Sudden winter weather has frozen parts of the United States as the overwhelmed power grids left millions without electricity in record-breaking cold, reported Associated Press.
At least twenty people died as some struggled to find warmth inside homes. Blame the polar vortex, a weather pattern that usually keeps to the Arctic, but is increasingly visiting lower latitudes and staying beyond its welcome. Scientists say global warming caused by humans is partly responsible for making its southward escapes longer and more frequent.
More than 100 million people live in areas covered Wednesday by some type of winter weather warning, watch or advisory, as yet another winter storm hits Texas and parts of the Southern Plains, the National Weather Service said.
The latest storm front was predicted to bring snow and ice to east Texas, Arkansas and the Lower Mississippi Valley, reported AP, before moving to the northeast on Thursday.
The weather has threatened to affect the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination effort. President Joe Biden’s administration said delays in vaccine shipments and deliveries were likely.
