Deadly Christmas week bomb cyclone:
unleashes damaging winds and brutally cold temperatures across country

The combination of dangerous driving conditions and frigid temperatures has been blamed for at least 9 deaths across 5 states.

By Brian Donegan Source FOX Weather

A dangerous blizzard intensified into a bomb cyclone Friday as it walloped the Great Lakes and Northeast with snow, damaging winds and plummeting temperatures, creating a travel nightmare for millions trying to reach their destination before the Christmas holiday.

The storm’s central pressure dropped by 30 millibars in the 24 hours, officially surpassing the criteria for bombogenesis, which is a 24-millibar drop in 24 hours.The combination of dangerous driving conditions and frigid temperatures has been blamed for at least 13 deaths in half a dozen states.

Three people were killed in weather-related crashes in Oklahoma, along with another three people on the slick roads in Kentucky and one person whose vehicle overturned in Missouri. One person also died in Texas after prolonged exposure to subfreezing temperatures.

At least one person was killed and several injured during a massive 50-vehilce pileup on the Ohio Turnpike, near Sandusky, Ohio. The Ohio State Highway Patrol warned of near-white out conditions and cautioned travelers to stay home. The state’s governor said he was aware of a total of four weather-related deaths across the state, as a result of weather-related crashes.

Earlier this week, deputies in the Portland, Oregon, area reported roadways were icy when a semi-truck crashed into the scene of a previous wreck on Tuesday along Interstate 84, where one man was killed.

Wind gusts that were tropical storm force and even hurricane force in some areas knocked power out to more than 1.4 million customers from Texas to Maine, with a separate ice storm causing outages in the Pacific Northwest.

In anticipation of the substantial impacts, several states issued states of emergencies to enable resources for the response to the winter storm system.

The winds knocked down trees and limbs, which damaged electrical equipment, and inflatable Christmas decoctions were no match for Mother Nature.

The wind helped usher in bitterly cold, life-threatening air with freezing temperatures expected to reach all the way to South Florida. The cold snap could be the Sunshine State’s coldest Christmas in more than 30 years.

The combination of the wind and bitterly cold temperatures caused wind chill values to reach dangerous levels across much of the eastern half of the nation.

Many of the ingredients were in place for a travel nightmare with more than 150 million Americans under some type of winter weather alert.

U.S. deep freeze forecast to break Christmas Eve records

Deadly Christmas Bomb Cyclone Record-breaking cold, life-Threatening wind chills plunge America Into Deep Freeze

Data from FlightAware showed more than 8,000 flights had been canceled across the U.S. through Saturday, and more than 20,000 flights that were delayed in a 3-day period since Wednesday.

A lack of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico helped keep snow totals on the low side with the heaviest precipitation expected in communities along the Great Lakes. According to the FOX Forecast Center, more than a foot of snow could pile up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, western Lower Michigan, far northern Indiana and western and northern New York due to bands of heavy lake-effect snow through the weekend.

Snow accumulations elsewhere will likely be under 6 inches, except for some locally higher totals from the Adirondacks of New York to the Green Mountains of Vermont, White Mountains of New Hampshire and parts of northern Maine.

The winter storm reached its peak intensity Friday over the Great Lakes but occasional blizzard conditions will continue to snarl travel from the Upper Midwest eastward to portions of Michigan and western and northern New York, into the weekend.

According to the FOX Forecast Center, the high winds will likely contribute to thousands of additional power outages across the Great Lakes and Northeast, which could turn into a life-threatening situation for those who lose power amid such frigid temperatures.

Additionally, for coastal communities from the Delmarva Peninsula through Maine, onshore winds could continue to lead to significant coastal flooding threat along south-facing coastlines during periods of high tide. The FOX Forecast Center said the flood levels could potentially rank among the 10 highest on record along portions of the Northeast and New England coasts.

Christmas weekend: Feet of snow to bury Great Lakes snowbelts

On Christmas Eve, the winter storm will exit into eastern Canada, but high winds will continue to impact the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes and parts of the Northeast. As those winds blow over the lakes, intense lake-effect snow bands are expected to develop in the Great Lakes snowbelts and dump heavy snowfall in localized areas through at least Christmas Day.

Buffalo, New York, has been placed under a Blizzard Warning due to the combination of heavy lake-effect snow and high winds.

