Massive snow storm expected to hammer 33 states in US - with wind chills of minus 34C forecast

"The storm, which could impact nearly half the country's population, will bring up to 20 inches (50.8 cm) of snow in the Appalachians and West Virginia mountains, while most people living in the eastern U.S. could face dangerous slick or frozen roads and potential power outages from ice-laden trees and branches falling and snapping power lines, officials said. "With the extreme cold in the North and the storm, half of all Americans are under some form of weather advisories," said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the NWS's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland."

"Agricultural meteorologists said the heavy snow and ice should benefit dormant winter wheat crops in Oklahoma, where 23pc of the state is in severe drought, according to a weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report released on Thursday. But plunging temperatures in the storm's wake could put wheat fields without protective snow cover "at risk of cold-weather injury," the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a daily weather note on Wednesday. Livestock will face stressful conditions due to ice and snow in the Southern Plains and extreme cold in the north, the USDA said on Thursday."

"New York City, Boston, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., could receive 4 to 10 inches (10 to 25 cm) of heavy, wet snow starting on Saturday, Hurley said, with temperatures in the low 20s Fahrenheit (minus 5.5 C) in D.C., with Boston seeing a low of 7 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 14 C). Throughout the storm, New York state was expected to be under a "Code Blue," which requires social service providers to extend shelter hours and ensure the homeless have access to them."

A major winter storm will affect roughly 150 million Americans, bringing heavy snow, ice and frigid temperatures across broad regions. The Appalachians and West Virginia mountains could see up to 20 inches of snow, while major eastern cities may receive 4 to 10 inches of heavy, wet snow and near-zero temperatures. Slick or frozen roads and ice-laden trees risk hazardous travel and power outages. Agricultural impacts vary: snow and ice can benefit dormant winter wheat in drought-stricken Oklahoma, but plunging temperatures without snow cover could injure crops and stress livestock. States and cities have issued emergency measures and shelter provisions for vulnerable populations.

Read at Irish Independent