Arctic Freeze Hits North America
23rd December 2022
Last modified on December 29th, 2022
A powerful Arctic storm is pounding the USA and Canada with bitterly cold temperatures, blizzards, high winds, power cuts and travel disruption. Some ski resorts, which have already had several metres of snow so far this season, are warning of extreme conditions. UPDATED
The dangerous conditions are sweeping across large swathes of North America, from coast to coast.
Temperatures are forecast to hit -45 Celsius or below in some areas and feel even colder with windchill.
Experts are warning that such extreme cold can cause frostbite on exposed skin in 5 to 10 minutes.
In Colorado on Thursday, temperatures fell to -23 Celsius, while Wyoming saw -37 Celsius.
Montana has also seen registered record lows.
In Canada, Calgary has just had its coldest day since 1996 (-28 Celsius).
The weather is causing huge disruption for those trying to travel ahead of the Christmas break with thousands of flights cancelled from major airports.
Forecasters says the storm could become a ‘bomb cyclone’ later on Friday.
A bomb cyclone is an explosive storm that intensifies rapidly.
Dangerously cold weather is hitting parts of the US and Canada. In some places it will feel like -55C. Matt Taylor has the details. pic.twitter.com/1UYcnHnagm
— BBC Weather (@bbcweather) December 22, 2022
Some states have declared a state of emergency.
The storm is likely to have an affect on ski areas during the busy holiday period.
Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont is closed on Friday.
https://www.facebook.com/stowemountainresort/photos/a.60258452381/10158754267672382/
High winds have impacted lift operations at some other resorts, including Steamboat in Colorado.
The lucky ones have been recently enjoying some deep powder in the resort.
Steamboat, Colorado. Image c/o PlanetSKI reader, Jenny O’Farrell
Earlier this month Steamboat had one of its best days for snow on record.
“1.06 meters in 24-hours. One of my best days in 28 years!” said Jenny who supplied the photo above.
By the time the storm passes, it could well have dumped even more snow on some areas that have already have exceptional depths for December.
Here are some of the totals reported on the resorts’ websites to date (Friday 23rd December):
Alta, Utah – 237″ (6.02m)
https://www.facebook.com/altaskiarea/videos/3071340749823266/
Snowbird, Utah – 216″ (5.49m)
https://www.facebook.com/SnowbirdUT/videos/712423000103735/
Jackson Hole, Wyoming – 209″ (5.31m)
https://www.facebook.com/jacksonhole/videos/3360129077640038/
Palisades Tahoe, California – 163″ (4.14m)
Steamboat, Colorado – 157″ (3.99m)
Park City, Utah – 157″ (3.99m)
Mammoth Mountain, California – 138″ (3.5m)
Kirkwood, California – 134″ (3.4m)
PlanetSKI logo
