Winter storms to dump snow, extreme cold and travel warnings across the U.S.
Heavy snow, freezing rain and temperatures as much as 35 degrees below seasonal averages are set to hit large parts of the continental United States as a string of storms confirm that winter is far from over.
Some 32 million people were under winter weather alerts overnight, with the heavy snow due for northern Kentucky into West Virginia, the Washington metro area and Maryland, as well as parts of the Ohio Valley and across the Mid-Atlantic.
The winter storm due to hit Tuesday is forecast to bring between 4 and 8 inches of snow, likely falling at 1 inch per hour, from northeast Kentucky to Virginia and the I-95 corridor — making Tuesday evening's commute particularly dangerous for many.
As much as 10 inches of snow is possible in parts of Kansas, with large amounts expected along and north of the I-70.
The same storm is set to dump heavy rain across the South and Southeast, which could cause localized flooding.
In addition, freezing rain could mean as much as 0.5 inches of ice in the Appalachians from northern North Carolina into Virginia, bringing hazards for commuters and the possibility of power outages.
An Arctic blast of cold air will make temperatures 25 to 35 degrees below average across the Northern Rockies to the Upper Great Lakes and the Central High Plains, prompting an extreme cold weather warning, the National Weather Service said.
North Dakota could see it get as cold as —55 degrees Fahrenheit when the wind chill factor is added in, creating life-threatening conditions, the NWS warned.
And just as those are recovering from that winter onslaught, many of the same areas will be hit by another winter storm Wednesday into Thursday.
This second storm, which will be due on Wednesday, will bring more snow to the Midwest and Great Lakes as well as more rain and ice to the Mid-Atlantic. This low-pressure system is set to bring heavy rain and thunderstorms over the Lower Mississippi Valley and the wider Southeast into Thursday.
And a third storm is forecast to hit the Northeast this weekend, from the Midwest to the East Coast.
In Utah, there were stark warnings over the threat of avalanches, which have killed four people this year so far. Drew Hardesty, with the Utah Avalanche Center, told NBC affiliate KSL of Salt Lake City that a skier triggered an avalanche 200 feet wide on Monday on Mount Superior. No one was reported missing or injured.
'It's been a very dangerous year. As of Saturday, that was our fourth avalanche fatality this year,' Hardesty said. 'We average just a little over two. It's been a very dangerous and unstable snowpack really since Thanksgiving.'
The West Coast is not spared from the cold snap: A storm system is set to arrive in California late Wednesday, producing rain and snow in higher areas. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is due to hold a news conference at 9 a.m. PT Tuesday, ahead of the storm.
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Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Telegraph
The new regulations threatening Arctic cruises
When our waiter pointed through the restaurant window and exclaimed 'polar bear', I could swear the MS Spitsbergen listed, such was the rush to starboard. I was on a cruise up the coastline of western Svalbard, and we all wanted to see one. Yet this distant 'bear' sighting turned out to be a plump, white-coated reindeer – and the queue for omelettes soon reformed. How close we would actually get to one during Hurtigruten Expeditions' first 'Return of the Sun' voyage of the season, as winter's sea-ice cracked apart, was, however, another matter. That's because strict new conservation regulations governing how to see polar bears in Svalbard have just come into effect. The Norwegian government's new regulations mean ships cannot carry more than 200 passengers (we were 98), sites deemed fragile have been closed to landings, and there is firm guidance on not disturbing or pursuing polar bears. Which all seems sensible. What has caused some uproar is a diktat that between March 1 and June 30 (a period when females have young cubs) the closest distance a ship can view polar bears from is 500 metres. This drops to 300 metres for the rest of the year. One local Norwegian small-ship operator irately told me it would be the death of Svalbard cruising as even with powerful cameras and binoculars sightings would be too distant. He also showed me a recent video posted online of a scientific research helicopter harassing a polar bear with cubs. 