The United States is preparing for extreme cold: “It reaches minus 56 degrees”

From Washington to the Gulf of Mexico, official blizzard and flood warnings are beginning to sound. Powerful storms and a new moon simultaneously affect the tides, greatly increasing the risk of flooding in the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Maine.

“This is something that only happens every decade or two,” said Ashton Robinson Cook of the US Weather Prediction Center. “I haven’t seen this in years.” Right now, more than 110 million people in the United States are preparing to travel to visit relatives at Christmas.

Therefore, air traffic will have a hard time, including in Chicago, the main US aviation hub. More than 1,200 flights have already been canceled there. Many airlines have already paid compensation to people who want to rebook.

According to Marc Chenard, senior analyst at the Weather Prediction Center, about 80 records will be broken, mostly related to extreme low temperatures. In some places, mercury has already dropped to minus 54 degrees, and it is fatal for humans and animals.

Generally warm states like Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama have to deal with freezing temperatures of at least minus 56 degrees. The wind will then be cold enough to freeze bare skin in just a few minutes.

There were also many problems with the power grid in Texas. It should get better there next week. “In many places, the problem will not be too much snow, but high winds and visibility,” Chenard added.