Bomb Cyclone Slams Northeast With Snow and Wind Chills Disrupting Holiday Travel
Okay so I need to talk about whats happening with this weather because from a health perspective there are some real concerns people should know about.
A bomb cyclone intensified over the Great Lakes this weekend and its causing chaos across the Northeast. CBS News reports winter storm warnings and advisories are affecting over 50 million Americans right now.
The Snow Totals
Central Park got 4.3 inches of snow Saturday morning. CBS New York confirms thats the first snowfall greater than 4 inches since January 2022 when we got 8.3 inches.
Connecticut got hit harder. New Fairfield saw 9.1 inches. Parts of Long Island got up to 7.5 inches in places like Babylon and Orient. ABC7 has the full breakdown of local totals.
The good news is the snow was dry and powdery so power outages were way lower than predicted. The worst case scenarios didnt materialize there.
The Real Danger Is Cold
Heres what Im worried about as someone who spent years in emergency medicine. The arctic blast following this storm is genuinely dangerous.
AccuWeather is forecasting wind chills between negative 10 and negative 25 degrees across the Midwest. Some areas are seeing temperature drops of 30 degrees in 24 hours.
Frostbite can occur in minutes at those temperatures. People who are sleep deprived or have been drinking are especially vulnerable because their bodies dont regulate temperature as well.
Travel Chaos
If youre trying to fly anywhere right now… Im sorry. CNN is tracking over 4,400 flights canceled since Friday. Saturday alone saw 10,000 delays. Sunday brought another 8,000 delays and 700 cancellations.
JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark are the hardest hit. Fox Weather has live updates if youre trying to track a specific flight.
This is genuinely the busiest travel week of the year and the timing could not be worse.
What You Should Do
From a health standpoint please take this seriously. If you have to go outside in the extreme cold:
Dress in layers. Cover exposed skin. Limit time outdoors. Know the signs of hypothermia – shivering, confusion, slurred speech. Cold exposure can be controlled in a wellness context but uncontrolled exposure to wind chills below zero is genuinely dangerous.
Check on elderly neighbors if you can. Older adults lose body heat faster and may not realize how cold theyve gotten.
Looking Ahead
The National Weather Service has official forecasts if you want the technical details.
The cold is going to stick around for most of the week. Were not out of this yet. Stay warm, stay safe, and if your travel plans got disrupted try to be patient with the airline staff who are just as frustrated as you are.
California is dealing with their own weather chaos from atmospheric rivers. Its been a rough week for weather nationwide.
