A low-pressure system off the coast developed overnight into what is known as explosive cyclogenesis, or more commonly a bomb cyclone, an explosively strengthening winter storm, the national weather service said on Sunday.
In the state of North Carolina, local snowfall amounts were among the highest since records began. By Sunday morning, more than 9 inches had been measured in some coastal areas, and in the city of Charlotte, it was the fourth snowiest day in nearly 150 years.
South Carolina was also affected as well as parts of Georgia and Virginia.
Dangerous wind-chill temperatures
Farther south, the cold Arctic air following the storm caused unusual weather phenomena.Meteorologists in Florida reported new cold records for the month of February, with temperatures dropping in some areas below freezing — even in parts of southern Florida.
The weather service stated that such temperatures were last recorded there in the late 1980s.
Authorities warned of life-threatening wind-chill temperatures, which are temperatures often perceived to be significantly lower than the measured values because strong winds draw warmth from the skin. This significantly increases the risk of hypothermia and frostbite.
Second winter storm in a row
The new storm follows the extreme cold and heavy snowfall from the previous weekend, during which at least 85 people died in several U.S. states, according to media reports.Hundreds of thousands of households are still without power and therefore without heating in many places.
With the new outages, more than 150,000 households and businesses were affected nationwide by Sunday morning, particularly in Mississippi and Tennessee.
Air travel also remained severely restricted: More than 1,100 flights were canceled on Sunday, after around 2,500 connections had already been canceled on Saturday.
Additionally, there were numerous accidents and delivery delays on icy roads.
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