'No cruise ship ever behaved so badly to the bears – it's a different rule for them,' he said. Still, I was optimistic – perhaps due to the serotonin overdose of midnight sun that blazed all night through my cabin window as we traversed a snowbound coastline of Toblerone-shaped mountains and glistening glaciers. Maybe I'd roll up my blackout blind to see a bear bobbing shipside on a piece of ice floe? Although if I did, the new regulations would require the ship to withdraw immediately to 500 metres away. Monica Votvik, the ship's Norwegian expedition leader, laughed: 'We don't tend to get those National Geographic encounters'. She was uncertain as to whether the regulation's rationale was conservation or to control tourism. 'I have been up around Svalbard for 15 years and had a lot of bear encounters and never once seen our operation disturb them. Mostly the bears are unbothered by our presence,' she added. Their population, she said, has been stable and last year's bears were fat with big bellies. Around 300 inhabit Svalbard, part of the Barents Sea population of 3,000, which roam across the ice eastwards to Russia's Franz Joseph Land. Since 1973 it has been illegal to hunt them here. An estimated 28,000 were killed during the century prior to the ban. Polar bears are not the sole focus of Svalbard voyages, Monica insisted. 'We don't call these wildlife cruises. It's about being in nature, among the glaciers and mountains,' she said. And she was right. During landings by zodiac dinghies we saw hauled-out walruses at Smeerenburg, squeezed together on a beach, some flat on their voluminous backs with ivory tusks pointing skywards. At Calypsobyen, the thwarted ambition is palpable of the abandoned workings of the British Northern Exploration Company's failed attempt at coal-mining between 1918-20. At Gravnesodden, the souls within the 17th-century graves of English, Dutch, and Basque whalers felt present in wavy murmurations of little auks overhead. One night a minke whale arched beyond the ship's bow. The perpetual soundtrack was barnacle geese migrating here in their thousands. Our polar bear moment arrived in the majestic snowbound Raudfjörden. At around 9pm, after a Norwegian seafood buffet, we crowded on Spitsbergen's bow when two bears had been spotted from the bridge. We edged closer, still well outside the new limit, but were halted by impenetrable ice, imprinted by a bear's heavy paw prints. I could make out the bears through binoculars virtually motionless staring at each other. They were pinpricks on the horizon, but this felt an authentically real way to experience their free-roaming lifestyles in the context of this immense Arctic wilderness. 'These distant sightings are the norm,' said Monica's assistant, Joshua van der Groen. 'If we saw them on the shoreline like this we would never land but previously would've launched the zodiacs to get closer whilst maintaining a respectful difference,' he said. The remote bear sighting however didn't worry fellow passengers, Ian and Jackie Ross, from Skye. 'We hadn't heard about the regulations before booking but they wouldn't have put us off,' they said. 'We didn't expect to see bears but came for nature and scenery. Any wildlife has been a bonus'. There is a suggestion that operators will sail beyond Svalbard's territorial waters, 12 miles out, to where the new regulations have no authority. It was in that zone, beyond 80°N, we saw one of Europe's most sublime spectacles: the southern edge of the polar ice front. Ahead of us was a white barrier that spanned the entire horizon. It was 600 nautical miles from there to the North Pole. Across its expanse polar bears can roam all the way to Russian islands. 'It will be interesting to see if ships do come here looking for bears, although you'd be very unlikely to see them due to the ice's extent,' said Joshua. Only early-season spring voyages are likely to sail to this ice-front because in summer it retreats. 'That would mean ships using a lot more fuel to reach it and more sea days, which would mean less landings, which guests enjoy,' he said. The biggest threat polar bears face is the retreat of Arctic sea ice – this winter's extent was the lowest on record – which undermines their ability to hunt seals on the ice floe. These new cruise regulations will therefore make little difference to wider efforts to conserve polar bears, but nor, thankfully, do they significantly diminish the experience of witnessing wild and magnificent Svalbard. Mark Stratton was a guest of Hurtigruten Expeditions. Its voyage costs from £5,540 per person including regional flights and hotel accommodation.
