More than 50 million Americans in central and eastern states were under frost and freeze warnings Friday morning after temperatures plummeted overnight.
Lows were in the twenties and mid-thirties in some areas, with alerts extending from the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley to the Mid-Atlantic, according to the National Weather Service.
Meteorologists in Kentucky shared photos to social media of ice-covered back windshields and lawns, and officials warned residents in Wisconsin and Nebraska about thawing freezing pipes.
Attempting to thaw frozen pipes the wrong way, using a blow torch or open flame, can cause a fire.
“Never use a flame or high heat device to thaw pipes,” the City of Lincoln, Nebraska, advised.
The American Red Cross instructs people to keep the faucet open and apply heat to a section of pipe using a hair dryer or portable space heater until full water pressure is restored.
Forecasters said that it’s expected to get a little warmer later in the weekend – but not in time for Saturday football.
Ohio’s WHIO TV 7 and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel told sports fans that it could be time to pull out winter jackets and other protective gear before they drive to the next big game.
“Have you located the ice scraper yet?” WHIO TV 7 wrote. “How about those hand warmers?”
There are an average of more than 1,300 deaths and nearly 117,000 injuries each year due to accidents on snowy and icy road, according to the Department of Transportation.
Each year, extreme cold directly leads to more than 1,000 deaths, although that tally from the CDC is likely to be an undercount.
Between 1979 and 2016, more than 19,000 Americans died from cold-related causes, according to the EPA.
Several states had already experienced the first frost of the season earlier this month, including Colorado.
Experts said frost and hard freeze could also cause plant damage there this week, and across the Midwest.
The warning comes as human-caused climate change has made it increasingly tricky for U.S. farmers to grow corn, cherries and soybeans.
"Frost and freeze conditions could kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing," the weather service office in Milwaukee said.
This winter is expected to be warmer and drier for a wide swath of the country, according to NOAA’s latest seasonal outlook.
“December through February, we’re looking at above-normal temperatures all across the western Carolinas,” FOX Carolina meteorologist Chrissy Kohler explained.
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