![]() ![]() Due to the impassable roads and state-wide blackout, there were also shortages at grocery stores. Cars slid off of freeways and streets resulting in accidents, including a pile-up of over 100 vehicles on I-35 West in Fort Worth, leaving several fatalities in its wake. The freeze also caused water pipes to burst and boil water advisories were issued in many counties.įreezing precipitation developed throughout the state on February 15, creating thin layers of imperceptible ice on roadways. At the peak of the outage, nearly 10 million people were in the dark, lacking warmth and the ability to cook food. Though power outages occurred throughout the South, they were mostly concentrated in Texas. The Great Freeze lasted 8 days, 23 hours, and 23 minutes, with the last Hard Freeze Warning expiring on Saturday, February 20th at 9 a.m. ![]() Constant precipitation that day led to the coldest night of the Great Freeze, though the warnings extended for the rest of the week. The warnings continued on Monday, February 15. The rest of the state was placed under a Winter Storm Warning, a Wind Chill Warning, and a Hard Freeze Warning. This day was the turning point where the front became a historic winter event. The Arctic cold front made its way to southeast Texas on February 14. Throughout central Texas, including Austin and Waco, six to nine consecutive days of freezing temperatures broke records for the longest freezing streak in the state’s recorded history. On Saturday, February 13, a Winter Storm Warning went into effect for Houston from that day to the following Tuesday. The first Winter Weather Advisory was issued on Thursday, February 11 in northwest Texas, where isolated freezing rain was occurring. The first day of the cold air outbreak occurred on February 10, with precipitation beginning on the following day as sleet and freezing rain fell across Texas’s northwestern counties. When the vortex weakens or is disrupted, the jet stream often becomes extremely wavy, allowing warm air to flood into the Arctic and polar air to sink down into the mid-latitudes.Ĭourtesy of NOAA, adapted from original by. When the polar vortex is strong and stable, the polar jet stream shifts northward, causing the cold air to remain in the Arctic. A polar vortex is an extensive coverage of low pressure and cold air surrounding Earth's poles. With a negative AO, a weaker jet can dip further south, enabling outbreaks of Arctic air into the mid-latitude regions.Īnother element at play in the cold air outbreak was the polar vortex. A strongly positive AO can influence the powerful mid-latitude jet stream to move storms northward, reducing cold air blasts in the mid-latitude regions. The AO influences weather and climate in North America, Europe, and Asia, making the most impact during the winter season. One notable factor was the strongly negative Arctic Oscillation (AO), a back-and-forth shifting of atmospheric pressure between the Arctic and the mid-latitudes of the north Pacific and north Atlantic. Some of the seven dead in the area were found in cars and snow banks, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz told Reuters news agency.A multitude of factors contributed to the brutal and enduring cold that enveloped the entire state of Texas. New York State Governor Kathy Hochul - a native of Buffalo - said: "This will go down in history as Buffalo's most devastating storm." Thousands of flights have been cancelled, preventing many people from reaching their families at Christmas. The "bomb cyclone" winter storm - which occurs when atmospheric pressure plummets, causing heavy snow and winds - has disrupted travel across the country. The reach of the blizzard conditions has been unprecedented, stretching from Canada as far south as Texas.įour fatalities occurred in Canada when a bus rolled over on an icy road near the town of Merritt, in the western province of British Columbia. Fewer than 200,000 US homes and businesses remained without power early on Sunday, down from a peak of 1.7 million, the Associated Press reports. The worst-hit area has been Buffalo, in upstate New York, where seven weather-related deaths were recorded and strong winds have hampered rescue efforts. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFPĪt least 34 people have died in the US as a severe Arctic freeze continues to grip much of North America. A man walks along Lake Michigan at sunrise amid sub-zero temperatures on Decemin Chicago, Illinois. ![]()
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