The polar conditions will bring “much-below-normal temperatures, and maybe record-low temperatures,” according to forecasters.
Large portions of the United States may experience arctic temperatures in the days leading up to Christmas, according to experts.
According to experts, the polar blast headed for the already chilly southern United States is likely to imperil the lives of the vulnerable and derail many holiday travel plans.
Meteorologist Zack Taylor of the National Weather Service stated, “We’re looking at temperatures far below normal, and maybe record-low temps, leading up to the Christmas holiday.”
In a Sunday special weather statement, the agency warned of “extreme and protracted cold conditions across southern Mississippi and southeast Louisiana.”
The cold snap follows a massive freeze that dumped up to 61cm (2 feet) of snow on the northeastern United States, leaving more than 80,000 people in New England without power on Sunday morning, according to poweroutage.us.
The National Weather Service (NWS) forecasts that the temperature in Nashville, Tennessee will fall to as low as -15C (5F) on Thursday night, while Jackson, Mississippi might reach -11C (12F).
The Weather Prediction Centre has warned that the following week might experience “the coldest air of the season” as a strong arctic front strikes the eastern two-thirds of the United States in the days preceding Christmas.
Its forecasts projected a “huge span of cold temperatures from the Northern Rockies and Northern Plains through the Midwest over the middle of the week, reaching the Gulf Coast and much of the eastern United States by Friday and Saturday.”
In the northeast, utility providers brought in more staff from other states despite hazardous road conditions.
Frank Pereira, a meteorologist with the NWS, stated, “This heavy, wet snow affected both travel and infrastructure.”
Since Friday evening, police in New England have attended to more than 180 collisions.
State officials in Vermont estimate that some customers may not have power restored for two to three days.
On Sunday night, temperatures in Montana dipped as low as -16 degrees Celsius (4 degrees Fahrenheit).
