their coldest high temperature ever recorded on December 24, according to the National Weather Service.
Washington, DC, is forecast to see its second-coldest Christmas Eve, only behind 1989. In New York, it will be the coldest Christmas Eve since 1906. Chicago is expecting temperatures to rebound above zero, but the city will still experience its coldest Christmas Eve since 1983.
Many parts of Florida will experience the peak of their cold on Christmas Day. It will be the coldest December 25 since 1983 for Miami, Tampa, Orlando and West Palm Beach, according to the weather service.
Temperatures in the East will slowly moderate over the weekend, but it will still be the third-coldest Christmas Day on record for Atlanta and the coldest since 1989, according to forecasters. New York and Washington, DC, will each experience their coldest Christmas Day since 2000.
A man wades through flood waters to attempt to retrieve his truck along the Hudson River in Piermont, New York, on December 23. (Mike Segar/Reuters)
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned residents about the “epic, statewide hazard” of winter weather this weekend.
“I called it a kitchen sink storm because it is throwing everything at us but the kitchen sink,” Hochul said at a press conference Friday afternoon. “We’ve had ice, flooding, snow, freezing temperatures and everything that mother nature could wallop at us this weekend.”
High winds and rain have already been reported across the state, and now officials are bracing for heavy snow and record-setting wind speeds, the state’s transportation commissioner said at the press conference.
There have been more than 100,000 power outages across the state, with about 27,000 in Erie County and 15,000 in Monroe County, Hochul said.
“If you do lose power, it is going to be dangerously cold,” said Jackie Bray, the state’s homeland security and emergency services commissioner. Bray told residents dealing with outages to seek out warming shelters provided by some counties.
“Please don’t assume that you can weather this cold overnight without heat,” she said. “You may not be able to.”
Impacts by region: “We are seeing incredibly dangerous, hazardous, life-threatening high winds, blinding snowstorms, in real-time hitting Western New York,” Hochul said, explaining that the region has been hit by both the national storm and a lake-effect storm.
She said winds around the Buffalo Skyway have neared 80 mph — higher than those in the blizzard of 1977.
Parts of Long Island and New York City have seen coastal flooding of up to 3 feet, which is starting to abate, although more rain is expected in the area, Hochul said.
Bray said the main hazard in the city will be the low temperatures, windy conditions, and ice, with a flash freeze expected later today.
Hochul said the Hudson Valley, Capital Region, North Country and Southern Tier have seen rain and high winds, with snow also reported in the latter two regions, but major issues haven’t been reported.
Transportation impacts: A flash freeze has already hit the western part of the state and is expected to impact eastern areas, too, prompting widespread travel restrictions, Hochul said.
“The roads are going to be like an ice skating rink, and your tires cannot handle this,” she said.
Hochul said in some areas, like Erie County, the commercial vehicle driving ban has been expanded to all roads, and certain roads have hard closures.
“We really want everyone to stay off the roads,” Bray said. “The roads are going to be icy statewide. That’s going to be through tomorrow, at least, before any of that abates.”
Some roads and rail lines that closed Friday due to flooding have reopened as water recedes, the officials said. Bray urged travelers to take public transportation instead of driving, saying the weather shouldn’t disrupt those transit options any further.
Hochul said she does not anticipate closures to New York City airports, although high winds could potentially change that.
