image source, Getty Images
Local residents help clear snow at Buffalo’s Highmark Stadium ahead of Monday’s AFC Wild Card Playoff game.
Frigid Arctic air blanketed much of the United States on Monday, with more than 142 million people across the country under cold weather warnings.
The National Weather Service (NWS) said the central United States could experience record cold temperatures.
Temperatures in Montana are expected to drop below -50F (-45C).
The freeze could impact voter turnout in Iowa as the state prepares to choose a Republican candidate for the 2024 election.
In an advisory Monday, the NWS warned that “severe cold weather” will continue into Wednesday.
The cold weather was thanks to an arctic air mass that moved southeast from western Canada into the United States, setting record low temperatures there.
image source, Getty Images
January 13th, frozen Edmonton, Alberta
Temperatures in Edmonton, Alberta, reached a bone-chilling record low of -49.5 degrees Celsius (-45.3 degrees Celsius) on Saturday. The cold weather has strained Alberta’s energy grid, prompting the province to issue an emergency alert at one point asking people to turn off non-essential appliances at the risk of widespread power outages.
As of Monday, all of Alberta remained under an extreme cold warning, with Environment Canada warning people that “frostbite can develop within minutes, especially on exposed areas of skin, due to wind chill.” We are asking people to dress appropriately.
At least six million Canadians are under extreme cold warnings, primarily in parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.
Trees covered in ice due to steam exhaust from a chemical plant in Ames, Iowa
Much of that arctic air mass now rests over the heartland of the United States, and political analysts are weighing whether cold weather will hinder turnout in Iowa, where the state caucuses will be held on Monday.
The state of Iowa has been experiencing frigid temperatures and heavy snow for much of the weekend, forcing the cancellation of some campaign events.
Temperatures in some parts of the state are expected to drop as low as -40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Celsius) on Monday due to wind chill.
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Iowans try to stay warm in the face of bitter cold
image source, Chip Somodevilla
Volunteers push Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis’ campaign sign into deep snow in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The winter weather also disrupted the National Football League’s playoff schedule.
Sunday’s wild-card game between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers was postponed to Monday due to a snowstorm in New York. The Bills asked for help shoveling snow from the front of the stadium before the game started, and many people responded.
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June Gernot shovels snow after the Buffalo Bills ask for help for Monday’s game.
However, the AFC wild-card game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins went ahead as scheduled on Saturday despite wind chills and field temperatures that reached -28 degrees Celsius (-33 degrees Celsius).
image source, Getty Images
Arrowhead Stadium was frozen ahead of Saturday’s AFC Wild Card Playoff game.
Elsewhere in the country, frigid temperatures are expected to bring a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain to the lower Mississippi and Tennessee basins.
In the West, winter storm warnings are in effect for parts of Washington state and Portland, Oregon, and continued power outages have left more than 100,000 households and businesses without heat or electricity for the past three days. We are forced to survive the cold.
Approximately 25,000 other Texas residents are also without power due to the cold weather. With more cold weather expected, officials on Monday urged residents to conserve electricity use to reduce the load on the state’s power grid.
image source, USA Today Sports
Dallas police officers direct traffic ahead of the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans basketball game Monday.
The NWS expects some cold relief by Wednesday, but the cold won’t last long.
Another influx of arctic air is expected to move south from Canada later this week, potentially causing even colder temperatures in the Midwest and Deep South by Friday.
