Winter calamity in U.S. huge frosts in Iowa hamper presidential campaign

This year’s winter in the U.S. surprises with cold, snowstorms and strong winds – January 15 this year. The US National Weather Service (NSW) has issued low temperature warnings for areas with 110 million people. The paralysis affects not only communications and energy supplies, but also social and political life. Frosts in Iowa are seriously disrupting the first round of the presidential primaries. Frost sensations have reached -40°C.

Iowa campaign at risk

Scheduled for November 2024. The U.S. presidential election traditionally begins in the state of Iowa, where voters decide on the Republican Party’s nomination. On the day of the primaries, Monday, Jan. 15, at 5 a.m., NSW reports, thermometers saw as much as -18°C, which, combined with wind gusts in some locations, resulted in a felt temperature of up to -35°C. Many citizens had already declared the day before that they would not choose to vote in such weather.

However, campaigning in Iowa had already slowed down a few days earlier, when some of the Republican candidates’ election rallies were canceled due to cold temperatures and heavy snowfall. The state capital, Des Moines, is snowbound, and strong wind gusts pose a serious risk of frostbite. The National Weather Service, in messages published on the X platform, advises against leaving homes. Analysts, meanwhile, suggest that freezing temperatures in Iowa may favor some candidates and hurt others. It looks like extreme weather is starting to have a real impact on politics.

Frosts in Iowa, Montana, North Dakota…

Drastically low temperatures have been plaguing the US Midwest for several days now, and according to meteorologists, they may continue until the end of the week. In the state of Nebraska, the frost in the second week of January was also accompanied by heavy snowfall – up to 60 cm. In Montana, South Dakota and North Dakota, perceptible temperatures are forecast at around -50°C.

Arctic air is flowing into the U.S. from over Canada, and while its concentration is expected to ease somewhat by midweek, another wave of cooling is expected next weekend. According to a January 15 NSW announcement. Frost in Iowa could reach a perceptible temperature of -37°C in the coming days.

Another dramatic winter in the US

January’s cataclysmic event for many Americans is dramatic enough to leave the presidential election in the background. The effects of winter weather are affecting regions from the east to the west coast. Over the past weekend alone, the extreme winter weather in the US was responsible for the cancellation of thousands of flights.

On Sunday, January 14, snowstorms in Pennsylvania knocked out power to 102,000. People, and another 86,000. have been cut off from electricity in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan and New York. The governor of the latter has even issued a travel ban for one of the counties, and a scheduled NFL game has been postponed. Some areas of Tennessee are forecast to receive 15-20 cm of snowfall – more than the annual average for the area. Snowstorms are also forecast for major eastern cities: New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.

Also to the west, in Portland, Oregon, residents were surprised by snow, ice and gale force winds. Fallen trees and electric poles have deprived 160,000 people of electricity. citizens, and the media reported on fatal accidents. The situation is not much better in the south of the country. While frost in Iowa is an expected phenomenon, and residents are accustomed to coping with winter conditions, the forecasted frost and freezing rain in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana could cause a real transportation paralysis. In Texas, electricity operators are already making appeals to conserve energy, whose reserves are quickly depleted with cold temperatures.

Winter floods terrorize the coast

However, the cataclysm in the United States is not just record-breaking frosts in Iowa and icy highways in Texas. On January 11 this year. The northeastern coast was also hit by heavy flooding. The reason was the record height difference between low and high tide. It was up to 4.4 meters, and the cause, according to the National Weather Service, was a local storm. Many properties in Maine and New Hampshire were affected by the flood wave, which also inundated fishing shacks that are more than 100 years old. A few days earlier, a storm destroyed one of Maine’s most popular lighthouses.

Unfortunately, NSW announces that the disasters do not end there, and the agency’s interactive map is full of warning colors.