Subzero temperatures, extreme winds, and heavy snow walloped the U.S. on Sunday, canceling flights, covering roads with sheets of ice, and postponing Sunday’s Buffalo Bills-Pittsburgh Steelers playoff game until Monday.
More wintry weather is coming, with snow forecast as far south as Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and Texas, the National Weather Service said.
About 95 million people were under winter weather warnings or advisories because wind chills were forecast to dip below zero, including as low as minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit in Montana and the Dakotas, the NWS said.
In Buffalo, the prospect of powerful winds, up to two feet of snow, and blizzard-like driving conditions as 70,000 or so football fans converged at Highmark Stadium convinced state officials and the NFL to delay Sunday’s wildcard game until 4:30 p.m. Monday.
Still, Saturday night’s playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins did happen, with the Chiefs winning 26-7 in subzero temperatures and high wind gusts. It wasn’t too cold to keep fans away, including entertainer Taylor Swift, who was on hand to cheer for tight end Travis Kelce.
More than 1,100 U.S. flights were canceled by 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, including about 100 flights into and out of Buffalo Niagara International Airport, according to FlightAware.com live flight-tracking data.
More than 100 flights were also canceled at Denver International, Chicago O’Hare International, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airports.
Southwest Airlines
had 7% of flights canceled, according to FlightAware,
United Airlines
had 10% canceled, and 23% of
Alaska Airlines
flights were canceled.
Blowing snow and wind were forecast for eastern Pennsylvania and parts of northern New Jersey and Delaware, while parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee could get up to six inches of snow.
In Oregon, more than 168,000 homes and businesses were without electricity on Sunday after heavy snow and ice storms, poweroutage.us reported. More than 71,000 customers had lost power in Pennsylvania; 37,000 customers in Michigan; 27,000 customers in Wisconsin; and 14,000 customers in Texas were out of power.
Write to Janet H. Cho at [email protected]
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