More than 1 million customers in the U.S., as far west as Texas, were without power on Sunday (25 January), according to PowerOutage.us. Estimates suggested more than 10,000 flights would be cancelled.
Forecasters warned that the storm would sweep across the eastern two-thirds of the country from Sunday into next week, bringing dangerously cold temperatures and widespread ice accumulation that could cause “crippling to locally catastrophic impacts”, according to the National Weather Service.
Calling the storms "historic," U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday approved federal emergency disaster declarations in South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana and West Virginia.
"We will continue to monitor, and stay in touch with all States in the path of this storm. Stay Safe, and Stay Warm," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have declared weather emergencies, the Department of Homeland Security said.
A powerful winter storm spread a paralyzing mix of heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain from the Ohio Valley and mid-South to New England on Sunday, compounded by bitter Arctic cold gripping much of the U.S. east of the Rockies.
Winter storm warnings covered 118 million people, and an estimated 157 million were urged to brace for temperatures ranging from sub-zero along the Canadian border to below freezing near the Gulf of Mexico.
Wind chills plunged to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit in the northern Plains.
Some of the heaviest snowfall, up to one foot or more since the storm developed on Friday, was recorded in parts of Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul mobilised National Guard troops in New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley to assist with emergency response efforts.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, at a news conference on Saturday, warned Americans to take precautions.
"It’s going to be very, very cold," Noem said. "So we'd encourage everybody to stock up on fuel, stock up on food, and we will get through this together."
"We have utility crews that are working to restore that as quick as possible," Noem added.
The number of outages continued to rise. Power failures spread across the South as freezing rain deposited layers of ice up to an inch thick, toppling tree limbs and transmission lines.
More than 1 million homes and businesses from Texas to the Carolinas were without electricity at the height of the storm on Sunday, with Tennessee accounting for about a third of all outages.
More than 800,000 customers remained without power late Sunday, according to PowerOutage.us.
The National Weather Service warned of an unusually expansive and long-duration winter storm that would bring widespread, heavy ice accumulation in the Southeast, where "crippling to locally catastrophic impacts" can be expected.
Weather service forecasters predicted record cold temperatures and dangerously cold wind chills descending further into the Great Plains region by Monday as more Arctic air rushed in behind the departing system.
The Department of Energy on Saturday issued an emergency order authorising the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to deploy backup generation resources at data centres and other major facilities to limit blackouts.
On Sunday, the DOE issued an emergency order allowing PJM Interconnection to run specified resources in the mid-Atlantic region beyond normal permitting limits.
More than 10,200 U.S. flights scheduled for Sunday were cancelled, according to flight tracking website FlightAware, with over 4,000 flights cancelled on Saturday.
Major U.S. airlines warned passengers to stay alert for abrupt changes, and more than 11,000 flights were ultimately cancelled by Sunday as heavy snow, sleet and ice hampered operations across major hubs.
Ronald Reagan National Airport in Virginia was effectively closed altogether, while airports serving New York, Philadelphia and Charlotte saw cancellations affecting at least 80% of flights.
Delta Air Lines DAL.N adjusted its schedule on Saturday, with additional cancellations in the morning for Atlanta and along the East Coast, including in Boston and New York City.
It would relocate experts from cold-weather hubs to support de-icing and baggage teams at several southern airports, the airline said.
JetBlue JBLU.O said that as of Saturday morning it had canceled about 1,000 flights through Monday.
United Airlines UAL.O said it had proactively canceled some flights in places with the worst expected weather.
Australia on Thursday condemned Israel’s decision to close its criminal investigation into the deaths of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom ...
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The collective-defence agreement between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signals that regional powers no longer want to rely solely on external security guarantees. Whether it becomes a stabilising deterrent or another axis of rivalry remains unresolved.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, according to the latest data, as uncertainty over the waterway’s reopening kept most shipowners away. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from nine the day before and below the 10-day daily average of 11.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. fulfils the terms of an interim deal, including lifting the maritime blockade and sanctions and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 19th of August, covering the latest developments.
Australia on Thursday condemned Israel’s decision to close its criminal investigation into the deaths of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six World Central Kitchen colleagues killed in Gaza in April 2024.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
North Korea has fired more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles after U.S. President Donald Trump reduced American participation in joint military exercises with South Korea in an effort to revive dialogue with Pyongyang.
Georgia’s foreign trade data for January-July 2026 shows Kyrgyzstan, China and Russia as its top three export markets, highlighting its Middle Corridor ambitions and complex economic ties with Moscow.
Kazakhstan will vote on 23 August in its first parliamentary election under the new Constitution, choosing 145 members of the new Kurultai under a fundamentally changed electoral system based entirely on party lists.
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