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Yes, it's actually snowing in Tallahassee, Florida
Winter 'bomb cyclone' threatens East Coast, bringing temps colder than Mars
Story highlights
- 12 people have died from the cold, officials in 4 states say
- Sleet and snow are smothering swaths of the Southeast
(CNN)A
massive "bombogenesis" -- an area of rapidly declining low pressure --
will wreak havoc on the Northeast this week, threatening hurricane-force
winter wind gusts in a region already crippled by deadly cold.
The bombogenesis
will result in what's known as a "bomb cyclone." And the bomb cyclone,
expected to strike Thursday, will likely dump 6 to 12 inches of snow in
New England and hurl 40- to 60-mph gusts.
Photos: Frigid temperatures strike US
By the end of this week, parts of the Northeast will be colder than Mars.
At
Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire, the temperature will
plunge to -35 degrees Friday night into Saturday, weather observer
Taylor Regan said. At last check, the high temperature on Mars was -2 degrees Fahrenheit.
But
it's not just New England suffering winter's wrath. Freezing rain,
sleet and snow are smothering parts of the Southeast on Wednesday.
Florida gets walloped with snow
From
Maine to Florida, every East Coast state has at least one weather
advisory, winter storm watch, winter storm warning or blizzard warning.
That's 1,500 miles of severe weather alerts.
In Tallahassee, Florida, Ernst Beliard said he's never seen snow in his 21 years there.
"Yo its actually snowing in Tallahassee," he tweeted.
Indeed, Tallahassee had not seen measurable snowfall since 1989, CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said.
The unusually frigid conditions sweeping Florida led to the closures of Florida State University and Florida A&M University on Wednesday.
They also forced the temporary closures of Orlando water parks and prompted authorities to open dozens of emergency shelters.
In Pensacola, water fountains turned into ice sculptures.
Deep freeze across South Carolina
In
the Palmetto State, palm trees will likely be covered in ice and snow
-- and could knock down power lines, the National Weather Service in
Charleston said.
"Forecasters
expect below freezing temperatures to last for much of the week
throughout the entire state," South Carolina Emergency Management said.
Charleston
is slated to get 4 inches of snow late Wednesday. That would be the
most in one day since 1989, CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said.
Runways at Charleston International Airport closed Wednesday, and South Carolina Highway Patrol reported dozens of accidents as snow fell.
Authorities urged people to
stay off the streets as 1,000 snow plows and salt trucks treated roads
and bridges, the state's department of transportation said.
States of emergency in Georgia
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal issued a state of emergency Tuesday for 28 coastal counties ahead of the storm.
Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport -- typically booming with tourists this time of year -- closed Wednesday "due to severe winter weather conditions," the airport said.
But
the entire state is suffering bitter conditions. In the south-central
city of Tifton, Matthew Stuart Reid shot drone footage of the snowfall,
set to the music of "Winter Wonderland."
Deadly freeze
At least 12 people in the US have died this week in cold-related deaths, officials said.
Six deaths were reported in Wisconsin, four in Texas, one in North Dakota and one in Missouri.
The
Texas deaths included two homeless people in Houston who were exposed
to freezing conditions, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo tweeted.
Single-digit temps in the Northeast
New York City hasn't warmed up above freezing since Christmas -- and the deep freeze will just get worse.
The bombogenesis will help usher in another round of blustery single-digit temperatures to the Northeast.
UK hit by cyclone, Canada is below zero
The US isn't alone in its winter misery.
Hurricane-force
winds from Storm Eleanor are battering the western shores of the United
Kingdom and Ireland. The UK's weather service, the Met Office, says the
storm is expected to bring gusts of up to 90 mph to parts of the UK on
Wednesday.
Homes and businesses were damaged by flooding and 55,000 customers lost electricity, said ESB Networks, the main power utility in Ireland.
Canada is also getting blasted by numbingly cold air. Temperatures and wind chills have been well below zero.
The
frigid temperature at the Calgary Zoo in Canada was too brutal for even
the king penguins, a subantarctic species that usually strut their
stuff outside this time of the year.
Zoo
employees brought the penguins inside Monday when the temperature
dropped to minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 25 degrees Celsius),
according to Dr. Malu Celli, Calgary Zoo's curator.
It's not that the animals didn't like the cold.
"If
I opened the doors, they would come out," Celli said. "They enjoy being
out, but we just like to look out for their welfare."
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