The 2022 North American winter storm was a highly unusual weather event which occurred in North America between the 21st and 26th of December 2022. It struck a wide range of regions in the United States, though the north-east, the northern end of the Gulf of Mexico, the north of the Midwest around the Great Lakes and the north-west in Washington State, Montana and Oregon were worst impacted. The central parts of the United States and the south-west around California, Nevada and Arizona were not as badly impacted. The winter storms had an impact in parts of Canada as well. Rolling blizzards, heavy snow, flooding, ice and other wintery storm conditions created a range of problems around North America that impacted in one way or another on quarter of a billion people. The storms led to the death of over a hundred people and created billions of dollars’ worth of damage. Tens of thousands of air flights were cancelled over the Christmas season, leaving many stranded, while millions were without power for days.[1]
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2022 North American winter storm chronology of events
Large parts of North America have always been prone to extremely cold temperatures during the winter months. New York City, for instance, will regularly experience freezing conditions in the winter months, as will cities like Chicago in the Great Lakes region.[2] Seattle is typically warmer, but it is known as the Rainy City for a reason. On the other side of the border winter conditions are more extreme still. Regina, the capital of the province of Saskatchewan in central Canada, will often encounter winter temperatures of -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit). Thus, people in large parts of North America are no strangers to cold and freezing conditions in winter.[3]
What struck this part of the world in December 2022 was different though. The storms, which are also known as Storm Elliott, began to form over the Great Plains region of the United States on the 21st of December 2022, that is the region around Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. As the storm gained in intensity it mixed with freezing conditions to intensify into an extra-tropical cyclone replete with freezing temperatures, snow and blizzards, what is often colloquially termed a winter bomb cyclone. By the 23rd of December it was moving towards the Great Lakes with wind speeds of up to 80 miles per hour bringing snow and ice.[4]
Over the next two days the winter storms caused havoc in the Great Lakes region and further east towards New York and New England. Blizzards moved through the region, with large gusts, heavy snow and freezing conditions. Michigan was hit particularly badly, while New York also suffered considerably under the extreme weather. Millions of people were left without power, while over 18,000 flights were cancelled at the busiest time of the year for air travel as people travelled for Christmas.[5] At the height of it, approximately a quarter of a billion people in the United States and Canada were under a weather warning. The only parts of the US which escaped without any major issues were in the southwest around California eastwards through Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.[6]
The city of Buffalo in the far west of New York State became the epicenter of the storm. The city was blasted by two days of snow and blizzards which made it nearly impossible to see anything outside as it suffered from the storm having gathered strength as it passed over parts of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Over 40 fatalities eventually occurred in this part of New York State.[7] This was over 40% of the total. 16 people died in Ohio and 8 in Michigan, while 6 people died in Colorado, a state that lay out the path of the worst of the storm, but which was particularly prone to the wind chills high up on the Rocky Mountains. The rest of the deaths, which numbered just over a hundred by the time the storm and its damage had past, were dispersed over a dozen other states and parts of southern Canada. The storms only eventually began to dissipate on the 26th of December and the thaw began thereafter. It is estimated the storms cost over five billion dollars in terms of damage inflicted.[8]
While the Great Lakes region, both on the US and Canadian sides thereof, and the north-east of the US were the worst impacted parts of North America, the storms also had an impact on the northwest in Washington State, Montana and Oregon, were Seattle and other cities suffered from freezing winds and rain.[9] Further to the south there were also weather extremes in the broad drainage area of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, leading to deaths as far south as the state of Mississippi from the freezing cold weather.[10] Thus, the North American winter storms of 2022 literally brought America to a standstill with what many will hope were once in a century blizzards and freezing conditions over that Christmas.
Migratory and demographic impact of Storm Elliott
While the winter storm created havoc across North America, it didn’t have many major long-term demographic impacts. Power outages and other issues caused issues for millions of people, but homes were not destroyed in the way that they often are in hurricanes and other natural disasters. Therefore few people ended up migrating in the aftermath of the storms.
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See also
Explore more about the 2022 North American winter storm
- Newspaper Name Index, USA, Canada, and Australia records collection on MyHeritage
- U.S. Public Records Index records collection on MyHeritage
- United States Newspapers from OldNews.com records collection on MyHeritage
- United States Obituary Index from OldNews.com records collection on MyHeritage
- U.S. City Directories records collection on MyHeritage
References
- ↑ https://alert.air-worldwide.com/winter-storm/2023/u-s--winter-storm-december-21-26/event-summary/
- ↑ https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/travel/holiday-weather/americas/usa/newyork
- ↑ https://en.climate-data.org/north-america/canada/saskatchewan/regina-373/
- ↑ https://alert.air-worldwide.com/winter-storm/2023/u-s--winter-storm-december-21-26/event-summary/
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/24/huge-winter-storm-bomb-cyclone-us-life-threatening-cold-holidays
- ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64083129
- ↑ https://www.wivb.com/weather-news/buffalo-blizzard-2022/two-more-confirmed-storm-related-deaths-bring-total-to-42/
- ↑ https://www.captive.com/news/risk-modeler-estimates-winter-storm-elliott-losses-at-54-billion
- ↑ https://harrell.seattle.gov/2022/12/23/city-of-seattle-winter-event-update-dangerously-cold-temperatures-and-freezing-rain-ahead-avoid-travel-if-possible/
- ↑ https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/national/ap-homeless-man-died-in-cold-weather-trying-to-get-to-family/