Move FM Global News

CHICAGO, Illinois: An Arctic blast has surged through large areas of the US, causing bitter cold and life-threatening wind chills ahead of a powerful winter storm, which is expected to disrupt holiday travel for millions of Americans.

Bob Oravec, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, said that as a freezing air mass descended from the Northern Plains, rapidly dropping temperatures, some 200 million people in the Lower 48 states were under extreme weather alerts.

At Denver International Airport this week, the temperature plummeted by 37 degrees in one hour, from 42F to 5F , a record drop at that location, the National Weather Service reported.

“That is the kind of changes that is going to be occurring as this front pushes southward, rapid temperature drops, sometimes 50 or more degrees colder than the previous day,” Oravec said.

The American Automobile Association said that nearly 113 million people could travel more than 50 miles from their homes this Christmas.

However, their journeys could be disrupted by extreme weather coinciding with the start of a holiday travel season, which is expected to be one of the busiest in decades.

Going into the holiday weekend, freezing weather and sub-zero wind chills, cold enough to induce frostbite on exposed skin within minutes, are forecasted to affect much of the country.

According to flight-tracking service FlightAware, more than 2,000 US flights, including service into and out of the country, have been canceled so far.

Also, US airlines, including Delta, United Airlines, and American Airlines, announced they are waiving change fees and fare differences for passengers in some affected areas.