Holiday Storm: White-Out Conditions and Subzero Temperatures Upend Holiday Plans (Published 2022) (2024)

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Winter storm raises fears and scrambles plans as it moves south.

There, it delivered subfreezing, and even subzero, temperatures in places where many residents have painful memories of the devastation wrought by Winter Storm Uri in February 2021.

“We’ve had folks that have come into the shelter after double amputations as a result of Winter Storm Uri,” said Daniel Roby, the chief executive of Austin Street Center, a shelter in Dallas. “Typically in Texas, we didn’t have that kind of weather. The past couple of years, we’ve had really bad storms, so we’re learning from that experience. We know now we need to do more than we’ve ever done before.”

Forecasters said that the storm’s fury came from its scope, which covered most of the eastern half of the country, from the Canadian border to the Gulf Coast, under a mass of Arctic air that brought even colder wind chills. More than 150 million people are under warnings or advisories of wind chill temperatures that could dip to 40 degrees below zero in the Intermountain West and into the Plains. In some places it could plummet as low as 70 degrees below zero, which can cause frostbite in minutes.

The Arctic blast is not unusual, but this year it has combined with a “bomb cyclone” — a rapidly intensifying storm — to bring about these extreme wind chills.

Individually, the winds, snow and subzero temperatures are not all that troubling, forecasters said, but they have coalesced into something ferocious. “What makes this storm unusual is the combination,” said Brett Borchardt, a meteorologist from the Chicago office of the National Weather Service.

The frigid temperatures create fluffier snow, which combined with 45- to 55-mile-per-hour wind gusts can make for white-out conditions and perilous travel.

At least three people in Kansas and two in Oklahoma were killed in crashes that appeared to be related to the storm, officials said. High winds and blizzard-like conditions led to the closure of a 200-mile stretch of Interstate 90, which crosses much of the northern tier of the United States.

The disruptions have rippled across the country. Roughly 16,000 flights had been canceled or delayed as of Thursday night, stranding travelers across the country.

One of them was Melissa Smuzynski, who had been stranded with her husband and daughter at the Denver airport for 17 hours.

“We were hoping to beat the Arctic blast home” from Montana to Oklahoma, she said. Instead, she and her family became stuck on a connection through Denver, which has endured a series of cold-weather calamities. Icy roads have deterred fight crews. Plane parts have frozen solid.

Ms. Smuzynski had little choice but wait.

“You sit there with your fingers crossed every time you see the gate agent pick up the phone to get on the intercom,” she said. “You just hope it’s good news, and not another delay. But you know, they can’t control it. We can’t control it. So we just try to stay positive.”

President Biden urged Americans on Thursday to heed local warnings about a storm he said would unleash “dangerous and threatening” conditions in much of the country.

“It’s not like a snow day, you know, when you’re a kid,” Mr. Biden said in brief remarks from the White House. “This is serious stuff. And my team is prepared to help communities weather this, no pun intended.”

In places where blustering winds and blankets of snow are expected, some said the storm was indeed serious but something they could take in stride.

“It’s winter time in Chicago, so we expect these things,” said Richard Guidice, Chicago’s executive director for emergency management and communications.

He added: “I do think this has the potential to be significant and something that we need to pay close attention to, which we are doing.”

In Westwood, Kan., a suburb of Kansas City, where it was 4 degrees below zero, tiny icicles had formed on Bill Mendence’s eyebrows, eyelashes and mustache as he took a walk. But he said he was feeling good.

“I mean, I’ve lived through plenty of snowstorms and you can only control what you can control,” Mr. Mendence, 37, said. “We’ve got food, we’ve got warmth, and if something changes with that, then we’ll make a decision on what to do.”

Across the storm’s footprint, there was special concern for people who did not have ready access to food and warmth.

“It’s dangerous,” said Patrick Feistel, executive director of the Garden City Rescue Mission in Augusta, Ga., which offers overnight beds for men and was opening earlier and creating space for more people because of the frigid weather. “On a regular night, it might not be the difference between life and death. But it is now.”

Across much of the South, people were bracing for an unfamiliar and unsettling level of cold. In the Nashville area, temperatures were expected to fall below zero.

“It’s a madhouse in Tennessee right now, because everybody’s at the grocery store, getting their last minute shopping done,” said Regina Gammon, the owner of Hendersonville Produce, a natural foods market in a Nashville suburb. “We’re not used to seeing zero,” she added, referring to the dangerously low temperatures expected. “I’ve lived in Tennessee all my life, and zero is very uncommon.”

The plummeting temperatures reached Texas, where temperatures were falling into the teens on Thursday evening and the wind chill was expected to be well below zero in places.

The conditions have stirred up worries stemming from the storm last year that covered the state in ice and pushed the power grid to near collapse, leaving millions stranded without electricity in subfreezing temperatures and leading to more than 240 deaths.

Hunter Reeves, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Dallas, said the two storms were indeed very different. “It got a lot colder back then,” he said, and that storm brought ice and snow and kept temperatures below freezing for a week. The temperature should be above freezing by Christmas Day, Mr. Reeves said, and into the 50s by the first part of next week. “This is a quick turnaround,” he said.

Still, those fears remained.

“Oh, yeah, almost kind of like PTSD,” said Tumaini Criss, 32, who lives in Dallas, after she lost nearly everything she had last year when frozen pipes burst in her apartment.

“This time, of course, we took all the precautionary measures,” she said, including letting the faucets drip and opening cabinets to let warm air in around the pipes. She also checked to make sure her insurance was up-to-date. “We’re prepared if something does happen.”

Reporting was contributed by Robert Chiarito from Chicago, Jacey Fortin from North Augusta, S.C., Lauren Fox from Kansas City, Mo., Ann Hinga Klein from Des Moines and Michael Levenson from New York.

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The Kurens family drove in a day earlier than planned in order to beat the winter storm and catch the game. When they left Denver on Wednesday, it was about 55 degrees, said Eric Kurens, 50. When they arrived in Olathe, Kan., where they are staying, the temperature back home had dropped to 0.

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Outreach intensifies to find shelter for homeless people caught in the path of the storm.

And in Augusta, Ga., a church mission was planning to open its shelter’s doors early and preparing to pack in people, even spreading mats on the floors. “On a regular night, it might not be the difference between life and death,” said Patrick Feistel, the executive director of the Garden City Rescue Mission, which offers overnight beds for homeless men. “But it is now.”

