When atmospheric pressure drops, a bomb cyclone forms, bringing snow, strong winds, and freezing temperatures. Nearly 250 million people are affected, and at least 19 people have died as a result of the storm, which spans more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometres) from Quebec to Texas. Thousands of flights have been cancelled over the holiday season. Montana, in the western United States, has been hit the hardest by the cold, with temperatures dropping to -50F. (-45C). In Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan, near-whiteout conditions have been reported. The US National Weather Service (NWS) reported “zero mile” visibility in Buffalo, New York. Some residents in the Pacific Northwest ice-skated on frozen streets in Seattle and Portland. Coastal flooding has occurred in America’s north-eastern New England region, inundating communities and causing power lines to fall. Even the typically milder southern states of Florida and Georgia are under hard freeze warnings. California is the only region that has largely avoided the cold weather, thanks to continental mountain ranges that protect the Golden State. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec bore the brunt of the Arctic blast in Canada. From British Columbia to Newfoundland, much of the rest of the country was under extreme cold and winter storm warnings. A number of storm-related fatalities have occurred as a result of traffic accidents, including a 50-car pile-up in Ohio that killed four motorists. Four more people were killed in separate crashes across the state. A shortage of snowplough operators was exacerbating travel problems across the country, with low pay rates being blamed. More than 100 daily cold temperature records could be tied or broken over the next few days, according to the NWS.
