Winter Storm In "Ludicrous Mode" As 10,000 Flights Canceled, Power Outages Near 1 Million, And Grids Strained

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Winter Storm In “Ludicrous Mode” As 10,000 Flights Canceled, Power Outages Near 1 Million, And Grids Strained

The major winter storm we’ve been tracking all week is now blanketing much of the eastern half of the U.S., with snow falling from Oklahoma through Louisville, Cleveland, Washington, DC, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, and now reaching Boston.

Impacts are already significant, with the largest surge in flight cancellations and delays since the Covid era: Airlines have canceled more than 10,00 U.S. flights for Sunday, according to the flight-tracking site FlightAware. Most in single day since Covid era. 

FlightAware’s Misery Map of delays and cancellations shows severe travel disruptions across major airports, from Dallas and Atlanta to Washington, DC, New York City, and Boston.

“Extremely cold air will follow, prolonging dangerous travel and infrastructure impacts into next week,” the National Weather Service wrote in an early morning weather update.

Attention now turns to energy risks, as extreme cold raises the threat of natural gas production freeze-offs and reduced pipeline flows, increasing the potential for power grid stress from Texas through the Mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast.

Related:

Earlier, the Department of Energy issued a special emergency alert to “mitigate blackouts in the Mid-Atlantic” by allowing power plants operate above “environmental permits or state law.”

“As Winter Storm Fern brings extreme cold and dangerous conditions to the Mid-Atlantic, maintaining affordable, reliable, and secure power in the PJM region is non-negotiable,” said Secretary of Energy Chris Wright.

Wright noted, “The previous administration’s energy subtraction policies weakened the grid, leaving Americans more vulnerable during events like Winter Storm Fern. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we are reversing those failures and using every available tool to keep the lights on and Americans safe through this storm.”

PJM Interconnection is the regional grid operator that runs wholesale electricity markets and grid reliability across much of the Mid-Atlantic and parts of the Midwest and South

The power generation mix on PJM is mostly NatGas, coal, and nuclear, with unreliable renewable power such as solar and wind barely producing power. In other words, fossil fuels and nuclear power are keeping the grid from collapsing as heating demand surges.

Power outage tracking website PowerOutage.com shows nearly 900,000 customers from Texas to Virginia without electricity. Tennessee has the highest number of outages at nearly 300,000, followed by Mississippi with about 150,000.

*Developing. 

Tyler Durden
Sun, 01/25/2026 – 12:15



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