“High confidence continues for expected blizzard conditions downwind of both Lake Erie as well as for Jefferson County off Lake Ontario,” the National Weather Service office in Buffalo wrote in a forecast discussion. “The expectation is that the combination of heavy lake-effect snow and very strong winds will produce blizzard conditions across the Niagara Frontier starting (Friday) afternoon and lasting into Saturday night, with these same blizzard conditions starting in Jefferson County by (Friday) afternoon and lasting into Sunday morning.”

According to the FOX Forecast Center, snowfall amounts through Monday will range from 1 to 4 feet not only across western and northern New York, but also in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and western Lower Michigan.

The lingering gusty winds will also continue to produce dangerously cold wind chills throughout Christmas weekend, which could seriously threaten anyone who remains without power.

Record-breaking cold, life–threatening wind chills
plunge 150 million Americans into deep freeze

Fox Weather News By Steven Yablonski , Scott Sistek Source FOX Weather

Subfreezing temperatures have reached as far south as the Gulf Coast as millions across the region feel their coldest wintertime temperatures in several years. Dangerously cold temperatures will now spread into the Great Lakes and Northeast for Christmas weekend, freezing areas in the wake of a crippling winter storm.

A bitter and potentially deadly blast of arctic air is continuing to charge its way across the U.S., dropping wind chills to as low as between negative 50 and negative 70 degrees across the northern Plains, and 30 below zero in the Midwest.

Rare Hard Freeze Warnings have also been triggered along the Gulf Coast fueling a monster blizzard that will bring that frigid temperature across the Great Lakes and into the Northeast.The dangerously cold arctic air began its week-long journey by surging to the south out of Canada last weekend, dropping low temperatures Monday morning to negative 20 degrees and lower across northern Montana.

Wind Chill Warnings are in effect for most of the northern and central Plains, Midwest, parts of the inland Northwest, South Texas, including Houston, and into Florida.

More than 150 million Americans are under various cold temperature alerts, with the worst of the weather arriving before Christmas.

It’s not only the record-breaking cold temperatures coming with the arctic front, but also a period of snow and strong winds that reached as far south as Oklahoma on Thursday and as far east as New York as of Friday morning.

Winds gusted to more than 30 mph, creating extremely hazardous travel conditions from Kansas to Wisconsin.

 

South goes into the Deep Freeze

After spending days freezing the Midwest, the bitter blast of cold air will surge south and east Friday. That will send temperatures tumbling from the southern Plains to the Southeast.

Morning low temperatures Friday morning were in the teens and single digits as far south as Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee, according to the FOX Forecast Center, while temperatures remained in the teens from Central Texas to Georgia.

 Dallas Fort Worth International Airport dipped to 11 degrees early Friday – one of its coldest December temperatures since 1989. Nashville, Tennessee, bottomed out at negative 1 degree Friday morning, marking the first time the city has dropped below zero since Feb. 5, 1996. Houston dropped to 15 degrees Friday morning and struggle to reach the freezing mark during the day.

“Areas like Oklahoma, Arkansas, northern Texas and northern Louisiana, and the Mississippi Delta – you have to be prepared for the cold as well as potential power outages as the wind gusts will be quite strong along with the potential for a freeze,” said FOX Weather meteorologist Steve Bender.  Hard Freeze alerts are now in effect for much of the South – even touching the Gulf Coast shores.

The chill will likely be some of the coldest readings in at least five years for many areas east of the Mississippi River, and Wind Chill Advisories extended into the Gulf Coast. For parts of North Texas and Oklahoma, the Wind Chill alerts are the first issued in the area in 11 years.

Several other locations across the South may not get out of the teens or 20s on Friday, setting records for lowest maximum temperatures. The arctic air will remain entrenched through the weekend – even reaching into Florida on Saturday, where low temperatures will drop to near-freezing as far south as Orlando by Christmas morning.

Temperatures could dip into the 20s across central and northern Florida. Even South Florida will be waking up to temperatures in the 40s.

Dangerous chill moves into Great Lakes, parts of Northeast

Meanwhile, heavy snow, fueled by moisture from the Great Lakes, has buried portions of the Midwest with blizzard conditions. The FOX Forecast Center said blizzard conditions have been reported in the Plains and Great Lakes, creating devastating holiday travel impacts. Several airlines are allowing travelers to change flight plans ahead of the storm.