Across much of the country, temperatures and wind chills far lower than normal are endangering even people used to sleeping in the cold, and leaving officials scrambling to find people and convince them to come inside, exposing the patchwork nature of many cities’ outreach efforts.

Four people died on the streets of Salt Lake City in the four-day stretch ending on Monday, in temperatures as low as 12 degrees. The cold was reaching even into snowbird havens. In Miami, temperatures were forecast to drop below 50, prompting the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust to activate its Cold Weather Emergency Plan.

As of January, there were about 230,000 people living unsheltered in the United States, according to an annual estimate coordinated by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, a slight increase compared with a count from early 2020, before the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

For Texas, the brutal winter storm of February 2021, during which hundreds of people died and millions were left without power for days, was a powerful demonstration of the need for better preparation, according to Daniel Roby, the chief executive of Austin Street Center, a shelter in Dallas. When the center opened a new facility this summer, he ensured that it was equipped with a massive generator.

“We’ve had folks that have come into the shelter after double amputations as a result of Winter Storm Uri,” Mr. Roby said, referring to last year’s storm. “Typically in Texas, we didn’t have that kind of weather. The past couple of years, we’ve had really bad storms, so we’re learning from that experience. We know now we need to do more than we’ve ever done before.”

A recent count indicated that Dallas had about 1,500 unsheltered residents, Mr. Roby said, though he noted that the number had most likely increased because of rising rents in the area. Through the Austin Street Center’s facilities, local churches and other sites around the city, more than 600 beds would be made available for people seeking shelter during the freeze, he said, with additional capacity available as needed.

“Because we weren’t anticipating snow, and snow is starting to fall, we’re gearing up for a busy night,” Mr. Roby said.

Josh Henges, the homeless prevention coordinator for Kansas City, Mo., was at Hope Faith, an emergency overnight shelter, on Thursday afternoon, as the temperature dropped below 0 degrees, with the possibility of the windchill reaching minus 40 degrees. He said about 214 people had come to the shelter as of 3:20 p.m. on Thursday. He added that among the most vulnerable were those suffering from severe mental illness or substance use disorder and that he had seen some people who weren’t wearing coats and one man who would most likely lose his nose from exposure. “They are not really concerned about the cold until it’s too late,” he said.

At the downtown branch of the Des Moines Public Library, a handful of people were slumped in chairs in a lobby and in a public room on Thursday afternoon, where three flat-screen TVs played the movie “Elf.”

Deirdre Henriquez, the outreach and advocacy director for Central Iowa Shelter & Services, walked from person to person. She was traveling around with two colleagues to the city’s various warming centers, as well as to makeshift camps along the city’s two rivers to offer dry clothing, medical care and transportation to a shelter. But not everyone who appeared to be in need was willing to accept the assistance. “There are many campers out there that think they might be able to withstand this weather, but this weather is just overwhelming,” she said.

In the library’s lobby, a man in a long coat and sweatpants held a loaf of bread wrapped in Jimmy John’s tissue paper. “Are you coming into the shelter?” Ms. Henriquez asked him. “I can drive you there right now.”

“Nope,” he replied, saying that he thought he would be handed over to the police for crimes he had not committed.

“Nobody’s going to call the cops on you,” she said. “It’s too cold out there. Will you think about it?”

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With roughly 10,000 flights affected by weather, travelers adjust or abandon their holiday plans.

“So we sat in the driveway, had a little moment, called the family, and then we said, ‘Let’s put the dog back in the house and grab some breakfast,’” Mr. Hawley said.

Theirs was but one anecdote of travelers encountering obstacles on a day when a cold blast set in across much of the United States, bringing rain, snow, blistering wind and subzero temperatures that created hazardous conditions.

By Thursday afternoon, roughly 10,000 flights across the country, as well as international flights into or out of the United States, had been delayed or canceled, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking platform. The Federal Aviation Administration handles about 45,000 flights on an average day.

On Wednesday, more than 8,300 flights were delayed and 595 were canceled, meaning the disruptions affected more than 20 percent of air travel before the peak of the storm.

From January 2022 through September 2022, the period for which the most recent official data is available, more than 20 percent of flights were delayed and 2.76 percent were canceled, according to the Transportation Department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Even with their flight rescheduled for Friday, Ms. Schotl, 31, and Mr. Hawley, 34, were feeling positive as they pondered their new plan for the day at the Front Range Coffeehouse and Provisions in Fairway, Kan. They were going to watch a movie in their basem*nt.

But the latest weather disruptions came at an inopportune time for people crisscrossing the country before the start of a busy holiday weekend.

On Thursday afternoon, Melissa Smuzynski had entered her 17th hour of airline delays, as her family endured a series of cold-weather calamities. Icy roads had deterred flight crews. Plane parts had frozen solid.

“We were hoping to beat the Arctic blast” getting home from Montana to Oklahoma, she said. Instead, she and her family got stuck on a connection through Denver.

So Ms. Smuzynski, a public relations professional who was traveling with her husband and her daughter, had little choice but to bide her time, watching snow blanket the tarmac outside and passengers nap on the floor inside.

“You sit there with your fingers crossed every time you see the gate agent pick up the phone to get on the intercom,” she said. “You just hope it’s good news, and not another delay. But you know, they can’t control it. We can’t control it. So we just try to stay positive.”

Paul Caputo had just pulled up to the Denver International Airport on Thursday for a 6 a.m. flight to Arizona when he got an email from Southwest saying that his flight — which had been delayed and changed — was effectively canceled.

He and his 18-year-old daughter had woken up around 4 a.m. so she could drive him to the airport and keep the car for the holiday, while he visited his girlfriend. They had watched as the temperature drastically declined from minus 7 degrees to minus 17 degrees, and road conditions deteriorated.

“If the email had come in 10 minutes later, I would have been stuck at the airport with my car on the way back to Fort Collins, Colorado,” Mr. Caputo, 49, said.

He was placed on a flight to Phoenix via Las Vegas, but he’d arrive late on Christmas Eve. After some playing around with the Southwest Airlines app, he was able to book a direct flight leaving on Friday, and expects to arrive on time for Christmas Eve.

“I had a three-hour inconvenience this morning. But, you know, I got to come home to my own bed in my own house,” Mr. Caputo said. “And I’m sure there are a lot of people stuck in airports right now.”

Livia Albeck-Ripka and Amanda Holpuch contributed reporting.

