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Nightmare before Xmas: Once-in-a-generation winter storm, all-time lows

Holiday travelers are about to experience a “Nightmare before Christmas” as a once-in-a-generation winter storm and bomb cyclone will impact nearly every state with “life-threatening” wind chills – plus, all-time lows of 50 states.

Once in a generation winter storm will slam US before Christmas

The National Weather Service is warning a strengthening and major winter storm is going to impact nearly every US state before Christmas, crippling travel and bringing “life-threatening” wind chills from what it is calling a “once in a generation type event.”

More than 90 million people are under winter weather alerts, and more than 87 million people are under wind chill alerts across 37 states, dipping as far south as the Texas/Mexico border, CNN reported.

Wednesday storm outlook:

NWS forecast: From the West to the Great Lakes, snow over at least eighteen states. Heavy snow for portions of Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and northern Michigan. In the Southeast, mixed precipitation and potential freezing rain over portions of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Rain over Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and southern Florida.

Thursday storm outlook:

Thursday is expected to be the most difficult travel day, with the storm impacting the Midwest with heavy snow and strong winds. In Minnesota, blizzard conditions and life-threatening wind chills.

“Whiteout conditions are expected during that time with travel becoming very difficult or impossible,” the NWS warned. “This event could be life-threatening if you are stranded with wind chills in the 30 below to 45 below zero range.”

NWS forecast: In the West, freezing rain over Western Washington and Oregon, with snow to the east extending into Idaho and Nevada. Snow over North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and Oklahoma.

Mix precipitation over the South, Midsouth, Ohio Valley, mid-Atlantic, and Northeast, with potential freezing rain over portions of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York.

Friday: Storm will turn into bomb cyclone on Thursday eve/Friday

The winter storm is expected to strengthen into a “bomb cyclone” from Thursday evening into Friday. A bomb cyclone refers to when a storm rapidly intensifies, dropping 24 millibars in 24 hours. Millibars are a term used for measuring atmospheric pressure. The storms are expected to reach pressure equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane once it reaches the Great Lakes. The NWS described the strength of the low pressure as a “once-in-a-generation” event.

NWS forecast: In the West, freezing Washington and Oregon, with snow portions of Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. In the Great Lakes region, snow over Wisconsin, with heavy snow over Michigan and the northern areas of Indiana and Ohio, into northwestern Pennsylvania and northern New York. Snow also over portions of Illinois, West Virginia, and Virginia. Mix precipitation from parts of the Southeast extending throughout the entirety of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Heavy rain with the possibility of flash flooding over portions of Vermont, and the entirety of New Hampshire, and most of Maine. Rain for Southern Florida and southern Texas.

Here are the record all-time coldest temperatures for every US state

These all-time coldest temperature records may surprise you, as California has gotten colder than Maryland and Kansas, and Arizona colder than Massachusetts and Illinois, Yahoo and Fox reported.

Alabama = -27

Alaska = -80

Arizona = -40

Arkansas = -29

California = -45

Colorado = -61

Connecticut = -32

Delaware = -17

Florida = -2

Georgia = -17

Hawaii = 12

Idaho = -60

Illinois = -36

Indiana = -36

Iowa = -47

Kansas = -40

Kentucky = -37

Louisiana = -16

Maine = -50

Maryland = -40

Massachusetts = -35

Michigan = -51

Minnesota = -60

Mississippi = -19

Missouri = -40

Montana = -70

Nebraska = -47

Nevada = -50

New Hampshire = -50

New Jersey = -34

New Mexico = -50

New York = -52

North Carolina = -34

North Dakota = -60

Ohio = -39

Oklahoma = -31

Oregon = -54

Pennsylvania = -42

Rhode Island = -28

South Carolina = -19

South Dakota = -58

Tennessee = -32

Texas = -23

Utah = -50

Vermont = -50

Virginia = -30

Washington= -48

West Virginia= -37

Wisconsin= -55

Wyoming= -66