With temperatures expected to drop below zero in the Windy City, slushy snow will freeze overnight, says Robert Ray, FOX Weather correspondent. Northeastern Illinois sees the threat of bursting pipes and power outages amid the Christmas week blizzard.

---

Bomb cyclone, COVID-19 won’t slow down Santa‘s Christmas deliveries, NORAD says Click Here to Track Santa with the US Military Boys and Girls! 

Read how the US Military Tracks Santa’s Christmas deliveries, NORAD says……

---

Snow, bitter cold, travel nightmares continue Christmas Eve as deadly bomb cyclone enters final chapter

The deaths of more than a dozen people across the country have been blamed on the Christmas week storm that has brought snow, damaging winds and an arctic blast to the eastern half of the U.S.

A major winter storm that killed more than a dozen people, brought blizzard conditions to multiple states and knocked out power to over 1 million customers is still wreaking havoc on Christmas Eve.

As the storm heads into Canada, the lake-effect snow will take over Saturday. Strong winds within the lake bands continue to cause blizzard conditions in western New York and Michigan as Winter Storm and Blizzard warnings are scattered across the region.

Subfreezing temperatures have reached as far south as the Gulf Coast as Freeze Warnings blanket the southern part of the country. Some locations as far south as central Florida are even feeling their coldest wintertime temperatures in several years.

Dangerously cold temperatures will now spread into the Great Lakes and Northeast for Christmas weekend, freezing areas in the wake of a crippling winter storm. Saturday and Sunday will be the coldest days along the Eastern Seaboard down to the Southeast.

Temperatures will begin to warm gradually starting Monday with most of the country returning to above-average temperatures by the middle of the week.

It isn’t just this arctic blast causing a holiday disaster. Multiple feet of snow have jeopardized Christmas travel plans for the once 150 million Americans under some winter weather alert.

The Christmas week storm also proved deadly, with as many as 17 deaths reported due to the combination of dangerous driving conditions and frigid temperatures.

At least four people were killed after a massive pileup in Ohio on Friday. It happened along eastbound Interstate 80 between Route 53 and State Route 4 in Sandusky County. At least 46 cars were involved.

intense pressure, which became a bomb cyclone early Friday, will continue to produce strong winds and lake-effect snow from the Great Lakes to the Northeast, weakening by Christmas evening.

The strong winds and snow will continue to produce blizzard conditions with visibility as low as a few hundred feet.

The FOX Forecast Center said snowfall rates would sometimes exceed 2 inches an hour. More than 2-4 feet of snow is likely across much of Michigan and western New York. It will not be surprising if some locations near Buffalo and Watertown, New York, pick up 5-6 feet.

Wind gusts, which have been as high as 75 mph in Ohio and New York, will continue to be gusty as high as 40-plus mph all across the Midwest and Northeast on Saturday. Gusts will continue in the 50-70 mph range along and near the Great Lakes.

These winds atop existing snow cover will produce ground blizzards. The gusty winds will also continue to result in damage and power outages.

ind gusts that were tropical storm-force and even hurricane-force in some areas knocked power out to more than 1.4 million customers from Texas to Maine this week, with a separate ice storm causing outages in the Pacific Northwest.

The strong wind will produce an increased danger if power outages occur. In addition, the cold’s danger will increase if any power outages occur due to the widespread gusty winds around the winter storm system. The lake-effect snow will finally begin to wind down on Christmas evening, and only a few lingering snow showers will remain Monday. cited 

---

 

EXCLUSIVE — The FBI has secretly stripped eight more people of their rights to own, use, or purchase firearms , according to internal FBI documents obtained by the Washington Examiner.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and over a dozen GOP members of Congress in October demanded that the FBI and Justice Department hand over proof that the FBI is no longer waiving people’s gun rights with internal forms, which the Daily Caller uncovered in September had been signed by 15 people. Now, the Washington Examiner has obtained eight heavily redacted signed forms — indicating a more widespread bureau effort than previously known to target the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.

“Americans can’t simply sign their constitutional rights away, even to the FBI,” Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX), who signed the October letter, told the Washington Examiner. “As Republicans enter a House majority, we must use our investigative power to put a check on federal agencies who have proven to be eager and willing to crack down on Americans’ right to keep and bear arms.”