Tyson Foods suspends operations at some meatpacking plants.

Tyson, which employs some 140,000 workers across its meatpacking facilities and corporate offices, produces about 20 percent of the beef, pork and chicken in the United States. The company has facilities in more than a dozen states, many of which are in the South and Midwest, areas that are expected to be hit by cold temperatures in the next few days. Subzero to single-digit temperatures are expected in the Midwest.

In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Tyson lobbied the Trump administration to keep its facilities open despite a rising number of infections. The plea came after the company warned of a shortage of meat in the nation’s supply chain, even as pork exports to China rose.

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In Minnesota, residents brush off the first wave but brace for blizzard conditions.

“We get this much snow, I like to get it off the roof kind of to guard against ice dams,” he said. “When it warms up, it all turns to ice.”

He categorized the previous day’s storm as “formidable” but “not even close” to historic. Even the temperature, at minus 8 degrees, was not particularly noteworthy from his perspective.

“This isn’t bad. To me, severe would be 20 below,” he said. “A blue sky and a lot of sun and no wind — it’s pretty nice out here.”

But Mr. Martin was also preparing for conditions to worsen. Meteorologists are predicting blizzard conditions for the Twin Cities starting on Thursday evening, when high winds are expected to kick up the powdery snow and significantly reduce visibility.

“We’ll hunker down inside,” Mr. Martin said, leaning against his broom. “Have a fire and make chili.”

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How are you dealing with the extreme cold? Tell us.

Drivers set on reaching their destinations find comfort at a Des Moines coffee shop determined to stay open.

“We love snow — we are always ready to be here,” she said. “They always plow the street out in front of us early when there’s a snow coming in, so the rule for staff is, regardless of the weather, you’d better plan to be on your shift.”

At one table, Caleb Hinz and Emma Wilke waited for cups of coffee and sandwiches to go before heading almost 245 miles north on Interstate 35 to visit family in Minneapolis. They had already traveled hundreds of miles from Grand Junction, Colo., hitting a road closure in Vail and crossing Nebraska overnight in white-out conditions on Route I-80. They’d passed jackknifed semis and watched cars slide into ditches. They said they had kept going because they were traveling with their dog, Bud, and hadn’t been sure where they might find lodging.

“It was 52 degrees in Denver yesterday, and then there was a point in Nebraska where it went from, like, 22 degrees to 0 and then negative 6 within 15 to 20 minutes and 20 miles,” Mr. Hinz said. Rest stops, he said, were crowded with people determined to continue on their way after stopping for gas and food. He said that in Nebraska they’d spoken with someone who was hoping to make it to Chicago that night.

Mr. Minz and Ms. Wilke exchanged glances and laughed. “I don’t think that was possible,” Ms. Wilke said.

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Holiday shoppers and shipping companies are keeping a close eye on the storm.

Major shippers said they were closely watching the weather across the United States and would alert customers of disruptions as they arise, but few had been reported this week. The companies said that customers concerned about deliveries should monitor shipper websites for updates.

A spokeswoman for the Postal Service said it issues daily weather forecasts to employees in the field and uses information from suppliers, as well as federal, state and local governments and other sources, to make decisions about its operations.

UPS said it had a team of meteorologists on staff to monitor and help plan around bad weather. By Thursday, the company had issued a service alert for the Midwest region, telling customers that contingency plans were in place to help shipments arrive “as quickly as conditions permit.”

FedEx said in a statement that it also had contingency plans to keep staff safe and minimize disruptions.

A spokesman for Amazon said the company was similarly prepared and that customers hoping for gifts in time for Christmas should look for listings that say products will “arrive by Christmas,” since delivery dates listed at checkout account for weather and other factors.

“While the vast majority of deliveries make it to customers without issue, if something does occur, we work with customers directly to make it right,” Sam Stephenson, an Amazon spokesman, said in a statement.

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In Texas, officials hope to avoid a repeat of the devastating 2021 winter storm.

This year, Texas was expected to be largely spared snow and ice, but much of the state was expected to experience bitterly cold weather with strong winds. In the Dallas area, temperatures on Friday were expected to drop into the teens, with the wind chill making it feel below zero, according to the National Weather Service. To the northwest, temperatures in the Texas Panhandle were expected to drop into the single digits early Friday, with wind chill values dropping to minus 19 degrees.

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said at a news conference on Wednesday that he understood Texans’ concerns about the reliability of the state’s power grid after last year’s storm.

“I think trust will be earned over the next few days as people see that we have ultra cold temperatures, and the grid is going to be able to perform with ease,” Mr. Abbott said. “Trust has to be earned back over a period of time, and I think that we will show that we can earn that trust.”

The 2021 winter storm prompted investigations into what caused the state power grid to fail, and triggered a number of changes to ensure power plants would be prepared for similar cold weather in the future.

Peter Lake, chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, said at the news conference that “landmark reforms” prompted by the 2021 storm included making sure generators, poles and wires were prepared for cold weather.

“The grid is ready and reliable,” Mr. Lake said. “We expect to have sufficient generation to meet demand throughout this entire winter weather event.”

Pablo Vegas, chief executive of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, known as ERCOT, which manages the state’s electric grid, said that the highest demand for power would come Friday morning as temperatures dipped across the state.

While it will be bitterly cold, with temperatures dropping into the single digits across many areas of the state, the cold won’t last as long as it did during the 2021 winter storm.

During last year’s storm, temperatures in North Texas were below freezing for several days. At Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, temperatures were below 32 degrees for 139 consecutive hours last year, between Feb. 13 and Feb. 19, according to the National Weather Service.

This year, temperatures in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are expected to be below freezing for about half that time, according to the Weather Service. After dipping into the teens on Friday, temperatures in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are expected to rise into the mid 40s by Sunday, the Weather Service said.

Another silver lining for Texans this year is that widespread snow or ice are not in the forecast, Hunter Reeves, a meteorologist with the Weather Service in Fort Worth, said on Wednesday.

During last year’s winter storm, wintry precipitation fell across portions of the state. In some cities, a buildup of snow and ice caused some trees to fall, bringing power lines down and creating more problems for utility services.

“We’re not really going to get any precipitation out of this,” Mr. Reeves said. “The worst of the cold will last through Friday, and then we’ll begin to kind of warm up over the weekend.”

Still, Nim Kidd, head of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said that any lengthy exposure to the cold would be hazardous.

