WASHINGTON - Arctic cold extended its grip over much of the United States on Friday, combining with snow, ice and howling winds from a major winter storm roaring out of the Great Lakes to disrupt energy supplies and thwart travel for millions of Americans ahead of the holiday weekend.

The extreme winter weather was blamed for at least four deaths on Friday.

A 50-vehicle traffic pileup on the Ohio Turnpike in the midst of a blizzard near Toledo killed one motorist, injured several others and shut down both lanes of the highway, according to the Toledo Fire & Rescue Department. 

Stranded motorists had to be evacuated by bus to keep them from freezing in their cars in sub-zero temperatures, the department said.

Three weather-related fatalities were also confirmed in the adjacent state of Kentucky – two from car accidents and one a homeless person who died of exposure.

“Please stay home and stay safe,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on Twitter.

Airline cancellations topped 5,700 US flights on Friday as the massive winter storms snarled airport operations and frustrated tens of thousands of holiday travelers.

That followed nearly 2,700 canceled flights on Thursday, while just over 1,000 flights have already been canceled for Saturday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

Passenger railroad Amtrak has canceled dozens of trains through Christmas, disrupting holiday travel for thousands.

With the deep freeze stretching from Montana to Texas as it crept eastward, some 240 million people – more than two-thirds of the US population – were under winter weather warnings and advisories on Friday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

The nation’s coldest spot on Friday was the remote northern Montana town of Havre, near the Canadian border, where the mercury had risen from a low of minus 39 deg C to a relatively balmy minus 28 just before noon, the NWS reported.

“It’s been colder, but yeah, I guess it’s cold out,” Mr Tyler Schaub, manager of Rod’s Drive Inn, acknowledged as he was flipping burgers on the grill. “We’re used to it, but even then it’s best not to stay outside too long.”

Numbing cold intensified by high winds extended through the Deep South to the US-Mexico border, bringing single-digit wind chill factors to the border city of El Paso, Texas. Exposure to such conditions can cause frostbite within minutes.

Hard-freeze warnings were posted in southern Georgia and across much of all four Gulf Coast states – Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida.

Farther north, heavy snowfall was forecast in parts of Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York, including upwards of 88cm in Buffalo, Weather Service meteorologist Ashton Robinson Cook said.

The map of existing or impending wintry hazards “depicts one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever,” the agency said.

The extreme weather disrupted households and holiday plans just days before Christmas. About 1.5 million US homes and businesses were without power on Friday, according to tracking site Poweroutage.us.

About 187,000 customers were without power in North Carolina alone, where strong winds have hampered restoration efforts.

In Maine, with about a tenth of North Carolina’s population, power was out to more than 114,000 customers on Friday afternoon.

Severe winds, ice and snow also upended commercial air traffic during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

More than 4,000 US flights were cancelled on Friday, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. About 500 flights into or out of Seattle’s major airport were axed as a separate storm system brought ice and freezing rain to the Pacific Northwest.

The American Automobile Association (AAA) had estimated that 112.7 million people planned to travel 80km or more from home between Friday and Jan 2. That number was likely to drop due to treacherous weather complicating air and road travel going into the weekend.

Buffalo-area officials in New York instituted a driving ban.

“If there’s any good news, it’s that the storm has moved quickly over some areas,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told MSNBC on Friday.

Many airports, such as Denver, are expected to bounce back quickly from a wave of delays and cancellations. Other hubs like Chicago could recover later on Friday, he said.

‘Bundle up’

Last-minute holiday gift purchases may also have slim chances of reaching their destinations by Christmas. FedEx said on Friday that customers can expect potential delays for some package deliveries across the country, due to disruptions at hubs in Tennessee and Indianapolis.

Weather forecasters said the blizzard over the Midwest had formed into a “bomb cyclone” – a phenomenon that occurs when the air pressure drops drastically within a 24-hour period and speeds up a storm’s intensity. It could produce blinding snow from the northern Plains and Great Lakes region to the upper Mississippi Valley and western New York state.

Along the east coast, rain and westerly winds pushing sea water to shore could cause 3 feet of coastal flooding, with flash freezing and black ice possible, the Weather Service said.

The lowest temperature in the US on Friday morning was recorded in Havre, Montana, registering minus 38 F (minus 38 deg C). But forecasters predict some relief over the next few days. In Montana and across the northern Rockies and High Plains, temperatures could rebound by 40 to 60 degrees over the weekend.

For now, meteorologist Cook said: “Bundle up and stay indoors if you can, and check on your neighbours.” REUTERS