DALLAS (AP) — It was too cold for school in Chicago and other Midwestern cities Friday as a huge, dayslong winter storm began to crank up that could bring snow, sleet, ice and bone-chilling temperatures as well as extensive power outages to about half of the U.S. population from Texas to New England.
Forecasters warned that the damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival a hurricane. At least 177 million people were under watches or warnings for ice and snow and more than 200 million were under cold weather advisories or warnings and in many places they overlapped.
Maricela Resendiz went shopping Friday in Dallas ahead of the storm moving in there. She picked up chicken, eggs and some pizzas to get her, her 5-year-old son and her boyfriend through the weekend.
“It’s going to be a big storm,” she said, adding her weekend plans are “staying in, just being out of the way.”
Ice and snow could begin falling later Friday in Texas and Oklahoma. The storm was expected to slide into the South with freezing rain and sleet leaving behind a thick tree branch and power pole shattering layer of ice.
Then it will move into the Northeast, dumping about a foot (30 centimeters) of snow from Washington, D.C., through New York and Boston, the National Weather Service predicted. Boston declared a cold emergency through the weekend with wind chills predicted to dip well below zero.
Arctic air is the first piece to fall in place
The first factor to fall into place for the storm was Arctic air spilling down from Canada. Chicago Public Schools and others in the Midwest canceled classes Friday. With wind chills predicted to be as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 Celsius) frostbite could set in within 10 minutes, making it too dangerous to walk to school or wait for the bus.
The wind chill in Dickinson, North Dakota, was minus 52 Fahrenheit (minus 47 Celsius) on Friday morning.
Ice, snow and sleet will start later Friday in places like Oklahoma, where Department of Transportation workers pretreated roads with salt brine. The Highway Patrol canceled days off for troopers and was partnering with the National Guard to send teams out to help stranded drivers.
Texas was bracing too. Frigid temperatures closed Houston schools Friday with an e-learning day for public school students. Utility companies brought in thousands and employees to help keep the power on.
“It’s all hands on deck,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire posted online. “We’re hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.”
More than 1,000 flights nationwide were delayed or canceled Friday in advance of the storm, including at airports in Dallas, Atlanta, and Oklahoma, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. The website listed more than 1,400 cancellations for Saturday.
Once ice and snow end, the frigid air from the north will head south and east. It will take a while to thaw out, an especially dangerous prospect in places where ice and snow weighs down tree branches and power lines and cuts electricity, perhaps for days.
Ice can add hundreds of pounds to power lines and branches and make them more susceptible to snapping, especially in windy weather.
At least 11 Southern states from Texas to Virginia have a majority of homes heated by electricity, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
A severe cold snap five years ago took down much of the power grid in Texas, leaving millions without power for days and resulting in hundreds of deaths. Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that won't happen again.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told her residents to expect the heaviest snow in years.
“We are heading into a very, very dangerous weather event,” Hochul said, pointing to the possibility for hypothermia and frostbite.
In Huntsville, Alabama, employees from Jomo’s Power Equipment, Parts & Service Inc. sold dozens of generators within about a day and ordered an emergency shipment to meet customer demand.
“I’d say 95% of the calls were generator-related or either service or ‘Do you have any generators in stock,’” Bryan Hill, the store's manager, said Thursday.
Groceries stores across the South were running out of items. Holly Lawson went shopping early Friday, buying bottled water in case her pipes freeze and sandwich meat and cheese in case electricity goes out.
"If we don’t use it, this will go into the snack bags for sports next weekend” for her 10-year-old son who plays basketball, she said.
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Megnien reported from Atlanta and Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press writers around the country contributed to this report.