A life-threatening winter storm, unofficially named Winter Storm Fern, continues to paralyze a massive stretch of the United States on Monday.

Spanning from Texas to New England, the historic system has triggered states of emergency in at least 21 states and the District of Columbia.

The storm has turned deadly, with at least 12 fatalities reported across the country. In Louisiana, health officials confirmed two deaths from hypothermia, while in Texas, a teenager died in a sledding accident and another person succumbed to the cold in Austin.

In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani reported that five people were found dead outdoors during the freezing conditions, serving as a grim reminder of the dangers posed by the extreme Arctic air mass trailing the storm.

As of Monday morning, over one million customers remain without power. The US South has been particularly hard hit due to catastrophic ice accumulation that has downed trees and power lines.

Tennessee reports over 300,000 outages, with significant disruptions also reported in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia—regions often ill-equipped for such severe winter weather.

Transportation has ground to a virtual halt. FlightAware data shows that over 17,000 flights were canceled on Sunday alone, marking one of the worst days for aviation since the pandemic.

Nearly 2,500 flights for Monday have already been scrapped as major hubs in New York, Philadelphia and Washington remain impacted.

Federal offices in the capital have been preemptively closed for Monday as several inches of snow and sleet blanket the region.

Meteorologists attribute this "monster storm" to a stretched polar vortex, which has sent frigid Arctic air spilling deep into North America.

Wind chills are forecast to drop as low as -50°F (-45°C) in the Northern Plains, a level of cold that can cause frostbite within minutes.

President Donald Trump, who approved emergency declarations for multiple states, has been monitoring the situation from the White House.

On Truth Social, he urged citizens to "Stay Safe, and Stay Warm!" while also sparking debate by questioning the link between the extreme cold and climate change, posting, "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???"

The National Weather Service (NWS) warns that the impacts will linger well into the week.

Rounds of re-freezing are expected to keep roads and sidewalks dangerously icy for the foreseeable future, even as the primary storm system moves out.

Source: AFP