Winter Storm Brings Icy Temperatures and Cuts Power Across U.S.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/14/us/winter-storm-snow-ice.html

Source: By Rick Rojas and Marie Fazio, The New York Times.

Excerpt: A coast-to-coast winter storm swept from Oregon and Washington to the Southeast on Sunday, part of a frigid weather pattern that created record low temperatures in Minnesota and a 100-vehicle traffic pileup in Texas and that is now producing dangerous conditions across much of the country because of heavy snowfall, perilous ice and dangerously low temperatures. The National Weather Service said early Monday that at least 150 million Americans were under ice or winter weather advisories. Hundreds of thousands of people were without power. ...300,000 customers in Oregon and 150,000 in Virginia were also without electricity ...Temperatures in parts of Oklahoma were 40 degrees lower than usual for this time of year, the National Weather Service said. The duration of the cold conditions is also unusual: Oklahoma may experience nine consecutive days of temperatures below 20 degrees, the Weather Service said. ...Winter storms are influenced by many factors, but the planet’s warming appears to be part of that icy blend — even while climate change is making winters milder over all. The air that sits over the Arctic is now sweeping down into the southern United States, as a result of a weakened jet stream, which circulates around the pole and usually holds in the frigid air of the polar vortex....   See also Washington Post article.

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