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
First direct flight from US to Greenland since 2008 lands on Trump's birthday
The first direct flight from the U.S. to Greenland by an American airline landed in the capital city of Nuuk on Saturday. The United Airlines-operated Boeing 737 Max 8 departed from Newark International Airport in New Jersey at 11:31 a.m. EDT (1531 GMT) and arrived a little over 4 hours later, at 6:38 p.m. local time (1938 GMT), according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. A seat cost roughly $1,200. Saturday's flight marks the first direct passage between the U.S. and the Arctic Island for nearly 20 years. In 2007, Air Greenland launched a route between Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Kangerlussuaq Airport, some 315 kilometers (196 miles) north of Nuuk. It was scrapped the following year due to cost. The United Airlines flight took place on U.S. President Donald Trump's 79th birthday, which was being celebrated in Washington with a controversial military parade that's part of the Army's long-planned 250th anniversary celebration. Trump has repeatedly said he seeks control of Greenland, a strategic Arctic island that's a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, and has not ruled out military force. The governments of Denmark, a NATO ally, and Greenland have said it is not for sale and condemned reports of the U.S. stepping up intelligence gathering on the mineral-rich island. United announced the flight in October, before Trump was re-elected. It was scheduled for 2025 to take advantage of the new Nuuk airport, which opened in late November and features a larger runway for bigger jets. 'United will be the only carrier to connect the U.S. directly to Nuuk — the northernmost capital in the world, providing a gateway to world-class hiking and fascinating wildlife under the summer's midnight sun,' the company said in a statement at the time. Saturday's flight kicked off the airline's twice weekly seasonal service, from June to September, between Newark and Nuuk. The plane has around 165 seats. Previously, travelers had to take a layover in Iceland or Copenhagen, Denmark, before flying to Greenland. The new flight is beneficial for the island's business and residents, according to Greenland government minister Naaja Nathanielsen. Tourists will spend money at local businesses, and Greenlanders themselves will now be able to travel to the U.S. more easily, Nathanielsen, the minister for business, mineral resources, energy, justice and gender equality, told Danish broadcaster DR. The route is also an important part of diversifying the island's economy, she said. Fishing produces about 90% of Greenland's exports. Tourism is increasingly important. More than 96,000 international passengers traveled through the country's airports in 2023, up 28% from 2015. Visit Greenland echoed Nathanielsen's comments. The government's tourism agency did not have projections on how much money the new flights would bring to the island. 'We do know that flights can bring in much more than just dollars, and we expect it to have a positive impact -- both for the society and travellers,' Tanny Por, Visit Greenland's head of international relations, told The Associated Press in an email. __
The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
Bonnaroo Music Festival canceled due to severe weather as fans left fuming ‘after spending thousands'
A HUGE music festival has left fans devastated after it was canceled. Fans are fuming over the "thousands" of dollars they have lost after the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival was canceled due to severe weather on Friday. 6 6 6 The festival, which is held in Manchester, Tennessee, was called off on Friday 13, with many commenting on how the supposedly unlucky date brought them a spot of bad luck. Canceled for the weekend, the festival only got one full day in action on Thursday, June 12. The festival kicked off on Thursday with the likes of Luke Combs and Dom Dolla taking to the stage. As per reports, the main area of the festival, which is called Centeroo, was evacuated at 1:30 CT in the afternoon. The festival released a statement on their app on Friday, revealing the remaining days had been called off. The statement on the app read: "We are beyond gutted, but we must make the safest decision and cancel the remainder of Bonnaroo." Then, on Instagram, they issued further details. They said: "Today, the National Weather Service provided us with an updated forecast with significant and steady precipitation that will produce deteriorating camping and egress conditions in the coming days." They continued: "We are going to make things right with you, and you will find refund information at the end of this message, but let's start with the next steps. "The number one thing we need from the Bonnaroo community is patience. "Some of your fellow campers' sites are in rough shape. "The rain has settled in areas and made certain parts of Outeroo difficult to manage." They added: "We'd like to prioritize getting those folks as well as those with accessibility needs off The Farm as soon as possible this evening. "To do this, we ask that if your campsite is in good shape or if you're in an RV or pre-pitched accommodation, please consider spending the night with us and we'll start working to get you out of here safely tomorrow." The statement concluded: "We will continue to operate as usual in Outeroo including food vendors and all health and safety infrastructure. 6 6 "We have put our hearts and souls into making this weekend the most special one of the year, and cannot express how crushed we are to have to make this decision. "Thank you in advance for your patience, your positivity and your unfailing Bonnaroovian spirit." The festival also detailed what would be refunded for fans. "All 1-Day Friday, Saturday and Sunday Admission Tickets purchased via Front Gate Tickets and 1-Day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Day Parting purchased via Front Gate Tickets will be refunded. "All 4-Day Admission Tickets purchased via Front Gate will receive a 75% refund. "All 4-Day camping accommodations purchased via Front Gate Tickets will receive a 75% refund. "All refunds will be process in as little as 30 days, to the original method of payment." Reacting to the announcement on social media, fans were fuming. "BRO WE SPENT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TO BE HERE," said one person. Another added: "Literally spent THOUSANDS of dollars flying from Hawaii……. first roo and most likely my last." While a third penned: "*Not a single drop of rain was dropped after this was posted* lol." 6
