• by Tanya Gazdik , January 15, 2024

Much of the nation is experiencing record-breaking cold. 

About 79% of the country will see below-freezing temperatures and more than 140 daily cold records could be broken today and Tuesday from Oregon to Mississippi, and temperatures in Memphis, Dallas and Nashville are expected to stay below freezing for at least 72 consecutive hours, according to CNN Weather. 

“It has been more than 700 days since New York City has seen an inch or more of snow,” per The Weather Channel. “But Winter Storm Heather may change that.” 

The weather in Iowa is having an effect on the presidential campaign, with several events canceled ahead of today’s Republican caucuses, according to NBC News. Des Moines is forecast to have wind chills between minus 20 and minus 30 today.

“You can’t sit home,” former President Donald Trump told supporters Sunday according to The Associated Press. “If you’re sick as a dog, you say, ‘Darling, I gotta make it.’ Even if you vote and then pass away, it’s worth it.”

Martin Luther King Jr. parades and other events today are being postponed due to weather in communities unaccustomed to major winter storms, from Tennessee to Texas.

“In Memphis, the National Civil Rights Museum, near the site of Dr. King’s slaying in 1968, announced it would close its doors and deliver its special programming virtually,” according toThe New York Times.

Houston and San Antonio are among the places to have canceled MLK Day events today because of the extremely cold conditions and winter weather warnings, according to NBC News.

“As temperatures in Texas plunged, the state’s power grid operator appealed to residents to voluntarily conserve electricity Monday morning due to the cold weather causing ‘record breaking demand’ for energy,” according to The Associated Press.

But not everyone in the Lone Star State cared about the weather, at least not on Sunday night when an important NFL playoff game was just wrapping up. 

“Even with Texas on edge about the winter weather, television viewers were not happy when an NBC affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth cut into its programming Sunday night with 1:52 left in what was about to be the Detroit Lions’ first home playoff football win in 32 years,” according toThe New York Times. The station aired 2 minutes of programming about weather before returning to the postgame.

The Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Buffalo Bills NFL playoff game was rescheduled from Sunday to today due to a blizzard in Buffalo.  But stadium employees and area residents (who were being paid $20 an hour) were still trying to clear three feet of snow off the seating areas as of this afternoon. 

The Bills reminded fans in a social media post to “dress appropriately” and wear “waterproof boots and pants,” according to WIVB.com.

The Philadelphia Eagles vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers game is being played later today in Tampa, Florida, where it is expected to be 67 degrees and rainy at game time, according to The Pewter Plank, the Fansided.com website for Tampa Bay fans. 

Weather also won’t be a factor for tonight’s 75th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, where it will be around 59 degrees. The event is happening four months late due to last summer's dual Hollywood strikes, when actors and writers walked off the job following stalled contract negotiations, according toUSA Today. 

Those trying to escape to warmer weather aren’t having much luck.

“More than 2,000 flights within, into or out of the United States had been cancelled by 2:30 p.m. EST today as weather wreaked havoc at airports around America,” according to NBC News.