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OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
3:07 PM – Monday, January 26, 2026
A powerful winter storm has left a trail of tragedy across the United States, with officials reporting at least 28 “weather-related” deaths across the country as of Monday afternoon.
Sadly, the death toll is also expected to rise sharply through the night.
The storm’s path has been described by the National Weather Service (NWS) as a “historic 1,300-mile corridor of disruption.” The system, unofficially named Winter Storm Fern, carved a brutal 1,300-mile path of snow and ice stretching from Arkansas to New England, paralyzing infrastructure and leaving nearly a million people in the dark.
Search and rescue teams continue to navigate the treacherous conditions.
Storm Fern:
- Fatalities: At least 28 “Fern-related” confirmed deaths.
- Power outages: 750,000+ remaining.
- Flight cancellations: 5,300+ on Monday alone.
- States of Emergency: 22 states and Washington, D.C.
Accidents & Hypothermia
Among the fatalities include two people struck by snowplows in Massachusetts and Ohio, and a 28-year-old teacher in Kansas that was found by bloodhounds after being reported missing in sub-zero temperatures.
Two teenagers, ages 16 and 17, were also killed in separate sledding accidents in Texas and Arkansas.
Additionally, in Pennsylvania, three people “between the ages of 60 and 84” died after suffering medical emergencies while shoveling heavy snow.
The massive storm carved a devastating 1,300-mile path of heavy snow from Arkansas to New England, imposing two very different hardships across the country. In the South, particularly in Mississippi and Tennessee, freezing rain turned roads into skating rinks and brought down massive tree limbs.
“It looks like a tornado went down every street,” said Marshall Ramsey, a University of Mississippi professor in Oxford, where residents faced a total blackout.
In the Northeast, the storm transitioned into a powerful nor’easter (extratropical cyclones).
Parts of Pennsylvania and New York recorded over 20 inches of snow, while wind chills north of Pittsburgh dipped to a life-threatening -25°F. At the peak of the storm, over 1,000,000 customers were without power nationwide.
In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D-N.Y.) confirmed that at least eight people were found dead outdoors as temperatures plummeted. He described the losses as a “powerful reminder of the danger of extreme cold.” He had also warned on Thursday that the Big Apple could be buried in anywhere from “3-16 inches of snow this weekend,” prompting mockery from some online users.
NYC is forecasted to get 3–16 inches of snow this weekend. And we’re ready.
We’ll issue a Code Blue later today, and outreach workers will ramp up efforts to connect unhoused New Yorkers to safe shelter.
Tomorrow, we’ll begin pre-snow treatment, brining highways and major…
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) January 22, 2026
“Saying that NYC is going to get between 3 and 16 inches of snow is nonsense,” one online user said. “That tells you absolutely nothing. Citing numbers with a probability range of 5% to 95% is idiotic and moronic.”
In a swift response to the escalating crisis, President Donald Trump approved 12 federal emergency disaster declarations to mobilize critical resources for the states bearing the brunt of the storm.
The move authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide direct assistance to Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Under these declarations, the federal government will cover 75% of the costs for emergency protective measures, including the deployment of over 90 generators to restore power to hospitals, the distribution of nearly 500,000 meals and 770,000 liters of water, and the activation of specialized Urban Search and Rescue task forces to assist local first responders in the hardest-hit regions.
The NWS has warned that the danger is far from over. A fresh influx of Arctic air is expected to keep temperatures well below freezing for two-thirds of the U.S. population through the remainder of the week, officials added.
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