Through the forms, the FBI asked signatories to identify as a “danger” to themselves or others or lacking the “mental capacity adequately to contract or manage” their lives. The forms were presented by the FBI to people at their homes and in other undisclosed locations beginning in at least 2016 and until December 2019, when the FBI claims it was discontinued.

While two of the new eight forms have redacted dates for when they were signed, the other six are dated between March 2018 and April 2019.

The signed forms were obtained by Gun Owners of America, a firearms rights group, as part of its Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the bureau to compel the disclosure of records. They were then shared with the Washington Examiner.

Second Amendment attorneys, as well as GOA, said the existence of the forms, which register signatories into the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, leaves unanswered legal questions.

This includes the question of whether the form is legal in the first place — given that it did not move through the process mandated under federal law for government agencies to receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget before obtaining information from the public.

It also remains unclear how the FBI’s usage of the NICS forms aligns with the Gun Control Act of 1968, which outlines how someone may be barred from owning guns if he or she is “adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to a mental institution.”

But the act does not say people can rule themselves unfit to own firearms.

“The act is clear, and it says ‘adjudicated,'” John Harris, a lawyer who directs the Tennessee Firearms Association, told the Washington Examiner.

Like the NICS forms previously reported on, the latest batch obtained by the Washington Examiner does not list the names of signatories. The prior forms were accompanied by documents showing that the FBI used them in Massachusetts , Michigan, and Maine.

But it is unclear where the eight new forms were signed.

It is also unclear what sort of background the people who signed the eight forms had. The forms reported on prior included records showing that signatories were those who allegedly made violent threats in person, in online chat rooms, and on social media.

“While the initial reports were alarming enough, as GOA dug deeper, things just kept getting worse,” Erich Pratt, senior vice president of GOA, told the Washington Examiner. “We thank Ms. Greene and all the members who joined her in demanding answers for this damning breach of the public trust, and we look forward to assisting in any possible way as investigations into this matter develop in Congress.”

The existence of more signed forms could further compel House Republicans, who will have a chamber majority, to investigate the FBI’s usage of them in the next Congress. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who is poised to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said in September that he was planning oversight in connection to the forms and other alleged bureau issues.

“This is part of the political nature of the Justice Department,” Jordan said at the time. “Next Congress, we are definitely looking into the whole political nature.”

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) sponsored a resolution in November that would demand that Attorney General Merrick Garland provide records on the FBI forms. However, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee rejected that measure on Wednesday, the Washington Examiner reported.

The vote occurred during a hearing in which committee members debated a bill sponsored by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) called the Preventing Suicide Through Voluntary Firearm Purchase Delay Act.

Jayapal’s bill, which is co-sponsored by Reps. Ken Buck (R-CO), John Curtis (R-UT), and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), would legally permit people to add themselves to the NICS database — thereby forfeiting their rights to own, use, or buy firearms.

The bill demonstrates the glaring problem with the FBI previously obtaining signatures on its forms since lawmakers are essentially recognizing there needs to be congressional approval to engage in what the FBI already did, according to Aidan Johnston, director of federal affairs at GOA.

“The FBI just made something up and began implementing it,” Johnston said. “It has deprived these people of their rights by some made-up unconstitutional process.”

The FBI declined a request for comment. cited https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/fairness-justice/fbi-used-secret-powers-to-strip-more-americans-of-their-gun-rights-documents-reveal

‘Deep State mentality’: Secret Service, ICE secretly coordinated with FBI to strip gun rights, emails show

EXCLUSIVE — The Secret Service and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement secretly coordinated with the FBI to strip U.S. citizens of their rights to own, use, or even buy firearms, according to internal emails obtained by the Washington Examiner.

Behind closed doors and without congressional approval, the FBI has stripped gun rights from at least 23 people with internal forms, the Washington Examiner reported. However, Secret Service and ICE, two agencies under the Department of Homeland Security, have also quietly used these same forms, emails show.

The emails were first obtained by the firearms rights group Gun Owners of America amid its Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the FBI and shared with the Washington Examiner. They demonstrate a more widespread effort than was previously known by the federal government to use the forms, which the Daily Caller revealed in September had been presented between 2016 and 2019 by FBI agents to people at their homes in Maine, Michigan, and Massachusetts, as well as in other undisclosed locations.Signatories were registered with the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System and asked to declare that they were a “danger” to themselves or other people or lacking the “mental capacity adequately to contract” their lives. Many of the people targeted by the FBI in the past had reportedly made violent threats on social media, in chat rooms, and in person, internal records show.

