Natural gas prices soared more than 20% on Wednesday as an Arctic cold front is forecast to blast across the Upper Midwest and descend south to grip much of the U.S. with frigid temperatures through the weekend.
Heating demand is expected to spike as wind chills could fall to -50 degrees Fahrenheit across the Upper Midwest and Northern Plains, according to the National Weather Service.
The wind chills pose a life-threatening risk of hypothermia and frostbite to exposed skin, the NWS warned. Power outages could prolong the risk, the federal agency said. Families should protects all pets from the cold, it said.
Heavy snow is forecast for the southern high plains of Colorado and New Mexico on Friday, said Owen Shieh, a meteorologist at the NWS Weather Prediction Center in a public service announcement on social media.
The storm will spread across the southern plains to the Mississippi Valley on Saturday before moving into Southern Appalachia, the Carolinas and the Mid-Atlantic on Saturday night into Sunday, Shieh said.
A major ice storm threatens to hit Texas on Friday night and extend through the Deep South and the Carolinas into the weekend, the meteorologist said. This could lead to hazardous travel, downed trees and power lines, he said.
Frigid sub-zero and single digit temperatures will also expand into the Ohio Valley and Northeast by Sunday, according to the NWS.
"Due to the large extent and long duration of the extreme cold accompanying this winter storm, it will take longer for the snow and ice to melt after the storm," Shieh said. "You need to prepare for the possibliity of extended impacts, potentailly for several days."