The low-pressure system has had a deadly impact: since the cold temperatures began, at least 15 people have died in weather-related car accidents. In Oklahoma alone, 123 people were hospitalized Monday with weather-related injuries.
Because snow blankets are typically temperate states like Texas and Oklahoma and power outages are causing woes in Louisiana, about 200 million people are under some sort of weather-related warning.
The storm is expected to pass through the northeast by late Tuesday, leaving a trail of heavy snow and ice in its path, CNN Meteorologist Tyler Mauldin said.
Temperatures are expected to rise as it moves, although record cold mornings and afternoons will linger through Saturday, Mauldin said. Millions are bracing for temperatures that feel below zero until late in the week.
But once the low-pressure system leaves states like Texas and Oklahoma, a system that poured cold precipitation on the West Coast is expected to take its place with more winter disaster, Maudlin said.
“I am almost certain that we are slowly looking at one of the first billion dollar weather disasters of 2021,” said Mauldin.
As many as 200 cold temperature records could be broken
The unusually cold temperatures are expected to have reached almost every corner of the US.
Seattle has already reported more than 12 inches of snow over the weekend, the highest number since January 1972. Parts of Wyoming have seen more than 50 inches of snow in recent days.
More than six inches of snow has fallen from East Texas to Ohio, and more than a foot of snow has fallen in some areas. Heavy snowfall could reach areas downwind of Lake Erie and Ontario when the system leaves New England Tuesday evening.
By then, there’s the possibility that nearly 200 new cold temperature records have been broken.
Oklahoma City has hit a record five days without climbing more than 20 degrees – they’re not expected to hit that temperature until Thursday, over a nine-day period.
Power and water cut-off
Falling temperatures have frozen or overloaded power sources, leaving nearly 5 million people in the dark as of Tuesday morning.
While rolling power outages aren’t planned for Louisiana, Governor John Bel Edwards said they could happen if power generation can’t keep up with demand. Edwards said this will be the coldest weather Louisiana has experienced in decades, with about 125,000 households losing power, some over 12 hours.
In Abilene, Texas, the approximately 123,000 residents are also without water due to power outages. According to a statement from the city of Abilene, all three water treatment plants in the city had to be shut down when both power sources went out.
“It is not known exactly when the power and subsequent water supply will be returned to Abilene’s customers,” the city said.
Vaccinations postponed
Along with power, the winter storms have delayed vaccinations against Covid-19 in the US.
San Antonio, Texas, has delayed vaccinations Tuesday at the Alamodome for the second day in a row. Elsewhere in the state, Harris County, Texas, officials were racing to assign and rescue 8,400 coronavirus vaccines that were in danger of spoiling after the generator and backup generator went out Monday morning.
“Missouri is experiencing harsh winter weather that makes driving dangerous and threatens the health and safety of anyone exposed to the cold. These conditions are also likely to delay some vaccine shipments,” Parson said. “We want to protect the safety of everyone involved in the mass vaccination events, from the patients being vaccinated to the volunteers who generously support these events.”
‘Roads are covered faster than we can clear them’
In anticipation of the return of the power, many officials have warned residents that now is no time to be on the road.
As of Sunday, the Mississippi Highway Patrol said it has investigated more than 400 weather-related traffic incidents.
All but eight counties in the state have reported ice on roads and bridges, according to a tweet from the Mississippi Highway Patrol.
“Heavy snowfall combined with drifting snow means roads are covered faster than we can clear them,” the department tweeted.
Texas among the hardest hit states
Texas, a state unaccustomed to the amount of snow it has seen, had one of the worst consequences of the storm.
According to Poweroutages.US, more than 4.1 million customers are without power, and everyday life is badly affected by the cold and power outages.
“Even during Hurricane Harvey, our facility never lost power and we never stopped producing the print edition, but every emergency brings its own twists and turns,” the paper wrote.
The cold even interrupted cellular service in Fort Bend County Monday night, Fort Bend County Judge KP George wrote on his verified Twitter account.
For Jamie Taylor, a mother of five in Dallas, the more than 18-hour power outage meant caring for her family in temperatures of 45 degrees in her apartment.
CNN’s Kay Jones, Joe Sutton, Rebekah Riess, Dave Alsup and Steve Almasy contributed to this report.