It’s a nightmare before Christmas.
The “once-in-a-generation” storm crushing most of the US officially became a deadly “bomb cyclone” Friday — leaving more than 1.5 million customers without power and causing a travel nightmare for millions of people hoping to make it home for the holidays.
Winter Storm Elliott, which already triggered a state of emergency for New York that started at 6 a.m. Friday, soon left more than 200 million people under some form of an extreme weather alert.
The National Weather Service said its map “depicts one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever,” affecting around two-thirds of the nation.
Cars sit in flood waters during the winter storm along the Hudson River shore in Piermont, New York. REUTERS
On Friday, the storm brought a dramatic enough drop in temperature to officially be declared a bombogenesis, the meteorological phenomenon typically dubbed a “bomb cyclone,” Geoff Bansen of the Fox Forecast Center confirmed to The Post.
It was already blamed for a number of deaths by Friday, including at least three in Kentucky and a driver in Kansas City, Missouri, who died after skidding into a creek. Another man was killed in the Portland, Oregon, area when a semi-truck crashed into the scene of a previous wreck.
Authorities fear the tally could rise, with widespread power outages making it almost impossible for many to keep safely warm.
This satellite image by NOAA shows weather systems across North America on Dec. 23, 2022. AP
Travelers check for canceled flights at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. AFP via Getty Images
As of Friday afternoon, PowerOutage.us said it had recorded “over 1.5 million electric customers are without power across the US,” including more than 100,000 in New York.
Many outages were blamed on ferocious winds, which topped more than 80 mph in some areas, including upstate New York.
The city of Havre in Montana, meanwhile, recorded a record temperature of minus 37 degrees, Bansen said, so cold it can cause frostbite in less than five minutes.
Winter Storm Elliott is predicted to be a “once-in-a-generation” extreme weather event. ZUMAPRESS.com
A plow truck makes its way down West Main Street in Springville, N.Y. APDenver was the coldest it has been in 32 years on Thursday when the temperature dropped to minus 24 — while parts of Florida are likely to have their coldest-ever Christmas, the Fox meteorologist said.
The storm meant much of the US could see a white Christmas, with more than 53% of the nation getting at least a dusting of snow, the Fox meteorologist said.
But many will not get to see it with their families, with more than 9,900 US flights being canceled or delayed by early Friday afternoon.
A man makes his way through floodwaters on the Portland Pier during the powerful winter storm. APIt left many stuck in major airports, including La Guardia — where around a third of the scheduled flights in and out of the Big Apple were canceled.
They included the Kannengiessers, a family of four from Australia who are supposed to spend Christmas in Nashville, Tennessee, with friends.
“We got up at 3:30 in the morning to make sure we were here on time — it got canceled 5 minutes before boarding,” dad Marc Kannengiesser, 50, told The Post of their long-booked flight.
“We don’t know anyone here,” he said of the potential of an unexpected Christmas in New York.
The dire conditions mean it’s not just air travel making their Music City trip seemingly impossible.
“There’s no cars, no trains, no buses, we’re basically stuck. Christmas is not where we want,” griped Marc’s wife, Fiona, also 50.
Officials across the US are urging people to stay home rather than travel in one of the busiest periods of the year. Fox WeatherJustin Schot, 41, told The Post that it was hard to describe how painful “the thought of not being home for Christmas” in Nashville was after his flights for him, his wife and three kids were repeatedly canceled.
“We’ve got family [waiting in Nashville] from out of town with new babies that we haven’t even met yet. We’re trying to get there so we can meet these babies. We’re trying everything we can, every option,” he said.
Still, “Worse case, we’ll stay here. There’s plenty of hotels,” he said.
Mist rises from Chicago and Lake Michigan at sunrise on Dec. 23 where temperatures reached -6 degrees. AFP via Getty ImagesCarlos Garcia, 48, said he, his wife and two teenage kids “slept upstairs in Terminal C, on the seats” after their flight home to Vegas was overbooked.
Many headed to Penn Station in the hopes of getting out by train — just for many of those to be canceled, too. Amtrak canceled dozens of trains through Christmas, including trips from New York to Chicago.
“I have been traveling for more than 24 hours at this point,” 20-year-old Vermont student Audrey Olson said of two connecting flights being canceled on her trip home from studying abroad in Ireland.
Temperatures have already plummeted 50 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas, with wind gusting 30-50 mph. Fox WeatherInstead, she headed to Penn in the hopes of getting an Amtrak train to Albany, where her parents would meet her to drive the last three hours home to Burlington.
“The airline has my bag … I don’t know how or when I’ll get that back,” she said of her unexpected adventure.
A Florida couple trying to get to Kingston, NY, for their first Christmas with their son in 10 years said they were further delayed by unexpected train cancelations.
Heavy snow falls in Buffalo, NY as the extreme winter storm continues. AP“We always manage to have a disaster when we travel,” Sandra, 67, said — adding optimistically: “We’ll get there eventually.”
Others wrestled with the dilemma of picking safety over a wholesome family holiday.
“My family is calling, they want me home for Christmas, but they want me to be safe, too,” said Ashley Sherrod, who planned to fly from Nashville, Tennessee, to Flint, Michigan, until her flight was canceled.
“Christmas is starting to, for lack of a better word, suck.”
With Post wires
