BREAKING NEWS

Massive winter storm batters US, knocks out power ahead of brutal freeze

 A massive winter storm moving across the eastern half of the US on Tuesday knocked out power to about 811,000 homes and businesses in 12 states ahead of a brutal freeze expected to blanket the region starting this weekend.

The hardest hit states so far are New York and Pennsylvania, each with about 182,000 power outages, and New Jersey with over 127,000 outages, according to data from PowerOutage.us.

The biggest power companies in those states are units of Con Edison in New York, FirstEnergy in Pennsylvania, and Public Service Electric and Gas, a subsidiary of The Public Service Enterprise Group in New Jersey.

The current storm is covering most of the country east of the Mississippi River, according to AccuWeather.com. It is moving toward the US Northeast.

The storm is coming ahead of what will likely be the nation's coldest weather since December 2022, according to data from financial firm LSEG.