Frigid temps hit U.S. behind major winter storm

Frigid temperatures across a large U.S. area complicated efforts Tuesday at restoring power and clearing roads after a major winter storm plowed through the central plains to the Atlantic coast.

The storm, which contributed to at least five traffic deaths, blanketed cities from Wichita to the US capital Washington in snow and ice, prompting mass travel disruptions and closures.

Over 190,000 customers remained without electricity from Missouri to Virginia as of Tuesday morning, according to the Poweroutage.us tracker, with temperatures below freezing across the area.

However air travel was broadly returning to normal after several days of widespread cancellations and delays, with airports in blizzard-hit locations such as Kansas City reopened to passengers.

Schools and federal government offices in the US capital area remained closed on Tuesday, after an uncommon accumulation of several inches of snow.

In particularly hard-hit Louisville, Kentucky, Mayor Craig Greenberg implored residents to continue avoiding unnecessary travel as crews continued to clear highways and roads.

The National Weather Service (NWS) branch located in the city warned that with cold air settling in behind the storm, temperatures could fall into the single digits and possibly below zero degrees Fahrenheit (-18 degrees Celsius) by Wednesday night.

Compounding the possible threats, it warned another winter system was likely to deliver more snow to the region Friday into Saturday.

Chilly winds blowing over the Great Lakes were also expected to bring additional so-called lake effect snow to Pennsylvania and New York, where some areas already saw multiple feet in the previous few days.

Texas, which typically experiences mild winters, was also under winter storm watch for a system set to move into the area late Wednesday.

The state's NWS Fort Worth office said snow accumulations of three to six inches (eight to 15 centimeters) could be expected in and north of the heavily populated Dallas area.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday said he had activated emergency response resources ahead of the storm.

Meanwhile on the west coast, the NWS warned of an "extremely critical" threat of wildfires near Los Angeles and nearby areas, where gusty winds and low humidity could combine to cause any outbreak to spread rapidly.

© Agence France-Presse