“Any flat tire, any bad battery problems, stuck out in this dangerous cold, can be life threatening,” Mr. Kidd said. “This is a dangerous storm coming our way.”

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How to avoid frostbite and hypothermia in extreme cold weather.

Of course, many of us have no choice: We have to go to work, take care of others, clear snow, get supplies. If you’ll be outside for any amount of time, you should dress warmly and cover any exposed skin.

Here’s what can happen if you don’t.

Frostbite

In extreme cold, exposed skin can develop frostbite in as little as five minutes, said George T. Chiampas, an emergency medicine doctor and professor at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

The body’s first reaction to extreme cold is to restrict blood and oxygen flow from its extremities, in order to preserve major organs, Dr. Chiampas said. The first signs of frostbite including tingling or pain in the affected areas. If you think you have frostbite, you should immediately go inside and check yourself for any discoloration or other clear sign of frostbite. Fingers, toes and the face are most often affected.

People with frostbite sometimes don’t realize what is happening, because their fingers or other parts of their bodies go numb as it sets in. And if they are also experiencing hypothermia, which can be deadly, their judgment could be seriously impaired. (More on that below.)

Signs of frostbite include skin that has blistered or become discolored, or that feels unusually firm or waxy. It can result in permanent damage and amputation, and can be more dangerous the longer it goes without treatment.

If you think you have frostbite, avoid using a heating pad or hot water, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns: If the affected area is numb, you could get burned. Until you can see a doctor, immerse the area in warm water, change into dry warm clothes, and use blankets and body heat, such as tucking fingers into armpits.

The C.D.C. warns against walking on frostbitten feet or toes or massaging affected areas, which can increase damage.

Hypothermia

When the body is exposed to the cold for prolonged periods, it begins to lose heat faster than it can produce it, according to the C.D.C. Wet conditions are especially dangerous, even in relatively warmer temperatures. A low body temperature renders major organs incapable of functioning properly, and can be deadly. Seniors and others with poor circulation are particularly vulnerable.

In the early stages of hypothermia, people often become disoriented or drowsy. Their judgment may be compromised. Fumbling and slurred speech are telltale signs. This makes hypothermia especially dangerous, according to the C.D.C., “because a person may not know that it’s happening and won’t be able to do anything about it.”

The agency advises taking the person’s temperature if you notice any of those symptoms. A temperature below 95 indicates an emergency, requiring immediate medical attention.

Until you can get medical assistance, get the person inside, remove wet clothing, and gently warm the body, the agency says. (Warm beverages are good. Alcohol is not, as it causes the body to lose heat more rapidly.)

In cases of severe hypothermia, the victim may be unconscious — and may seem not even to have a pulse, or to be breathing. But some hypothermia victims who appear dead can be resuscitated, the C.D.C. says. Call 911 and administer CPR if possible.

Slips, falls and other health issues

Extreme cold can lead to many other dangers — the most obvious, of course, being falls, car accidents and other ice-related injuries. The unanimous advice: Exercise extreme caution.

But it can also play a role in blood clots that cause heart attacks and strokes, and blood pressure tends to rise with exposure to cold. Researchers have found that blood becomes more concentrated and thicker in the cold, as blood flow to the skin is reduced to conserve body heat.

Cellphones (bear with us)

Extreme cold can also affect cellphones. (No, a phone is not technically a body part, but what if you need it to call for help?)

Most manufacturers recommend using cellphones in temperatures ranging from 32 to 95. Otherwise, the battery’s ability to power the device is compromised, and it may shut down. Keeping the phone close to your body, say in a pants pocket, should keep it warm if you’re outside. And it should work fine once it’s back in normal temperatures.

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Holiday travel is a mess. Last year, Omicron added to the mayhem.

Earlier this month, the AAA predicted that nearly 113 million people would travel at least 50 miles from home from Dec. 23 through Jan. 2, with nearly 102 million of them planning to drive and more than seven million more taking to the skies.

Last year, the possibility of smooth travel around the same period was derailed by severe winter weather in the western part of the country and the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which grounded a significant number of airline staff.

Problems around travel began to build on Christmas Eve last year, hitting a new height days later when more than 1,500 flights to, from or within the United States were canceled. Issues continued to hover around the New Year’s weekend, when airlines were canceling more than 1,000 flights a day.

In total, airlines nixed more than 27,000 flights, or about 8 percent of all scheduled trips, in the two weeks starting on Dec. 25, 2021, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking service.

Those problems carried over into the start of 2022, peaking on Jan. 3, when airlines canceled more than 3,100 flights, or about 13 percent of all scheduled trips. From Dec. 26 through Jan. 10, the number of daily flight cancellations remained above 1,000.

As of Thursday morning, weather conditions were beginning to deteriorate across the Midwest, and more than 1,200 flights within, into or out of the country had been canceled, FlightAware said. The highest number of cancellations were out of O’Hare International, Chicago Midway International Airport and Denver International Airport.

United Airlines said earlier this week that it would waive change fees and any differences in fares for passengers traveling to or from any affected airports in Texas, parts of the Midwest and East Coast through Christmas Day.

Amtrak also announced that it would cancel nearly two dozen trains servicing the Midwest region through Sunday, adding that the decision was “taken with abundant caution and in consultation with state transportation departments, host railroads, emergency managers, and weather forecasters.”

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‘It’s going to be very cold’: A region-by-region forecast.

The frigid air, with wind chill readings plunging well below zero, was sweeping across the Plains early Thursday, making its way into the Midwest and South before pushing through to the East Coast on Friday.

The frightful conditions are already afflicting parts of the West, with airports canceling and delaying hundreds of flights ahead of the holiday weekend. Across the nation’s middle, warnings from the authorities were growing increasingly ominous. Front line workers are also becoming apprehensive of what some forecasters have described as a “once-in-a-generation storm.”

Over 100 daily cold temperature records could be tied or broken over the next few days, according to forecast data from the National Weather Service.

Brian Hurley, a senior forecaster for the service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md., said that the gravest concerns at this time were for blizzard conditions, as well as the precipitous drop in temperature and wind chill expected across several states.

“It’s going to be very cold during the day,” Mr. Hurley said.

Here’s a breakdown of how each region could be affected:

The West and the Plains

The “record-breaking” cold air mass has already enveloped some parts ofthe region between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, as well as the Central Plains, and will chill the Southern Plains by late Thursday, according to the Weather Service. Temperatures across the region have already plummeted to minus 10 to minus 20 degrees, with bone-chilling wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour creating wind chills as low as minus 40 degrees, forecasters say.

