‘Monster’ storm brings rain, snow to US; 18 dead, millions hunker down

Buffalo, December 25

Millions of people hunkered down in a deep freeze overnight and early morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 18 persons across the United States, trapping some residents inside homes with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.

The scope of the storm has been nearly unprecedented, stretching from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico. About 60 per cent of the US population faced some sort of winter weather advisory or warning, and temperatures plummeted drastically below normal from east of the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians, the National Weather Service said.

More than 2,360 domestic and international flights were cancelled Saturday, according to the tracking site FlightAware.

Forecasters said a bomb cyclone — when atmospheric pressure drops very quickly in a strong storm — had developed near the Great Lakes, stirring up blizzard conditions, including heavy winds and snow.

The storm unleashed its fury on Buffalo with hurricane-force winds and snow. — AP