“More than 240 million people (more than 70% of the population) are affected by weather alerts”, the National Weather Service (NWS) said in its bulletin released this morning.

The specialized site Flightaware has recorded more than 4,400 canceled flights and the airports most affected are those of Seattle, New York, Detroit, Chicago and Denveraccording to the AFP news agency.

Climate emergency states

Several states, including New York, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Georgia and North Carolina, have declared emergencies. The phenomenon extends “from the Canadian border to the Rio Grande (on the border with Mexico)”, and from the Pacific coast, in the northwest, to the Atlantic coast, in the east, specify the American meteorologists.

“This is truly a very serious weather warning. Please take this storm very seriously.”warned President Joe Biden.

This low pressure system causes a strong clash between a very cold air mass coming from the Arctic and a tropical mass coming from the Gulf of Mexico.

A depression is a system of low atmospheric pressure, often synonymous with bad weather: its dynamics generate updrafts that cause clouds and precipitation.

The weather forecast calls for temperatures as low as -40°C in the north of the country by noon Friday and below zero as far as the coast of Texas.

Meanwhile, several cold records have already been broken: -53°C in Western Canada, -38°C in Minnesota, and further south, where temperatures are generally more moderate at this time of year. : -13°C in Dallas, -8°C in Houston.

This system causes heavy snowfall in the north of the country, especially in the Great Lakes region.

Power cuts and road closures

Nearly a million Americans were without electricity this morning, especially in the south-east of the country (Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Connecticut), according to the specialized site Poweroutage.us.

In North Dakota, major roads are closed “due to snow and wind, with near zero visibility and icy areas,” state officials said, warning travelers not to go out on roads in these conditions.

The National Weather Service has warned that as the mighty Arctic front continues to “sweep the eastern third of the nation”, impacts on travel are also to be expected, especially during one of the busiest times of the month. year for Americans at Christmas.

Officials in Erie County, New York, issued a travel ban on Friday morning, and only emergency personnel and those previously authorized are allowed to drive. In addition, travel alerts have been issued for Niagara, Genesee and New Orleans counties.