In Cheyenne, Wyo., the cold air moved swiftly, dropping a record 40 degrees in just 30 minutes — from 43 degrees to three on Wednesday afternoon. The temperatures have continued plummeting, reaching as low as minus 13, with wind chills feeling more like minus 40 early Thursday morning.

In some parts of this area, the wind chill could reach as low as minus 70 degrees, according to the Weather Service. Without adequate precautions, these conditions can cause frostbite in under five minutes, said the service, “with hypothermia and death also possible from prolonged exposure to the cold.” There is also concern for the welfare of livestock, especially if there is a widespread loss of power.

Brief bursts of moderate to heavy snow lasting an hour or two are likely to occur immediately behind the Arctic front. These so-called snow squalls, when combined with strong wind gusts, can cause whiteouts, leading to “extremely hazardous” travel conditions, the Weather Service said.

Late Wednesday, more than 100 vehicles were reported stuck near Rapid City, S.D. The Pennington County Sheriff said all the stranded drivers had been accounted for within a few hours.

The Midwest

Subzero to single-digit temperatures are expected throughout much of the Midwest, according to forecasters. Vast portions of the region are also under winter storm and blizzard warnings. Such conditions can greatly impair visibility and travel.

In Illinois, the Weather Service warned of bitter wind chills of minus 15 to minus 35 degrees from Thursday night into Saturday, and snowfall of up to four inches on Thursday. Blizzard conditions, the service said, would be possible from Thursday through Friday night.

The heaviest snowfall, according to forecasters, is likely to occur between Wednesday night and Friday over the Great Lakes, where the total depth could exceed a foot. Wind gusts of more than 50 m.p.h. will create near-zero visibility, leading to what the Weather Service described as “dangerous, to at times impossible, land and air travel.” There is also concern for tree damage and widespread power failures.

But the snow doesn’t have to be heavy to become dangerous. Snow combined with 50 m.p.h. winds across the Plains, through the Midwest and into the Great Lakes will create blizzard conditions with any snow falling or on the ground already.

The potential for this to be a “bomb cyclone,” which is meteorologist jargon for a storm system that drops 24 millibars (a measure of air pressure) or greater in 24 hours or less, will lead to extreme winds across the region.

Cities across the region, including Cleveland and Peoria, Ill., are preparing to open warming centers to allow residents to seek shelter during the storm.

Texas and the Southeastern United States

On Thursday evening, temperatures in Texas and the Gulf Coast will likely be in the single digits and teens, about 20 to 30 degrees below normal, forecasters say. The temperatures could drop rapidly, and in some parts of the region, could remain below freezing for two to three days, according to the Weather Service.

Wind chill watches and advisories are in effect for much of the Southeastern U.S. In parts of Texas, wind chills — a measure of what the combination of temperature and wind feels like to human skin — could reach a dangerous minus 15 degrees, the Weather Service said. It advised residents to avoid extended time outdoors, and, if they have to brave the cold, to cover exposed skin.

“We’re actually looking at wind chill down into the single digits, even some areas are expected to be down in the negative values,” Sam Marlowe, a forecaster with the Weather Service office in Atlanta, said. “Most people here are not used to that.”

This is a one-in-several-years event, he said.

Northeastern United States

By late Thursday or Friday, the storm system will have reached the Mid-Atlantic, bringing with it moderate to heavy rainfall of one to three inches, forecasters say. Strong southerly winds, combined with the new moon-tide cycle, could also bring coastal flooding from northern New Jersey to northeast Massachusetts, the Weather Service said.

In parts of Vermont and Maine, heavy rain over a fresh snowpack could lead to flooding, according to the service. Parts of the central Appalachians may also receive light freezing rain and locally heavy snowfall on Thursday morning.

Buffalo and the surrounding area are under a blizzard warning, with the worst hitting them Friday night into Saturday. Meteorologists warned local residents that this is not a normal lake effect event with a narrow band of heavy snow. Instead, the moderate to heavy snow will be more widespread.

“True blizzard conditions are rare in Western N.Y.,” forecasters in the Buffalo, N.Y. weather office warned, “and it’s unusual to even consider blizzard headlines this far in advance of a storm. However, the magnitude of this storm justifies this consideration.”

On Friday, as the Arctic cold front races eastward, temperatures will drop suddenly from the mid to upper 50s down to the 20s or the teens, the service said. This rapid plunge in temperature can flash freeze wet surfaces like roads and pavements, creating hazardous conditions.

A flash freeze occurs when moisture on surfaces like roadways doesn’t have time to evaporate before temperatures quickly dive below freezing, creating black ice conditions.

Canada

While a bout of extreme cold grips western Canada, eastern provinces, including Ontario, should expect a mix of snow and rain on Thursday, followed by plummeting temperatures, heavy bursts of snow and gusty winds over 60 m.p.h., meteorologists say.

“With that quick transition from above zero to below zero, we’re looking at potentially iced roads in some places as well, so extremely difficult travel conditions across southern Ontario,” said Steven Flisfeder, a federal warning preparedness meteorologist.

At Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, which is Canada’s busiest transportation hub, travelers are bracing for cancellations and delays. Heavy snowfall near Vancouver International Airport has already led to the cancellation or delay of hundreds of flights.

The intensity of the snowfall is expected to subside by Saturday evening in Ontario and Quebec, though flurries and snow squalls remain possible in the region surrounding the Great Lakes, forecasters said.

The Pacific Northwest

While the majority of the coastal West, including California, will be spared the bitter cold and punishing weather, some parts of Oregon and Washington State could experience “significant freezing rain,” the Weather Service said, with the potential for ice accumulation to create dangerous travel conditions and scattered power interruptions. Wind chill warnings have also been issued for parts of Washington State.

Vjosa Isai contributed reporting.

Officials issued dire warnings before the storm: ‘This is going to be really dangerous.’

The combination of a rapidly intensifying storm system called a “bomb cyclone” and a large Arctic air mass will bring blizzard conditions and extremely dangerous wind chills to the Plains and Midwest, as well as flash freezes and high winds that will disrupt travel across the eastern half of the country before the holiday weekend, forecasters said.

As the powerful storm approaches, the warnings have grown increasingly ominous. Even in places where bitter cold and heavy snowfall are facts of life this time of year, officials and forecasters have cautioned residents to expect something particularly severe.

