Arctic weather has ended snow in much of the U.S., but freezing temperatures will be in store for millions over the weekend as the death toll from weather-related incidents rises, forecasters warned Friday.
Early Saturday morning wind chill warnings extended from Montana to Florida and freeze warnings were in effect across the South and Gulf Coast. Heavy lake-effect snow of up to 2 inches per hour is possible in northwest Indiana, the National Weather Service said.
Temperatures early Saturday and Saturday night in traditional hot spots Shreveport, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; And Atlanta Set to dip into the low 20s or teens.
“Atlanta will feel like Kanlanda this weekend!” Weather service there Said in X, with an image of the Canadian flag. Wind chills were forecast to be in the single digits Saturday morning.
In Tennessee, the death toll from weather-related incidents rose to 19. Overall, since January 12 the U.S. At least 59 deaths across the country have been confirmed according to official weather reports.
Nine deaths were reported in Oregon, six in Illinois and Mississippi, five in Washington state and three in New York state and Kentucky. Two in Louisiana One each in Arkansas, Wisconsin, Wyoming and New Hampshire, according to local and state officials.
All State offices in Tennessee Officials said Friday was closed due to dangerous winter weather.
The Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure bluntly told Music City residents to stay home, saying Friday's icy road conditions were the worst of this week's cold snap.
“If you're driving, assume every road is icy, even if it's clear.” The company said.
Wayne County, Tennessee, Sheriff Shane Fisher injected some humor into his serious message to drivers to be careful in icy conditions. His office released footage of the sheriff getting out of the truck and falling onto the ice.
“Don't become a statistic!” According to the news. “Note – No animals were harmed in the making of this video.”
Cities like Knoxville in East Tennessee typically receive only four inches of snow for the entire season. In less than two days, 8 inches of snow has been dumped on the city.
“I know there are a lot of people in East Tennessee who don't have shovels because you don't expect to,” said Tennessee Department of Transportation spokesman Mark Nagy.
On top of the snow, there's the deep freeze, which has exposed vulnerabilities and contributed to the state's high number of weather-related deaths. While the interstates are cleared, many neighborhoods maintained by cities or counties are still covered in snow and ice.
Homeless people in Tennessee were at risk from the cold, and the state's warming centers were full to capacity. The wind chill in Knoxville was 8 degrees at 1 a.m. and the mercury in Nashville. went to single digits.
Michael Ringle, who has run a homeless ministry in Knoxville for nine years, described “seeing tears on people's faces.”
In western New York, residents have been buried under snow for days.
Michael Santoro, who lives south of Buffalo in Hamburg, said he spent nearly five hours a day plowing and shoveling his driveway this week to keep up with the relentless snowfall.
“Anybody could be a car in these snowdrifts,” he said, gesturing to a car in his driveway completely covered in snow. “You have to be very careful when you drive here.”
Snow fell across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, and freezing temperatures prompted warnings of icy roads, including black snow.
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Philadelphia received 4.6 inches of snow on Friday, and while the city was cold and icy, it wasn't as cold as it was 30 years ago, the last time it was below zero, the weather service said. “Very cold and blustery conditions” are in store for the weekend, it said.
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Snow also fell in New York City on Friday, with Central Park seeing 0.4 inches. forecasters said. Upton, New York, got a little more than 1 inch.
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Boston had a wind chill of 7 degrees late Friday and early Saturday, and as arctic air filtered in behind light snow, wind chills were warned of near zero Saturday night, the weather service said.
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Heavy snow fell north of Washington, DC Thursday through Friday afternoon, with 6 inches falling on Clayton, Delaware and 5.4 inches on Columbia, Maryland. Baltimore sustained 4.1 inchess Snow in this latest winter blast.
Swaths of Texas and Louisiana have been shivering since last weekend, before the heat retreated and then went into freezing temperatures on Friday.
Residents Dallas And Yellow Inside TexasAnd Shreveport, Louisiana, Jupiter experienced comfortable high temperatures of 60, 65 and 63 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively. The same communities returned under blankets on Friday as the mercury dropped to 24, 31 and 41 degrees respectively.
Winter temperatures will remain low throughout the weekend across the eastern United States, but warmer times are expected by Monday.
It doesn't get above freezing all weekend in New York City. But it could reach 37 degrees by Monday and 50 degrees a week from now.
Bostonians only need to make it to the low 20s Saturday for high temperatures before reaching New York City-like conditions next week.
Highs in St. Louis and Chicago won't top 17 and 14 degrees on Saturday, with sunnier days heading into the Midwest. But the mercury should reach the high 30s and low 40s by the end of next week.
By Tuesday, the eastern half of the country will be above average.
This article was originally published NBCNews.com
