A powerful winter storm claims at least 11 lives across the US

[nightwing1240]

Source: CNN

Hundreds of thousands of Americans are waking up in the dark to unlit trees on Christmas Eve, after destructive winds and heavy snow from a winter storm tore down power lines and endangered drivers across the country, killing at least 11 people in its path.

As bone-chilling temperatures continue to grip the US this holiday weekend, the unrelenting storm is pummeling the Midwest and parts of the East with heavy snow, blizzard conditions and even flooding along the Northeast coast. No letup is in sight until the end of Christmas Day.

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For days, forecasters and officials have been sounding the alarm on the grim conditions the storm promised to bring, while imploring drivers to stay off the icy, snow-covered roads and other travelers to alter holiday plans for optimal safety.

“Remember your loved ones care more about having you alive and that next Christmas than whether you can make this one,” Beshear told CNN Friday.

“People need to stay off the roads. … Being together is more important than ever, but staying safe is even more important than that,” Beshear added.

The ominous warning comes as the storm continues to bear down with blizzard conditions from the Great Lakes and interior Northeast, bringing the double threat of heavy snow and speedy winds.


Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/24/weather/christmas-arctic-winter-storm-power-outages-saturday/index.html

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I know I am really debating staying in this Christmas. Very bad conditions out there to say the least.

[KarenS]

1. we're staying in,,,,

here in Arizona, it is cold but not like what the rest of the country is experiencing, we are laying low because of the Triple-demic and the desire to stay well.

[niyad]

12. I am very fortunate. Two days of brutal cold, but supposed to be 40's today,

and mid-50's tomorrow. Never lost power, wind not as bad as predicted, at least around me. I am worried for everyone east of me, though.

[2naSalit]

2. Why are you debating?

It's too dangerous to even step outside the door.

There was a fair amount of warning where people had time to prepare for this. Fortunately it will pass by rapidly but for a couple days people need to recognize that mother nature rules, always.

[SheltieLover]

3. This!👆

[Skittles]

5. I cannot understand this either

the risks people take, WTF, why do they take such chances

[nightwing1240]

15. Because I love my family

But in talking to them today, we are going to wait and get together next weekend instead. That is a relief.

[Rhiannon12866]

20. +100! Good news!

Stay warm and safe - and Merry Christmas!

[FailureToCommunicate]

4. You should definitely...

[Tree-Hugger]

6. My heat is out

I woke up at 1:00 am to discover our heater was blowing cold air. I live in an apartment and our entire HVAC was replaced this Summer. Our apartment is a shithole, though. Our maintenance guy came out overnight and said it was the water pump and line and managed some temporary fix and it worked for a while overnight, but is down again and we're at 60°. I have two kids and two cats. Most of our presents are not wrapped. I usually wrap on Christmas Eve (awful habit). We're an end unit, so 3/4 of our walls are outer walls. We're waiting on the emergency maintenance guy again. I have no clue what to do. Last night, he was on the phone with another maintenance guy and they were talking about space heaters. I get nervous with those and also don't know if they can work enough. Thankfully, we are in Southeastern PA, so we didn't get much snow and we're only at 6° with a -11° WC instead of the extreme extreme temps and snow elsewhere in the country.

I don't know how Texans dealt with this for weeks last year.

[LeftInTX]

19. Texas cold lasted 5 days. Power loss was extensive, but for the most part, some power was available

I lost power early on Tuesday (the 16th) and got it back on Thursday. (It seemed like forever). Alot of my friends lost power on the 15th. I would get power for a few hours a day. (Crews were constantly working on lines)

Also it wasn't that cold. It got down to 13 and 9 degrees where I live, but temps hovered warmer 30's and 40's during the day. By Friday, things were thawing out.
Busted pipes were a major aftermath! I got lucky, but lots of people have exposed pipes and we did not have enough plumbers. They did not have water for weeks.

Some people never lost power for some unexplained reason. My friend, a few miles away, never lost power, so I went to her house to charge my phone.

[catbyte]

7. It's brutal here in Lansing, MI but even worse to our west.

Winter Storm Warning is extended until 7:00 pm tonight. The winds are still so strong that we're getting lake effect snow from Lake Michigan which usually doesn't happen. We had wind gusts to 51 mph yesterday and they haven't gone down much since then. Temperature is a balmy 8F with a windchill of -6 (thanks to Lake Michigan) which is better than yesterday but still awful. The north/south road in front of my house is drifted in so I'm going nowhere today. Hopefully, I'll be able to get to my friend's place across town tomorrow but we'll see. I've got 4-wheel drive but it's the other vehicles I'm worried about -- some drivers are real idiots.

Stay safe everybody!

[yaesu]

9. I'm in the West part though not in the worst snow band area but close

Enough to Lake MI to keep the temp around 12 today.

[catbyte]

17. One of my best friends lives between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. She said she's getting

hammered with lake-effect snow. Her kids live here in Lansing and are going to try to drive there tomorrow, but it's iffy. I hope it eases up by then. So weird that it's forecast to be almost 50F by this time next week. Ah, weather in Michigan!

[yaesu]

8. Maybe, just maybe the storm saved a few hundred lives by keeping people apart during a

triple pandemic. At the very least keeping hospitals from getting overwhelmed. I have been snowed in for Over 2 days now and won,t be getting out until after Xmas

[niyad]

10. Don't debate! Stay in and stay safe!

[Siwsan]

11. We didn't get nearly as much snow as was in the forecast.

And the roads seem pretty clear. I was surprised at the relatively low activity on the 911 report, over the past two days. People must be paying attention. I think there were more problems north of Flint.

The wind seems to have died down but there are still some nasty gusts. The storm warning has changed to a weather advisory and it looks like the snow is almost done for the Flint area. There's a light snow shower going on, now, but the radar looks like things will clear up, soon.

I'm staying in. Some family is coming by for dinner tonight and tomorrow. Fortunately they don't live far. My brother is just going to stay here, tonight, since he'd be coming back tomorrow, anyway. The kitcats will love that. Gryff just LOVES my brother.

[niyad]

13. Glad to hear your report, and that you are staying in.

[Siwsan]

14. I'm wondering how Carys will react to 'strangers' being here.

I'm thinking about feeding them before people get here. That way if she goes into hiding, she won't be hungry.

The boys will be mixing and mingling. And begging for treats.

[niyad]

16. An excellent idea.Reassure her that all is well. How are the outside babies?

[Marthe48]

18. This is like Bizarro is in charge of the weather

So many people want a white Christmas, and we got the worst possible combination of winter weather. I'd like to see all of the holidays moved to July and just take that month off. Have 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's with the hope of better weather, and less hazardous driving!

If you have to go out, have a j-i-c care kit in your car, and have a full tank of gas.

[Texaswitchy]

21. We used to have Christmas at my Grandparents farm on New Years.

It was great.

Fireworks afterwards .

The date doesn't matter.

Better to be safe.