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A vast winter storm swept across the United States over the weekend, bringing heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain that paralysed air travel, knocked out power supplies and left large swathes of the country grappling with dangerous cold.

The storm system stretched nearly 2,000 miles from the southern Rocky Mountains to New England, threatening close to 180 million people, more than half the US population, according to the National Weather Service. After battering the South, it pushed into the Northeast on Sunday, with forecasts predicting up to 60 centimetres of snow from Washington, DC, through New York to Boston.

Air travel was among the worst hit. More than 10,800 flights were cancelled on Sunday alone, with aviation analysts describing it as the largest cancellation event since the Covid-19 pandemic. By afternoon, major airports across the Northeast had effectively shut down.

New York’s LaGuardia Airport suspended operations until the evening, while Philadelphia International Airport cancelled 94 per cent of its flights. At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, all departing flights for the day were grounded.

Disruptions rippled through major airline hubs nationwide, including Dallas–Fort Worth, Charlotte and Atlanta. American Airlines cancelled nearly half its scheduled flights, while Delta, Southwest, United and JetBlue each reported hundreds of cancellations. Experts warned that the knock-on effects would linger for days, even for travellers far from the storm’s direct path.

“Recovery will take time,” said Vikrant Vaze, a professor specialising in aviation logistics. “With so many airlines affected, the pace of normalisation will depend on each carrier’s network and its capacity to absorb large-scale disruption.”

On the ground, the storm left a trail of damage. Ice-laden tree branches and power lines snapped across the Southeast, cutting electricity to about one million homes and businesses. Tennessee was the worst affected, with more than 330,000 customers without power, while Louisiana, Mississippi and several other states each reported outages affecting tens of thousands.

Emergency declarations were approved for more than a dozen states, and federal agencies pre-positioned supplies, staff and rescue teams in anticipation of prolonged impacts.

Weather officials warned that the danger would persist even after snowfall eased, as bitterly cold temperatures would prevent ice from melting and complicate restoration efforts.

“This is a unique storm because of how widespread it is,” said meteorologist Allison Santorelli. “The cold behind it means hazardous conditions will linger for days.”

Temperatures plunged to record lows in parts of the country. In upstate New York, communities near the Canadian border recorded extreme subzero readings, with state officials describing the conditions as the most severe cold spell in years. Authorities urged residents to stay indoors and avoid travel unless absolutely necessary.

The human toll was already evident. Several deaths were reported across different states, including suspected hypothermia cases in Louisiana and fatalities linked to exposure in New York City. Schools across the affected regions were closed or shifted to remote learning, while utility crews in some areas were forced to suspend work overnight because of falling trees and unsafe conditions.

Road travel was equally treacherous. Icy highways prompted police warnings to stay off the roads, and local officials reported structural damage caused by the weight of accumulated snow and sleet. In parts of Mississippi and Arkansas, emergency services carried out rescues as infrastructure buckled under the strain.

Forecasters said the storm would gradually move east, but warned that extreme cold, high winds and lingering ice could continue to pose risks across much of the eastern half of the country well into the week. For millions of Americans, the immediate priority remains staying warm, safe and off the roads as the nation endures one of its most disruptive winter weather events in years.

With PTI inputs