Another week of extreme winter weather is hitting the country, affecting most of Central and Eastern portions of the country.
On Monday morning, a cyclone developed over the Great Plains, affecting states like New Mexico, eastern Colorado, the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, western Kansas and southwest Nebraska. All can can expect blizzard conditions. Thousands have been left without power and the whiteout conditions have made it dangerous to travel, leaving people stranded and with the hassle of cancelled flights.
Areas like Michigan, near the Great Lakes, could see up to two feet of snow on Saturday and Southern states like Oklahoma and Mississippi will also see their fair share of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. In other portions of the country, states like Texas have an average temperature of -19 degrees, the same temperature it was during the power grid collapse in 2021.
Nevada has a winter weather advisory, which you can see in more detail on the NWS website.
Even if states like California, Arizona, and Nevada are not primarily affected by blizzards, travellers should prepare for expected delays and potentially cancelled flights.
Already, travelers heading to Harry Reid International Airport are worried they might be able to leave Las Vegas to head east (although we can’t think of a more fun place to be stranded).
Flight from Vegas to Chicago and Wisconsin have been canceled Friday due to weather conditions, and this is in addition to the FAA’s nationwide grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft. According to KLAS 5 Vegas, “Nationwide, by mid-day Friday, there were more than 22,000 delays and 3,000 cancellations.”
Not the best news for our three-day weekend in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. For more information on flight times if you’re expected to travel or to have visitors, check Flight Aware or a list of flights from the airport website.