Residents in more than half the country could see their mail delayed after the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) warned that severe weather could impact delivery times.
Newsweek has contacted USPS for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Due to the number of states possibly affected, more than 200 million people could be impacted.
What To Know
According to a service alert from the USPS, states potentially affected by disruptions included Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kansas, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.
The alert said that heavy snow, freezing rain, icy conditions, and severe weather events in the Southern, Southeast, and Northeast U.S. could impact the processing, transportation, and delivery of mail and packages.
Much of the U.S. has been faced by icy blasts and winter storms as Arctic air was pushed throughout the country.
This week, parts of the South were hit by what forecasters dubbed a "historic" snowstorm that saw records shattered in both Florida and Louisiana.
In Florida, at least 8.8 inches of snow fell, more than doubling the previous record of four inches.
Snowfall records were also broken in New Orleans, where accumulation reached up to 8 inches, surpassing the previous all-time high of 2.7 inches.
As of Thursday morning, parts of Southern Texas, Eastern North Carolina, Northern Florida and Southeast Georgia were under either winter weather advisory or freeze warning from the NWS.
Satellite imagery shared by the service showed a blanket of snow covering parts of the country following the storms.
What People Are Saying
USPS said in a service alert at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday: "Please allow additional time for final delivery of your item."
The National Weather Service said on X, Thursday: "The cold temperatures will linger through the remainder of the work week across the Southeast before warmer temperatures arrive and a wet pattern sets up across east Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi."
NWS Binghampton said on X: "The south has received fresh snowpack from a historic storm while areas in the Midwest remain bare. In the Northeast, we continue to hang onto our snowpack thanks to below freezing conditions for most of January."
What Happens Next
According to the NWS, temperatures are anticipated to gradually return to normal starting Friday and continuing into the weekend.
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