(Washington) Polar cold persisted Monday across a large part of the United States where a major winter storm caused the death of at least 11 people, also deprived more than a million homes of electricity and grounded thousands of planes.
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Authorities have warned that an arctic air mass will cause temperatures to drop to dangerously low levels for several more days.
A state of emergency has been declared in around twenty states as well as in the federal capital, Washington.
Considered by some meteorologists to be one of the worst winter episodes in recent decades in the United States, the storm is accompanied by freezing temperatures, heavy snowfall and ice accumulations with potentially “catastrophic” consequences, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said five people were found dead outdoors over the weekend in freezing temperatures.
“While we do not yet know the causes of their deaths, nothing speaks more strongly to the danger of extreme cold and the vulnerability of many residents, particularly homeless New Yorkers,” he said at a news conference Sunday.
PHOTO AMID FARAHI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
View of the Capitol under the snow in Washington, January 25, 2026.
In Texas, authorities confirmed three deaths, including that of a 16-year-old girl killed in a sledding accident. Two people died of hypothermia in Louisiana.
Separately, one person was killed and two others injured Saturday in a winter-related collision in southeast Iowa, according to local state police.
Some 820,000 customers were still without electricity Monday morning, mainly in the southern United States, according to the specialist site PowerOutage.com.
In Tennessee, where ice brought down power lines, more than 250,000 customers remained without power Monday, while 100,000 customers were without power in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Authorities from Texas to North Carolina and New York urged residents to stay home due to the perilous conditions.
“Avoid driving unless absolutely necessary,” the Texas Division of Emergency Management posted on X.
Polar vortex
The storm was moving northeastward Sunday, dumping snow on large, densely populated cities including Philadelphia, New York and Boston.
“We will continue to monitor and stay in contact with all states in the path of this storm. Stay safe and stay warm! “, asked US President Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform.
Several large airports in the capital Washington, Philadelphia and New York were virtually at a standstill, while more than 19,000 flights to and from the United States have been canceled since Saturday and thousands more have been delayed, according to the FlightAware website.
The FAA, the American aviation regulatory authority, indicated on its X account that a small plane carrying eight people had crashed Sunday evening during takeoff at an airport in Maine without specifying whether the weather conditions were linked to this accident.
The storm is linked to a deformation of the polar vortex, an air mass usually circulating above the North Pole, but which has stretched towards the South.
Scientists believe that the increasing frequency of these vortex disruptions could be linked to climate change, although the debate is not settled and natural variability also plays a role.
A self-confessed climate sceptic, Donald Trump nevertheless used the storm as an excuse to once again express his skepticism on his Truth Social platform: “Could the environmental insurgents please explain to me: WHAT HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING? “.
Authorities warned of life-threatening cold that could last a week after the storm, especially in the Northern Great Plains and other central areas, where felt temperatures could reach -45°C.
Such temperatures can cause frostbite within minutes.
