As a historic winter storm creeps closer to wide swaths of the US, public officials are sounding the alarm about the potentially deadly consequences of not taking the weather event seriously. More than 200 million Americans are under a winter storm advisory. Inadequate gear can cause frostbite within minutes, opening the door to hypothermia, a true medical emergency. Temperatures Friday night into Saturday morning (above) will hit the single digits on the East Coast while the upper Midwest will see temperatures fall far below zeroMore than 200 million Americans are under winter storm advisories. When metabolism plummets, the brain’s demand for oxygen drops, triggering a protective state called suspended animation that allows it to survive without oxygen for much longer than would be possible at normal body temperature.

Source: Daily Mail January 24, 2026 07:37 UTC