In Buffalo, the National Weather Service described the coming event as a “once-in-a-generation storm.” In Cheyenne, Wyo., forecasters said the cold front had swept in and immediately broken records as the temperature dropped from 43 degrees to 3 degrees in a half-hour.

“First of all, it’s wintertime — we expect snow, we expect cold weather,” Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia said in a briefing as he announced that he had mobilized emergency resources in the state. “It’s going to get pretty tough,” he said. “That’s all there is to it.”

The conditions arrive at a particularly inopportune moment, coming during a busy week of holiday travel, toward the end of Hanukkah and extending through Christmas Day on Sunday. The storm could most likely lead to substantial flight delays and cancellations at some of the nation’s busiest airports and create havoc on the roads.

Wind chills as low as 70 degrees below zero are possible in the High Plains, and subzero to single-digit temperatures are expected throughout much of the Midwest, forecasters said.

In the Central and Southern Plains, a cold front is expected to sweep through the region from Wednesday to Friday, causing dramatic temperature declines of as much as 20 degrees within hours, which could bring flash freezes to roads, the National Weather Service warned. Light to moderate snowfall is expected in the Midwest, Great Lakes region and parts of the Northeast. The Great Lakes may see more than a foot of snowfall between Wednesday evening and Friday.

In West Fargo, N.D., Ostrom’s Hardware has been quickly selling through its supply of snow shovels, snowblowers and ice melt. “Yesterday, we had no shovels on our racks,” said Levi Kraig, the store’s assistant manager.

Cities across the Midwest, including Cleveland and Peoria, Ill., prepared to open warming centers to allow residents to seek shelter during the storm.

In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper signed a state of emergency on Tuesday to begin preparations for icy conditions and high winds expected to arrive on Friday and continue through the weekend.

In Texas, forecasts have evoked the lingering trauma from a monster winter storm last year that shoved the state’s power grid to the brink of collapse, stranding millions of people without electricity amid freezing conditions, and contributing to the deaths of nearly 250 residents.

On Wednesday, state officials sought to assure residents that a repeat disaster could be avoided because the power grid could withstand the jump in demand as people hunkered down in their homes. Demand is projected to be at its highest on Friday morning, officials said.

Texas was not expected to see much, if any, snow or ice, but temperatures were expected to drop into the single digits in parts of the state’s panhandle, forecasters said.

“I think trust will be earned over the next few days as people see that we have ultracold temperatures and the grid is going to be able to perform with ease,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a news conference on Wednesday.

The storm is expected to hit hardest in places that are accustomed to serious winters.

“We had a blizzard last week with between 24 and 30 inches of snow,” said Emily Larson, the mayor of Duluth, Minn. The coming storm is not expected to bring nearly that much snow, but it will bring strong winds, which, when combined with the snow already piled on the power infrastructure, could greatly raise the risks of major power outages.

“I’ve been mayor for seven years, and I think we’ve had four storms that have severely impacted our community in ways that have been scary,” Ms. Larson said. “It isn’t a great feeling when people don’t have power and heat.”

In Milwaukee, where forecasters have warned that strong, snow-blowing winds will be the primary hazard of the coming storm, city officials gathered at a fire station on Wednesday to prepare residents for storm and cold.

“It is Wisconsin — we do have these exceptional cold snaps, so we do have plans in place to work through these things,” Assistant Chief Joshua Parish said. “But those things take time.”

While a bout of extreme cold grips western Canada, Ontario and its eastern provinces are bracing for a major winter storm expected to hit on Friday. Forecasters there said the region could expect a mix of snow and rain on Thursday followed by plummeting temperatures, the prime conditions for a flash freeze.

Already, heavy snowfall near Vancouver International Airport on Tuesday prompted an “unprecedented number” of canceled flights, the airport said.

In Kentucky, as Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency and warned residents of the potential danger, he noted that it threatened to add to the litany of catastrophes that have struck his state in recent years. “After tornadoes and floods, pandemics, multiple ice storms just these last three years,” he told residents, “I don’t want to lose one person to this Arctic front that’s coming through.”

In eastern Kentucky, communities that have already been hobbled by decades of economic decline are now trying to claw their way back from devastating floods this summer.

Gwen Johnson, who runs a community center in one of the hollows that was particularly ravaged by the summer flooding, said that most of the people she knew had power but that many houses had not been completely rebuilt to withstand the coming onslaught of cold.

“We had substandard housing before the flood. Then it about knocked out what we did have,” she said. “So a lot of people haven’t gotten their places put back.”

She and others at the center have given out lots of blankets and propane heaters, and she has plans to make a big Christmas dinner for anyone who can make it on Sunday. It was a reflection, she said, of what people there have always done in hard times — rely on each other.

“If there’s no power, the ones that do have power usually take in people,” she said. “We’re no strangers to this.”

Jesus Jiménez and Vjosa Isai contributed reporting.

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What to know if the winter storm disrupts your holiday travel.

And it’s all just in time for the holiday travel rush.

Whether you are planning to travel by plane or by car over the Christmas weekend, you could face delays, cancellations and treacherous conditions.

The weather could create more chaos at airports, which AAA, the automobile association, said will be “packed” during the holidays. Nearly 7.2 million Americans are expected to fly between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, which is 14 percent more than last year and almost as many as in 2019, according to AAA.

Should you cancel your trip? What are your options if your flight is delayed or canceled? Here’s what you need to know if the holiday storm upsets your travel plans.

Know your rights

If the prospect of getting stuck is too daunting, many airlines, including United, American Airlines and JetBlue, are offering to rebook passengers on other flights without additional fees — if they are flying to or from areas that are expected to be hit by severe weather.

But first check the details with your carrier, because each airline has different parameters on when passengers can reschedule their flights.

If your flight is canceled, airlines are obligated by federal law to provide a full refund if the passenger requests it, said Scott Keyes, the founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights, a service that tracks and emails airfare deals to customers. This is true even if a flight is canceled because of the weather.

“It’s still not your fault as a traveler, and you are still entitled to a full cash refund if you want one,” Mr. Keyes said.

If a flight is “significantly delayed,” airlines may also provide a refund if you decide not to fly, Mr. Keyes said, though they are not required to do so. Airlines define what a “significant delay” means though two or three hours for a domestic flight should be a good rule of thumb.

To know what your carrier’s policies are, consult the Department of Transportation’s online dashboard, which features 10 U.S. airlines with green check marks next to the services they offer when flights are delayed or canceled for reasons that the airline controls, such as staffing.

