“I think trust will be earned over the next few days as people see that we have ultracold temperatures and the grid is going to be able to perform with ease,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a news conference on Wednesday.
The storm is expected to hit hardest in places that are accustomed to serious winters.
“We had a blizzard last week with between 24 and 30 inches of snow,” said Emily Larson, the mayor of Duluth, Minn. The coming storm is not expected to bring nearly that much snow, but it will bring strong winds, which, when combined with the snow already piled on the power infrastructure, could greatly raise the risks of major power outages.
“I’ve been mayor for seven years, and I think we’ve had four storms that have severely impacted our community in ways that have been scary,” Ms. Larson said. “It isn’t a great feeling when people don’t have power and heat.”
In Milwaukee, where forecasters have warned that strong, snow-blowing winds will be the primary hazard of the coming storm, city officials gathered at a fire station on Wednesday to prepare residents for storm and cold.
“It is Wisconsin — we do have these exceptional cold snaps, so we do have plans in place to work through these things,” Assistant Chief Joshua Parish said. “But those things take time.”
While a bout of extreme cold grips western Canada, Ontario and its eastern provinces are bracing for a major winter storm expected to hit on Friday. Forecasters there said the region could expect a mix of snow and rain on Thursday followed by plummeting temperatures, the prime conditions for a flash freeze.
Already, heavy snowfall near Vancouver International Airport on Tuesday prompted an “unprecedented number” of canceled flights, the airport said.