See scope of ice, blizzard conditions as Christmas week bomb cyclone unleashes wild weather across US

Name: Icy roads cause vehicles to slide, crash into each other in Seattle
Uploaded: 2022-12-23T20:31:35-05:00
Duration: 17 s
Description: Multiple vehicles crash into parked cars, with two vehicles careening down a steep hill. (Courtesy: @kay0kayla/Twitter)

Snow and ice blamed for a 50-car pile-up on the Ohio turnpike in Sandusky County. One person has been killed in the crash.

00:27

Winter storm results in 50-car pile-up in Ohio, at least one dead

Snow and ice blamed for a 50-car pile-up on the Ohio turnpike in Sandusky County. One person has been killed in the crash.

A blizzard morphed into a bomb cyclone this week, creating messy and deadly weather across the U.S. in the final countdown to Christmas.

At least 16 deaths have been attributed to the winter storm, and power outages surged above 1 million.

From coast to coast, millions are seeing ice, dangerous cold, flooding and snow this Christmas week.

Coastal flooding closes roads

Storm clouds are seen as the Hudson River spills over a river wall in front of the skyline of lower Manhattan in New York City during an severe flooding due to the winter storm in New Jersey, United States on December 23, 2022. (Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

Coastal flooding was a significant threat along much of the Northeast and New England coasts.

Widespread moderate flooding was reported Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

At high tide, flooding overtook coastal towns in Maine and Connecticut, where the bomb cyclone prompted High Wind, Coastal Flood and Flash Flood warnings.

Video from Wells and Ogunquit, Maine, showed huge waves lapping onto coastal roads. Residents were asked to avoid driving on ocean-front roadways.

Numerous roads were closed in New England due to strong winds and possible infrastructure damage.

Heavy and blinding snow is making its way through the Great Lakes and western New York. Several blizzard warnings have already been issued. FOX Weather correspondent Max Gorden is live in Lackawanna, New York.

02:28

Blizzard Warnings issued as Great Lakes snow pummels New York

Heavy and blinding snow is making its way through the Great Lakes and western New York. Several blizzard warnings have already been issued. FOX Weather correspondent Max Gorden is live in Lackawanna, New York.

The FOX Forecast Center warned of nearly 3 feet of storm surge in places like Portland, Maine.

HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER

Meanwhile, in the Great Lakes, massive waves between 14 and 18 feet high are forecast for Hamburg, New York, where some evacuation orders are in place for a coastal neighborhood.

Ice covers Hoaks restaurant along the Lake Erie shoreline on December 24, 2022 in Hamburg, New York. The Buffalo suburb and surrounding area was hit hard by the winter storm Elliott with wind gusts over 70 miles per hour battering homes and businesses through out the holiday weekend. (Photo by John Normile/Getty Images)

"All my clothing is just a sheet of ice," FOX Weather correspondent Max Gorden said with waves crashing around him from Lake Erie in Hamburg.

In addition to flooding, the bomb cyclone was creating whiteout conditions in Buffalo, New York with zero-mile visibility.

The NWS in Buffalo shared a view from the parking lot where cars just a few feet away could not be seen through the blowing snow.

Travel troubles

A jet takes off at O'Hare International Airport on December 22, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois.

A jet takes off at O'Hare International Airport on Dec. 22, 2022, in Chicago. A winter weather system bringing snow, high winds and subzero temperatures has wreaked havoc on holiday travel during one of the busiest days of the year for airlines. (Photo by Scott Olson)

(Getty Images)

It doesn't matter if travelers are getting to their destinations by plane, train, boat or car; this storm hasn't spared any mode of transportation.

The winter storm has been blamed for at least 16 deaths across the country.

Most of the fatalities were linked to crashes caused by dangerous road conditions. A man in North Texas died due to exposure to sub-freezing temperatures, according to FOX 4 Dallas.

One person was killed and several injured in northern Ohio during a crash involving 50 vehicles.

(Mike Waldron / FOX Weather)

Airlines have proactively canceled flights with nearly 3,700 cancelations nationwide, with the most impacts in places like Seattle, New York, Chicago, Denver and Atlanta.

CHRISTMAS WEEK BLIZZARD TRACKER: WINTER WEATHER ALERTS, POWER OUTAGES, FLIGHT DELAYS AND CANCELLATIONS

Flooding created havoc for the New Jersey Transit System on Friday, covering the tracks in Hoboken.

Flooding at the NJ Transit Hoboken station on Dec. 23, 2022, due to the winter storm. (Photo: Michelle Romano)

(FOX Weather)

New Jersey Department of Transportation officials placed restrictions on multiple interstate highways beginning Friday due to a possible flash freeze.

Staten Island Ferry service was temporarily suspended Friday due to high winds and tides.

In the mid-South, wind chills dropped below zero with some areas forecast to drop to 25 below. Snow squalls in Tennessee have created low visibility on roads.

At least four people were killed after a massive pile-up in Ohio, along eastbound Interstate 80 between Route 53 and State Route 4 in Sandusky County. At least 46 cars were involved.

Snow and low visibility closed several highways in Kentucky on Friday, including parts of Interstate 71. Several crashes were reported on Interstate 64, where slick conditions were creating hazardous driving.

Bitter cold, blowing snow and sea smoke

FOX Weather Correspondent Robert Ray was reporting from Chicago where the wind chill temperature was 35 below but Lake Michigan was around 40 degrees creating a winter weather phenomenon known as Arctic sea smoke.

01:10

Arctic sea smoke covers Chicago during Christmas week blizzard

FOX Weather Correspondent Robert Ray was reporting from Chicago where the wind chill temperature was 35 below but Lake Michigan was around 40 degrees creating a winter weather phenomenon known as Arctic sea smoke.

For the Midwest, snow, wind, ice and dangerously cold temperatures are causing crashes and ruining any last-minute shopping plans in places like Chicago and Minneapolis.

FOX Weather correspondent Robert Ray was in Chicago, where Arctic sea smoke was rising from Lake Michigan creating an eerie landscape in Chicagoland.

WHAT IS SEA SMOKE? SEE THE RARE PHENOMENON

Up and down the central U.S., more than 200 million people are under Wind Chill Advisories and Warnings. More than half of the U.S. has snow on the ground.

The South has not been spared from the cold and wind.

Ice adorns a fountain in Charleston, South Carolina, on December 24, 2022, where temperatures are forecast to reach a high of 32F (0C). - The winter storm that pummelled the US with blinding snow and powerful Arctic winds left 1.7 million customers without power on December 24 as thousands of cancelled flights stranded travelers. (Photo by PEDRO UGARTE/AFP via Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

Morning low temperatures on Christmas Eve morning were in the single digits as far south as Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee, according to the FOX Forecast Center, while temperatures remained just above freezing from Texas to Georgia.

Nashville fell to 1 below zero on Friday, the first time Music City dropped below zero since 1996, according to the National Weather Service Nashville.

Thousands across Tennessee experienced rolling blackouts on Christmas Eve as the power grid struggled to keep up with the demand for heat amid dangerously cold temperatures.

WHITE CHRISTMAS FORECAST: BLIZZARD TO LEAVE MUCH OF NATION COVERED IN SNOW FOR HOLIDAY WEEKEND

Ice and cold continue

Freezing rain coats the Seattle area on Dec. 23, 2022.

(Scott Sistek / FOX Weather)

The winter storm kicked off in the West earlier this week before it began spreading a blizzard-weather bingo across the Midwest and northern Plains.

Temperatures plummeted by nearly 40 degrees within an hour in Denver on Wednesday, and the life-threatening chill remains in place across many areas in the West.