“Good evening [redacted],” a Secret Service employee wrote to an FBI employee on March 30, 2018. “Attached is a NICS self-submission form for [redacted] (DOB: [redacted].”

“His USSS case number is 127-679-0044105,” the email continued, noting it was sent from a supervisory protective intelligence research specialist. “If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you.”

The email was attached with a form intended to waive the gun rights of the signatory, records show. The Washington Examiner was unable to verify the date that the form was signed.

Separately, an email from June 4, 2018, also sheds light on the Secret Service’s usage of the form. A Secret Service employee wrote to an FBI employee: “Can you please enter [redacted] into NICS and advise me when it has been entered. Thank you.”

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) told the Washington Examiner he wants to know if more federal agencies have used the NICS forms. The congressman put forth a resolution in November, which Democrats rejected on Wednesday, that would request Attorney General Merrick Garland turn over documents in connection to the forms.

“It’s just really, really concerning,” said Clyde.

“Is Veterans Affairs using this form to try and get veterans to self-report and deny themselves their Second Amendment right?” he asked. “That needs to be discovered. We need to investigate that. In the majority, I think it becomes a valid question and a valid investigation, and I think we need to spotlight that.”

The other set of emails obtained by the Washington Examiner pertains to ICE, an agency tasked with protecting the border and stopping illegal immigration.

On March 26, 2019, an undisclosed ICE employee wrote to a NICS liaison specialist, “Please see attached signed form.”

In response, the specialist wrote back 10 minutes later, “Entered,” to which the ICE employee said, “Awesome!”

Ken Cuccinelli, who was a top DHS official under former President Donald Trump, told the Washington Examiner he finds it “shocking” that ICE appears to have used the FBI forms. This is because ICE and the FBI have different areas of focus, he said.

“It certainly suggests to me that a certain type of agent is talking across the federal spectrum,” said Cuccinelli, the former attorney general of Virginia. “They were doing it when they had to know their leadership would have opposed it. It really speaks to the rogue nature of the ‘Deep State’ mentality.”

The revelation that more agencies had involvement with the NICS forms comes after the Washington Examiner reported that the FBI stripped eight more people of their gun rights between March 2018 and April 2019. There has never been any indication that ICE used the forms. However, prior emails obtained by the Daily Caller indicated that the Secret Service obtained NICS forms from an FBI employee.

Those emails also indicated that the Social Security Administration had obtained NICS forms from an FBI employee.

It is unclear how the FBI identified all of the signatories, though some forms include investigative records detailing federal investigations. The FBI has claimed usage of the form was discontinued in 2019.

“It might not be surprising in the Biden administration, but it’s pretty obviously shocking under a Trump administration,” Cuccinelli said.

The existence of the signed forms leaves a variety of unanswered legal questions, according to Second Amendment attorneys. Notably, the document itself did not move through a process required under federal law for government agencies to receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget before obtaining information from the public.

House Republicans have told the Washington Examiner they will investigate the FBI over the NICS forms next Congress. In October, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and over a dozen members urged FBI Director Christopher Wray and Garland to provide evidence that the FBI is no longer using the forms.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who is poised to become chairman of the influential House Judiciary Committee, said on Saturday that “nothing is off the table,” including subpoenas, in terms of investigating the FBI over the forms.

“We may need to figure out who OK’d this program,” Jordan told the Washington Examiner. “Who, in fact, were the agents going out actually implementing this program? Because we may need to talk to them to figure out how this all got started.”

“How did they decide which people to go after?” Jordan asked.

The FBI’s secret usage of the NICS forms has grown increasingly relevant in the halls of Congress. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and other members are looking to pass legislation granting a pathway for people to waive their gun rights and add themselves to the NICS database.

Jordan and other members, including Reps. Dan Bishop of North Carolina and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, have said the legislative push is evidence that the FBI acted inappropriately. This is because it shows the bureau actually needed congressional approval to strip people’s gun rights with the forms, they say.

“What we’re looking at is evidence that the FBI went off on their own and wrote the bill and implemented the bill that you are trying to pass here today, or did pass, and will try to pass on the floor,” said Massie on Wednesday.

Story by Gabe Kaminsky