The National Weather Service (NWS) says that almost 150 million people across the country are under various warnings of hazardous weather conditions.

Storms dumped snow and ice from OH to the Rio Grande through the long Presidents Day holiday weekend, and treacherous weather was expected to grip much of the United States through Friday.

The storm has killed at least 21 people across four states, and the weather service predicted that temperatures for a few days would remain 20 to 35 degrees below average across parts of the central and southern United States. In the Houston area, one family succumbed to carbon monoxide from vehicle exhaust in their garage.

Another user, Josh Morgerman, wrote that a friend in Texas had resorted to "burning furniture in the fireplace" to stay warm. Blame the polar vortex, a weather pattern that usually keeps to the Arctic but is increasingly spilling into lower latitudes.

"But some climate scientists have also suggested that global warming could, paradoxically, bring more winter storms like the one seen this week", the Times reported.

As nightfall threatened to plummet temperatures again into single digits, officials warned that homes still without power would likely not have heat until tomorrow, as frustration mounted and the state's electric grid came under growing demand and criticism.

More stories from theweek.comPrince Philip hospitalized 'after feeling unwell, ' reportedly not COVID-19 relatedThe Texas power grid failed mostly due to natural gas.

Almost 3 million customers remained without power early Wednesday in Texas, Louisiana and MS, more than 200,000 more in four Appalachian states, and almost that many in the Pacific Northwest, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility outage reports.

This as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages roughly 75% of the Texas power grid, announced Wednesday morning that some 600,000 residents had power restored overnight.

Blackouts lasting more than an hour began before dawn Tuesday in and around Oklahoma City, stopping electric-powered space heaters, furnaces and lights just as temperatures hovered around minus 8 degrees (minus 22 degrees Celsius).

Weather-related emergencies have also been declared in Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas, Mississippi and OR - where more than 200,000 people were without power.

The Southwest Power Pool, a group of utilities covering 14 states, said the blackouts were "a last resort to preserve the reliability of the electric system as a whole".

Ontario reports 981 cases provincewide; 49 in Ottawa
Public Health Ontario has reported 945 new cases of COVID-19 today (Feb. 11), which is the lowest daily report since October 30. NRPH reports 21 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, as the active numbers of the infection continues to fall across Niagara.

Vice President Kamala Harris addressed those who had lost power during a live interview on Wednesday on NBC's Today programme.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday vowed to provide additional emergency resources for those affected by the "historic storm".

Other Texas deaths included a woman and a girl who died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning in Houston at a home without electricity from a auto left running in an attached garage, and two men found along Houston-area roadways who likely died in subfreezing temperatures, law enforcement officials said.

The rolling power outages forced the city of Fort Worth to extend a boil-water notice for roughly 212,000 residents.

The situation in Texas drew attention at Wednesday's International Energy Forum, including messages of support from Saudi Arabia's energy minister and OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo.

"As the extreme weather in Texas has shown, we can not take energy security for granted, even in a country like the United States", Mr Barkindo said.

Travel remains ill-advised in much of the nation, with roadways treacherous and thousands of flights canceled.

Many school systems have delayed or cancelled face-to-face classes.

"The result can be episodes of plunging temperatures, even in places that rarely get nipped by frost".

Police in Houston say a woman and child died of carbon monoxide poisoning after they sat in a vehicle running in their garage, and authorities in Sugar Land said a grandmother and three children trying to heat their home died in a fire.

In Oregon, authorities confirmed on Tuesday that four people had died in the Portland area from carbon monoxide poisoning.

At least 11 people died over the weekend in weather related vehicle crashes, including nine in Texas, one in Kentucky and another person in Oklahoma.