In August, the agency said that it is working on a rule change that would require airlines to refund passengers whose departure or arrival times are delayed by three hours on domestic flights or six hours on international flights.

Use your leverage

Mr. Keyes said this could be an opportunity to take advantage of the expected chaos. If your airline is dropping change fees, it may be possible to get on a better flight than what you originally booked.

Airlines would much rather keep your money than fork over a refund, so “they will work with you to switch to a better flight,” he said.

Another tip: You can try calling an airline’s international hotline, not the U.S. number, even if the canceled flight was domestic, he said.

“Most airlines have numbers all over the world,” Mr. Keyes said. “They’ll have agents there whose lines are empty. They can all help get you rebooked just the same.”

Passengers who booked with online travel agencies, like Expedia, will have to work through those agencies for refunds or to make flight changes, he said.

Be prepared

Install a flight tracker app on your phone, or use your airline’s app to monitor your flight and set up alerts so that you get information as early as possible.

Knowing a flight is going to be delayed or even canceled can help passengers act quickly, said Kathleen Bangs, a spokeswoman for FlightAware, a flight tracking company.

“Then you can be first in line — or first on the phone or on your app — to make arrangements for another flight,” she said.

Passengers who become stranded at the airport may also be able to negotiate with airlines for vouchers, Ms. Bangs said, even though airlines are not required to offer them when weather causes a delay or cancellation.

Ms. Bangs said more airlines are empowering their employees to make decisions at the gate or on the phone to help customers, a philosophy espoused by Herb Kelleher, the founder of Southwest, who focused heavily on customer service.

Customer service agents may be willing to upgrade a stranded passenger’s seat, give them more miles on their mileage plan or provide a hotel voucher even if they are not obligated to, Ms. Bangs said.

“They might say, ‘Well this is a weather event so we’re not offering anything,’” she said. But “it never hurts to ask in a polite way.”

What if I’m driving?

There are two reasons your car trip might be delayed: heavy traffic and weather.

Even if the weather is clear in your location, expect congestion, especially on those days when holiday travelers share the road with regular commuters.

About 102 million people plan to drive 50 miles or more from their homes between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, according to AAA. That’s 3.6 million more than the number of people who drove during the holiday season in 2021 and nearly as many as in 2018, when 102.5 million people hit the roads. (The record was set in 2019, when 108 million people drove between Christmas and New Year’s Day.)

In major metro areas like New York City and Los Angeles, travelers could face traffic delays that are twice as long as usual, according to INRIX, a transportation analysis agency.

If you can, drive on Christmas Day, said Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst at INRIX.

But if you have to leave before that, avoid driving between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Dec. 23, and between noon and 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, when regular commuters are still expected to be on the road, he said.

“If schedules allow, leave bright and early or after the afternoon commute,” Mr. Pishue said.

The cold, ice and snow won’t help. In some parts of the country, the warnings about freezing weather are downright frightening.

In parts of Texas, “dangerously cold wind chills” are possible Thursday and Friday, while the Midwest could see blizzard conditions on Thursday.

AAA “strongly recommends drivers pack an emergency kit,” said Aixa Diaz, a spokeswoman for the group.

The kit should include a cellphone charger, a flashlight with extra batteries, a first-aid kit, reflectors, an ice scraper or snow brush, a shovel, drinking water, extra snacks and food for everyone in the car, including pets if they are traveling with you.

Drivers should have warm gloves, clothes, hats and blankets for everyone in the car. They should also clean their headlights, replace old wiper blades and inspect their tire pressure on their vehicles.

Drivers are also advised not to use cruise control in slick conditions and to stay in their lane as much as possible, since there may be patches of ice between lanes.

“If you hit a patch of ice and begin to skid, try to stay calm and resist the urge to slam on the brakes,” Ms. Diaz said. “Instead, look where you want the car to go and steer in that direction.”

Most importantly, she said, “if there is a blizzard in your path, stay home.”

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places for a Changed World for 2022.

The people who keep your roads and runways clear are bracing for a rough holiday week.

For those in the affected areas, forecasters warn that when the Arctic air swings through, it will arrive quickly, with temperatures dropping 25 to 35 degrees in only a few hours.

The system is also expected to plunge temperatures below freezing as far south as Texas and Florida, and produce powerful winds across a large portion of the country.

For many Americans, the lousy weather will threaten holiday travel and make leaving home treacherous. But for thousands of others, whose jobs place them on the front lines of the weather, the storm will mean a particularly challenging, uncomfortable and perhaps dangerous week at work.

Rory Wolters

It has already been a busy year for Rory Wolters and his crew, which is in charge of keeping the runways clear at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Mich.

But after two significant storms earlier in the season, Mr. Wolters, a field maintenance supervisor, said this week’s weather could be the worst of all.

When the storm hits Michigan, likely on Thursday and Friday, Mr. Wolters’s team will fan out across the runway in specialized plows that include brooms on the back. Others will follow behind with high-powered blowers and sand.

“My staff is looking forward to this: This is what we prepare for every year,” said Mr. Wolters, who will lead 12-hour shifts that start at 3:30 a.m. “These guys are excited. We wait for big storms like this.”

Thursday afternoon into Friday morning, the storm will rapidly strengthen across the Midwest and Great Lakes. As it does, it will produce winds strong enough that even small amounts of snow could greatly reduce visibility.

For those passing through the Grand Rapids airport this week, Mr. Wolters had just one request.

“Be patient,” he said. “These guys are putting a lot of hours in. It’s very stressful out there. Visibility out there can be very low. Just bear with us.”

Seth Sprouse

When nasty weather blows through Wisconsin, Seth Sprouse knows his phone could ring at any hour with word of a power line that needs to be repaired.

“If the storm comes in, in the middle of the night, and the outages start rolling in, you just go get your truck from the shop,” said Mr. Sprouse a lineman with Alliant Energy in the Beloit, Wis., area.

A winter storm watch was already set to take effect in Wisconsin on Thursday, with the possibility of blizzard conditions and wind gusts that could down trees and lead to power outages. As the system gets closer, Mr. Sprouse said, linemen will start following outage maps in other states to get a sense of what might be store in for them.

“It’s definitely hard to be away from your family, especially during the holidays, and it’s challenging to be out in the cold and stay motivated,” he said. But, he added, “there’s a lot of satisfaction in showing up to something that’s a big mess on the ground and by the time you leave, you’ve got it fixed and the lights are back on.”

