Over 200 million people or around 60% of the population are under some form of weather warning or advisory from a “historic winter storm”.
The arctic blast rocking the country is expected to reach its highest intensity on Friday, producing what the National Weather Service is describing as “widespread disruptions” heading into the holiday weekend as over half the U.S. population finds itself under a winter storm warning, watch, or advisory.
Blizzards, whiteouts, rapid ice-overs, and freezing, powerful winds stretched from the Canadian border south to the Rio Grande, Gulf Coast and central Florida, and from the Pacific Northwest to the Eastern Seaboard. The National Weather Service described it as “one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever”.
Driving conditions are treacherous and major sections of highway were closed as public officials pleaded with citizens to rethink holiday plans and stay home. On Friday, injuries were reported from a pile-up on the Interstate 94 near Benton Harbor, Michigan when visibility dropped to one-eighth of a mile. The east-west highway is a major route through northern US states.
More than 6,900 flights within, into, or out of the U.S. were canceled by midday Friday, according to the tracking site FlightAware, causing more mayhem as travelers try to make it home for the holidays. More than 458,000 homes and businesses were without power Friday morning.
As the weather gets worse and many major sports events get canceled sports reporters are getting a new jobs.
One local sports reporter was sent out in the cold as a replacement and the end result was just hilarious
Watch the video below:
We need to do this more often to reporters who are not normally in the field!
