The extreme cold conditions are in their most intense day. The mayor of New York warned that the storm is "very dangerous" and several governors asked not to leave the houses or drive vehicles
Pending the change of conditions that would turn the storms into a winter cyclone bomb with hurricane force, numerous American locations have already suffered heavy snowfalls that reached historic levels.
At least 17 deaths have already been attributed to the low temperatures that for days have seized a strip of the United States that goes from Texas to the New England region.
The polar cold wave already put more than 40 states in the country with temperatures of -20º Celsius and forced the cancellation of thousands of flights.
In Savannah, Georgia , snow covered the lush city center squares and accumulated in the branches of the sturdy oaks for the first time in almost eight years. A lot of cars and trucks have been stuck in the roads of the area , where they have declared a state of emergency.
Tallahassee, the capital of Florida , awoke Wednesday with 2.5 millimeters of snow, the first significant measurement since 1989 , according to the Weather Channel . Although the temperatures can not be compared with those that are being recorded farther north, for Floridians, who know practically no colder than air conditioning nor are prepared to bear it, those who mark the thermometers in some areas of the state (among 4.4 and -1.1 degrees Celsius) scare.
The winter storm alerts are valid from the region of Big Bend National Park, on the Gulf Coast of Florida, to the north of the country on the Atlantic coast. The meteorologists indicated that the hurricane winds that lashed the region could generate a swell of up to seven meters .
" The storm is intensifying rapidly in North Carolina ," the National Weather Service (NWS) warned on Thursday. According to detailed, the phenomenon lowered 24 millibars in only seven hours, which is a speed "very rare" for a storm, since the term for that descent usually is of at least 24 hours.
In Charleston (South Carolina), the snow exceeded 10 centimeters, becoming the third largest historical record for the city, whose record was in 1938. " Do not drive if you do not have to do it, only if absolutely necessary, " he asked. Governor Henry McMaster.
Meanwhile, the New York authorities announced special measures. " A strong storm is coming, with very dangerous conditions ," said the mayor of the city, Bill de Blasio. Weather forecasts indicate that the strongest impact will be felt on Long Island, east of Manhattan, and on parts of the coast of the neighboring states of New Jersey and Connecticut. In principle, the maximum snow that will fall reaches 30 centimeters in some areas, although the projections can change rapidly.
The icy winter cocktail could cause large power cuts and freeze the surface of roads, complicating the mobility of millions of Americans, the NWS said in a series of warnings, Reuters and AP reported.
