A major winter storm that has brought some of the coldest temperatures of the season to the Midwest is now barreling its way towards New England and the rest of the east, causing chaos on the roads and in the sky.
Nearly 5,000 flights were canceled on Sunday in anticipation of the -35F arctic winds projected to sweep across the nation.
The National Weather service has issued winter storm warnings for 15 different states, spanning from southeast Missouri to the top of Maine and effecting more than 100 million people.
The storm – named Harper – has been triggered by the clashing of an Arctic high pressure system with a low pressure system in the Ohio Valley, according to meteorologist Dan Hofmann.
A Southwest Airlines flight (pictured) carrying 150 people skidded from the runway at Nebraska’s Eppley Airfield on Friday
Airline baggage carts sit on the tarmac as crews prepare to remove snow at the Albany International Airport in Colonie, New York on January 20. The area saw more than 11 inches of snowfall overnight
More than 5,000 flights have been cancelled nationwide, as the severity of the storm continues to increase (Pictured: a deicing agent is applied to a SkyWest airplane before its takeoff, Friday,January 18, 2019, at O’Hare International Airport, Chicago)
‘It happens that this one is going through a relatively high population area,’ Hofmann said.
Northern New England is expected to see up to two feet of snow, which will be followed Sunday night by bitter cold and wind chills as low as -35 in parts of Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire.
Several inches have already fallen the region, as of Sunday morning.
Parts of upstate New York also saw 11 inches of snow fall over night, the Weather Channel say.
Storm Harper struck in the heart of the Midwest last week, dousing cities like Chicago is several inches of snow. Now, the storm is projected to move east where arctic winds will spread out as far as Florida early next week
Amid the chaos though, some New Englanders have embraced the fruits of the storm.
Nicholas Nicolet and his 6-year-old son Rocco got outside early Sunday morning in Montpelier, Vermont, as they cross-country skied on the city’s snow-clad sidewalks.
‘We think it’s great,’ said Nicolet, who rushed to get outside with his son at 7 am.
Despite the chaos, some of the Americans affected are embracing the snow, such as this resident in Montpelier, Vermont, who is cross-country skiing down the high-street
The squall saw 10 inches of snow dumped on parts of the Midwest on Saturday.
A Southwest Airlines flight carrying 150 people skidded from the runway at Nebraska’s Eppley Airfield on January 18, after freezing temperatures caused an icy slick to form on the tarmac.
No injuries were reported in relation to the incident of Flight 1643, officials said.
However, a snowplow driver in Kansas was killed when he drove onto the shoulder of a road and his plow tipped over, crushing him beneath the vehicle.
The squall dumped 10 inches of snow over the Midwest, with Chicago one of the cities most readily affected (Pictured: a woman walks down a Chicago street as the snow continues to fall on January 19)
As the storm system continues to move east, the frigid Arctic air behind it is expected to envelop many parts of the Midwest where snow has recently fallen.
‘The air that it is bringing down with it is very, very cold,’ Hofmann said.
President Donald Trump awed at the scale of the storm at in a tweet early Sunday morning, urging affected Americans to stay safe.
But Trump couldn’t resist making a dig at global warming theorists.
‘Amazing how big this system is. Wouldn’t be bad to have a little of that good old fashioned Global Warming right now!’ Trump remarked.
This isn’t the first time Trump has attempted to amalgamate short-term weather patterns and the effects of long-term climate change.
But despite his theory, the White House’s own National Climate Assessment rejects the claim that a singular plunge in temperature can cast doubt over idea that Earth is warming.
‘[Climate change] is transforming where and how we live and presents growing challenges to human health and quality of life, the economy, and the natural systems that support us,’ a report issued by the NCA said in November.
The President tweeted in awe of the storm’s scale on Sunday morning, but couldn’t resist a dig at theories of global warming
A snowplow operator was killed when his vehicle overturned in Kansas (Pictured: Snow is removed from the sidewalk in Chicago on Saturday)
Wind temperatures are tipped to drop as low as -35F in some areas of the country in the coming days, leading to a series of health and safety warnings being issued across the 15 affected states (Pictured: a Father and son showcasing their winter wear for the cold temperatures on Friday in North Dakota)
In the storm’s wake, a deep chill is predicted to grip most of the country over the following days.
Temperatures are tipped to plummet so severely in some areas that any moisture on the ground is expected to freeze.
Projected flash flooding of 2.5 inches in New York City is predicted to turn into a thick layer of ice by the early hours of Monday morning.
Monday’s forecasted temperatures in Boston will struggle to go above 11 F, while New York City will max out at 14 F.
Projected flash flooding of 2.5 inches in New York City is predicted to turn into a thick layer of ice by the early hours of Monday morning
A total of 15 states have been issued weather warnings, predicted to affect 100 million Americans (Pictured: crews clear snow at the Albany International Airport in Colonie, New York, on Sunday)
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency has warned residents the wind chill could drop to 20 degrees below zero early Monday.
This arctic air will then spill out as far south as Florida next week, leaving most of the continental United States with temperatures way below average.