Though people in Wisconsin are used to winter weather, this system could also create power challenges in states far less accustomed to freezing temperatures, including Texas, where many remain traumatized by the failure of the state’s grid during a winter storm in February 2021.

Forecasters and energy experts said the weather in Texas was not predicted to be as cold and snowy as last year, when the power went out for days in huge portions of the state and hundreds of people died. The head of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages most of the state’s electric power, called the grid “resilient and reliable.”

But the grid is not the only worry in Texas. As hundreds of migrants continue to arrive at the southern border, freezing temperatures could create dangerous conditions for those wading across the Rio Grande or sleeping on the streets in border cities like El Paso.

Wendy Daniels

Holidays often lead to a rush of customers at the Breakthrough Fresh Market food pantry on Chicago’s West Side, where ham, turkey and eggs for Christmas dinners have been in high demand this week.

“They’re already sort of choosing between, ‘Hey, do I pay my light bill or buy groceries?’” said Wendy Daniels, the associate director of food services at Breakthrough. “So now it’s like, ‘Do I pay my light bill, buy groceries or try and get my daughter something for Christmas?’”

But Ms. Daniels said severe weather could pose a barrier to receiving that assistance. She was expecting an influx of customers on Thursday, just as the storm starts bearing down on Chicago. By Friday, the National Weather Service warned that travel in the city could be difficult to impossible and that the cold could be life-threatening.

Many of the volunteers who bag groceries at Breakthrough are older and have trouble getting there in rough weather, Ms. Daniels said. So do some of the customers, many of whom walk to the food pantry or arrive on public transit.

Ms. Daniels still planned to be there.

“I can’t be tired,” she said, “because it’s what I’m called to do.”

Sgt. Ted Bohner

For Christmas travelers making their way through north-central Indiana this week, and for the state troopers patrolling those roads, it would be hard to imagine a more daunting forecast.

“The timing, in my opinion, couldn’t be worse,” said Sgt. Ted Bohner of the Indiana State Police.

Dealing with snowy roads, and with the Christmas travel rush, comes with the territory of being a state trooper. But this storm, Sergeant Bohner said, was particularly worrisome, with the potential for high winds, sustained snowfall and rapidly falling temperatures that could leave a layer of ice on the highways, all on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

“Wind chills of this magnitude can cause frostbite in less than 5 minutes if precautions are not taken,” forecasters at the Weather Prediction Center, a part of the National Weather Service warned.

For Sergeant Bohner, that means routine parts of his job can become potentially deadly ones.

“What could typically be an inconvenience like changing a tire on the side of the road, with visibility and the cold temperatures, could be a life-and-death situation,” he said.

Sergeant Bohner said people planning to travel in his region on Friday should reconsider their holiday plans. His plans have changed, too. Instead of being on vacation on Friday, as he had planned, he will be at work on Indiana’s snowy highways.

Judson Jones, J. David Goodman and Taylor Glasco*ck contributed reporting.

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How to stay safe if you’re trapped in your car during a snowstorm.

But first, a caveat: Check the weather forecast before hitting the road, they said. If a snowstorm is expected, it is best to stay put.

For those who venture out anyway, here are some important safety tips.

Pack a ‘go bag.’

Some important essentials to bring are food, water and a charged cellphone, said Dr. Ken Zafren, an emergency medicine professor at Stanford University and an emergency physician at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska.

Beyond that, experts said it would be helpful to have the following: parkas, blankets, sleeping bags, boots, mittens, hats, flares, medications, wipes, a shovel, a first-aid kit, a cellphone charger, an ice scraper, jumper cables and a full tank of gas.

Even better: Keep these items in your car year-round, experts said.

Stay warm.

You are on the road. Snow is blanketing the ground. Traffic is gridlocked. What now?

First, do not leave your car, experts said. It is the safest place to be until the storm dies down.

“No matter how cold it is inside the car, it will be colder outside,” said Gordon Giesbrecht, a professor at the University of Manitoba who has studied human responses to extreme environments.

Resist the temptation to head out and find help, he added. If you go outside, you could get hypothermia or become lost.

Instead, generate heat by turning on the car for up to 10 minutes every hour, said Dr. Steve Mitchell, a medical director at the Harborview Medical Center’s emergency department in Seattle. Any longer could waste gas.

Human bodies naturally generate warmth, although younger people lose heat faster, he added. Wear a hat so you do not lose heat from your head.

Dr. Giesbrecht suggests maximizing your body heat by hugging your chest and putting your hands in your armpits.

There is only one situation in which you should step outside: if you need to check that your tail pipe is clear, to eliminate the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning from exhaust, experts said.

Take care of yourself.

It is easy to feel isolated or scared, but remember that you are surrounded by other people who are also stranded, said Dr. Grant Lipman, the founder of the Global Outdoor Emergency Support, an app that offers tips for emergencies.

If you have them, eat foods that are high in fat and carbohydrates, which will give you energy and help generate warmth, he added. That includes nuts, chocolate and candy bars.

If you run out of water, drink melted snow, Dr. Mitchell said. But don’t drink alcohol. It will disorient you.

Have wipes and a bottle handy if you need to go to the bathroom, Dr. Lipman said.

While your phone may provide a needed distraction, it is important to preserve your battery so that you can make emergency calls, he said. Close your browser and any other battery-draining apps.

Instead, you can distract yourself by doing small exercises in the car, which will also help you stay warm, Dr. Lipman said.

What about pets?

Lean breeds, older dogs, and puppies are more susceptible to hypothermia, according to the American Kennel Club.

Experts said you should include items for your pets in your emergency kit, such as a blanket and food. While in the car, you could huddle with your pet for warmth. Ideally, you can cover the pet with some form of insulation.

Be visible to rescuers.

When your engine is running, turn on your hazard lights or dome lights so rescuers can see you, experts said.

The National Weather Service suggests tying a bright-colored cloth to your antenna or door. When the snow lets up, raise the hood to signal for help.

Driving when the storm passes.

Drive slowly to avoid skidding, and note that it takes longer to decelerate in icy road conditions, according to AAA. Accelerating too rapidly can cause wheels to spin out of control.

Maintain distance from other cars, trucks, and snow plows.

Tire pressure drops in cold weather. Drivers should inspect tires monthly and before long trips, according to guidance issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.