At least 34 dead as winter storm begins exit, extreme cold follows

At least 34 people have died over the weekend amid heavy snow and freezing temperatures, according to authorities. Cold temperatures are expected to linger into the week, raising concerns for those without power or shelter.

Mississippi hit hard by storm

Much of Mississippi suffered major impacts from the winter storm, including the city of Oxford and the University of Mississippi campus.

On Monday, the school posted on social media that its campus would remain closed until Tuesday, Jan. 27, because of the ongoing power outages and icy roads.

The student union on campus is being used as a warming shelter for students and employees, according to a statement by Chancellor Glenn F. Boyce. Power has been restored to several residence halls and around-the-clock efforts are underway to restore power to all residence halls, the statement read.

Two deaths were reported in Mississippi, including 66-year-old Bobbie Freeman, who died from cold exposure after his car either slid off the road or broke down, authorities said. The Hinds County Sheriff is investigating. Mississippi station WTVA reported that Timothy Steele, 73, died after an ice laden tree limb fell through the roof of his mobile home, according to the Tishomingo County Coroner Mack Wilemon.

While the storm system was drifting away from the East Coast into the Atlantic on Monday, the blob of arctic air will cause subfreezing temperatures for several more days. The monster storm dumped sleet, freezing rain and snow over much of the country, disrupting travel and leaving hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses without power along a swath from Texas to Maine.

At least 34 deaths have been reported in the wake of the fierce storm, from Texas to Massachusetts, more than half attributed to hypothermia, exposure or activities related to snow removal.

Now, meteorologists warn that widespread, unusually cold temperatures will affect more than 190 million Americans through the rest of the week, and possibly longer. Extreme cold and cold watches, warnings and advisories stretch eastward from southeastern New Mexico across most of the eastern U.S., to Pennsylvania and New York.

From parts of Tennessee and Virginia, northward from the Great Plains to New England, temperatures are expected to remain below freezing through Feb. 1, according to a graphic from the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center on Monday.

“We are particularly concerned about these locations across Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee because they’re experiencing this extreme cold and many of them don’t have power,” said Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the prediction center, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Just a few days behind the cold blast that arrived Monday, another storm could reach the East Coast by the weekend, Santorelli said.

Officials warn of freezing temperatures

As the latest arctic blast drops temperatures to dangerous lows, cities and states are taking additional measures to warn residents and respond to the cold.

In Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday that the state would extend its cold weather protocol through Feb. 5, due to the “brutally frigid temperatures” the state is expected to experience for another 10 days.

In New York City, temperatures this week are expected to be the coldest the city has seen in eight years, Mayor Zohran Momdani said during a Monday morning news conference.

The city still has its Code Blue cold protocol in effect and reminded people to call the city’s 311 non-emergency number if they see individuals outside, said Dora Pekec, the mayor’s senior spokesperson. Calls to that line are routed to 911 and the city’s team of more than 400 support outreach employees patrolling and working to get people off the streets. Pekec said at least 200 individuals were taken off the street and put inside, with the “vast majority” in shelters, she said.

At least eight deaths were reported in the city over the weekend, Pekec said, and all eight were found outside but the causes of the deaths have not been confirmed.

In Kentucky, where the Louisville Metro Police Department went viral over the weekend for its running commentary on X about the storm, the account posted another thread on Monday afternoon to warn people about the dangerous cold.

“Hypothermia doesn’t care if you ‘only ran out for a minute,’” the department posted. “If you’re shivering uncontrollably, confused, or your fingers look like they’re auditioning for Frozen 3, get inside and warm up slowly.”

Flight cancellations continue amid

extreme cold

The freezing temperatures and accumulated ice continue to cause headaches for U.S. travelers on roads and by air.

More than 5,500 flight cancellations had been reported, according to FlightAware, an aviation tracking service. Meanwhile, the company reported delays had topped 7,200.

At Boston Logan International Airport, more than 60% of flights had been canceled on Monday. In the New York City metro area, roughly half the flights had been canceled at LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy International and Newark Liberty International airports.

Is there another winter storm on the way? Yes, meteorologists are seeing a signal in the computer models for a potential storm that could move over the East Coast by the weekend of Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, Santorelli said.

But for now, it’s “impossible to determine where the storm will set up, where the precipitation could fall and what kind of precipitation it might be,” she said.

There’s still a lot of uncertainty. But the storm could complicate the already hazardous situation with the extreme cold temperatures forecast to grip the country for much of the week, she said.

Some cities record high snowfall after stormOver 72 hours, snow and sleet were reported in 38 states and the District of Columbia.

As of Monday morning, major cities across the northeast recorded upwards of a foot of snow, according to the weather service. The totals include sleet, as well as snow.

In New York City, 11.4 inches were measured in Central Park as of midnight on Jan. 26. Elsewhere in New York, as much as 17 inches fell on the western part of the state, per the weather service.

In Boston, 15 inches of snow had fallen as of 10 p.m. local time on Jan. 25, according to the weather service.

About 9 inches of snow was recorded in Washington, DC by 7 p.m. on Jan. 25.

At 23 inches of snow, New Bethlehem led the eastern U.S. with the deepest snow and sleet, with several measurements of 20 inches or more across parts of New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

See more on nationwide snow totals here.