Continuing arctic blast puts 100M Americans under winter alerts

Jan. 19 (UPI) -- The weeklong arctic blast that blanketed most of the continental United States has one last breath before forecasters predict an unseasonal warmth next week.

Over 50 people have died since last Friday, with 17 cold-related fatalities occurring in Tennessee, nine in Oregon, six in Illinois, five in Washington state and Mississippi, three in New York state, two in Louisiana and one each in Arkansas, Wisconsin, Wyoming and New Hampshire, according to NBC News.

More than 1,500 flights were canceled Friday, with Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in the Washington, D.C., area and LaGuardia Airport in New York City having the most cancellations, according to FlightAware.

A fresh round of snow rolled through the Chicago area Thursday night and Friday morning, leaving parts of Northwest Indiana buried in in nearly two feet due to the lake effect. LaPorte and Porter County are under a winter storm warning until 6 a.m. Saturday.

More than 100 million Americans are under winter weather alerts as of Friday afternoon. Wind chill alerts went out Friday afternoon across most of the country, while freeze alerts remain in effect for the South and Gulf Coast.

Temperatures are expected to sink into the low 20s and teens for Dallas and Amarillo, Texas; Shreveport, La.; Jackson, Miss.; Birmingham, Ala.; and Atlanta.

Many of those areas enjoyed temperatures in the mid-60s Thursday before they sunk back below freezing.

Parts of the Northeast and New England got a fresh blanket of snow Friday morning, with Philadelphia getting up to five inches; Clayton, Delaware being buried under six inches; and Columbia, Maryland enduring 5.4 inches.

New York City, which largely has avoided major snowfall, might get up to three inches by Friday evening

While the snow is expected to subside, another brutal arctic blast is predicted to roll across the Plains, Midwest and South this weekend.

Forecasters anticipate a windchill of minus 17 degrees for Chicago, minus 10 degrees for Kansas City, 2 degrees for Nashville and 8 degrees for Philadelphia on Sunday.

By Tuesday, however, much of the continental United States will get a reprieve from the cold. Chicago could get temperatures above freezing on Monday, while parts of the Plains and Midwest will experience an average 20-degree rise in temperature.

Des Moines, Iowa, and Minneapolis likely will experience a 40-50 degree positive temperature shift next week.