The severe winter storm has put greater than 100 million Americans under critical weather alerts with record-breaking temperature dips, snowy conditions and powerful gusts of wind already canceling greater than 5,000 flights ahead of the holiday weekend.
Strong winds and snowfall are expected to provide blizzards, double-digit negative winds and widespread power outages across the Midwest, Great Lakes and Northeast as the storm moves east.
“This storm will strengthen in a short time,” FOX meteorologist Marissa Lautenbacher told the Post.
“People need to understand that there may be quite a bit of wind with such a quick boost. In some areas, especially around the Great Lakes, winds can blow with gusts as much as 60 or 70 mph.
![Strong winds and snowfall are expected to cause blizzards, double-digit negative winds and widespread power outages in parts of the country.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/us-5k-flights-cancelled-bomb-cyclone-02.jpg?w=1024)
![Travelers arrive on their flights at United Airlines Terminal 1.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/us-5k-flights-cancelled-bomb-cyclone-09.jpg?w=1024)
At the very least 4,873 flights were canceled on Thursday and greater than 17,900 were delayed worldwide, including at the very least 5,018 domestically in response to Flightware.
The storm – which the National Weather Service called a “once-in-a-generation” weather event – began hitting the Midwest Wednesday and Thursday with blizzards. In Denver, the temperature dropped 24 degrees in only 7 minutes, reaching the lowest recorded temperature since 1989 at 24 degrees.
The storm was moving eastward and was reported to hit Chicago with winds of as much as 80 mph, which was reported to have resulted in as many as 500 cancellations at the city’s airports, in response to reports.
The canceled flights sparked a wave of support across the country – including in Latest York, where passengers scrambled to alter their plans on Thursday afternoon.
![An American Airlines plane has been de-iced as strong winds whip about 7.5 inches of new snow in Minneapolis-St. Paula International Airport.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/us-5k-flights-cancelled-bomb-cyclone-10.jpg?w=1024)
![snow map](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/holiday-bomb-cyclone-snow-forecast.jpg?w=1024)
“I feel like I’m at the starting of Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” said Chris Roselli, who was on a flight from La Guardia to Washington State together with his wife and two young daughters. “Our flight has been cancelled, [I’m] I attempted to get a taxi to the alternate airport, I attempted to book a hotel over the phone in a city I wasn’t going to: Minneapolis,” he said.
Ashley Jones, 25, who flew in from Perth, Australia while pregnant, said her flight to Ottawa, Canada was suddenly diverted via Montreal.
“We didn’t get an email, text or anything!” she got pissed. “I heard [an airline worker] say… “Anyone who doesn’t leave soon won’t leave by 26.”
![frost alerts](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/holiday-bomb-cyclone-wind-chill-alerts.jpg?w=1024)
Her fiancé, James, added: “Now I’m attempting to buy train tickets.”
Several airlines have began offering exemptions to desperate passengers.
“In anticipation of the winter weather arriving in the Chicago area today, airlines at O’Hare Airport have proactively canceled nearly 400 flights,” the airport tweeted.
![Weather report in the USA - Bomb cyclone.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/us-weather.jpg?w=1024)
![temperature map](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/holiday-bomb-cyclone-christmas-weekend.jpg?w=1024)
Even in the San Francisco Bay Area, travelers are affected by the far-reaching storm. On Thursday morning, San Francisco International Airport had 16 canceled flights, while Oakland had nine and San Jose had eight.
Seepa Esposito said she just hoped she could make it to Latest York in time for the holidays.
“I’m just afraid we can’t have the opportunity to,” she told KTVU. “At the moment it’s kind of worrying.”
Thus far, the storm has hit mostly the central Midwest with biting cold. Cheyenne, Wyoming, recorded a 30-degree drop in temperature in 10 minutes, a record 43-degree drop in temperature in an hour, and Dillion, Montana, recorded a 26-degree drop in three minutes.
![plane departures](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/airport-departures-delays-washington.jpg?w=1024)
While most states won’t see such a dramatic drop in such a brief amount of time, other areas will proceed to drop 30 degrees overnight, in response to Lautenbacher.
With most of the country facing sub-zero temperatures and even below freezing, southern states like Florida can even be affected as temperatures drop from 80 degrees to 60 degrees on Saturday, in response to Lautenbacher.
An intense Arctic gust that began in the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday will bring “life-threatening chills” and potentially deadly shivers to much of the country, officials have warned.
![storm affecting travel](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/airport-holiday-travel-chicago.jpg?w=1024)
“A cold of this magnitude can result in frostbite on exposed skin in minutes, in addition to hypothermia and death if exposure is prolonged,” the agency said, noting that windchill warnings now extend from the US-Canada border to the Gulf Coast Texas, including parts of at the very least 26 states.
As temperatures proceed to drop sharply in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions, the cold will only be exacerbated by strong winds. The National Weather Service warned of common temperatures starting from minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit to close minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit in the Midwest and advised residents to remain indoors.
The storm also carries the threat of power outages, especially in Latest England, and rain, which can freeze and cause dangerous icy roads.
The blizzard can even bring destructive conditions to the Northeast, including Latest York City and surrounding suburbs, where rain and high winds can cause power outages and icy, dangerous road conditions.
In keeping with Lautenbacher, power outages “might be a really big thing.”
“Especially with such low temperatures. People really want to plan and take a look at to seek out a approach to stay warm in such low temperatures,” added Lautenbacher.