An intense winter storm froze pipes and disrupted services at refineries on the US Atlantic coast on Thursday, sending fuel prices higher as heavy snowfall and high winds caused electricity outages for tens of thousands of Americans.
Some 65,000 homes and businesses along the US East Coast are without power, and that number is expected to swell on Thursday as the storm punishes the densely populated US Northeast.
One media outlet reported that by the end of this week, parts of the Northeast will be colder than Mars.
US winter storm latest:
— CNN (@CNN) January 4, 2018
- Thirteen states from South Carolina to Maine are under a winter storm warning
- Forecasters say Northeast states will see hurricane-force winds
- By the end of this week, parts of the Northeast will be colder than Marshttps://t.co/LONmftwGQG
The storm is the product of a rapid and rare sharp drop in barometric pressure known as bombogenesis, or bomb cyclone.
Heavy snow pounded the East Coast along a front stretching from Maine as far south as North Carolina early on Thursday, taking out power lines, icing over roadways and closing hundreds of schools.
There are fears that a significant disruption could lead to a heating oil shortage, as distillate inventories, including heating oil, in the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions are currently at their lowest levels for this time of year since 2015.
Heavy snow pounded the East Coast along a front stretching from Maine as far south as North Carolina early on Thursday, taking out power lines, icing over roadways and closing hundreds of schools
This has spurred tankers carrying diesel and heating oil to set out from Europe bound for the United States to address supply worries, reversing a traditional trade route.
Icebreakers have been used in key ports of Boston, New York and Philadelphia to keep shipping lanes clear, though delays are expected, and the Coast Guard said late Wednesday that those ships will remain at shore until the storm passes.
On Wednesday it dumped snow on Florida's capital Tallahassee for the first time in 30 years, and was expected to last through the day.
The brutal cold continues across much of America, with snow possible from Florida to Maine from Winter Storm #Grayson. We want to know how cold is it where you are and how are you staying warm? Send us your photos and videos using #FrozenAmerica and you may see them on air! pic.twitter.com/yKbcTrWxCJ
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) January 3, 2018
States of emergency were in effect in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia and there were blizzard warnings from the Canadian border as far south as Virginia.
Federal government offices were delaying opening for two hours on Thursday.
Much of the eastern United States is in the grip of a sustained cold spell that has frozen part of Niagara Falls, played havoc with public works and impeded firefighting in places where temperatures barely broke -6°C.
Areas around Boston were forecast to see about 30 cm of snow on Thursday, and the National Weather Service predicted a similar amount and wind gusts of up to 90 kph in New York City. Schools were ordered to close in both cities.
