The Winter storm has no name. But a storm is coming, An extreme winter weather system is expected to move eastward from New Mexico to Georgia and Maine beginning Friday, and affect anywhere from a third to half the country’s population by the end of the weekend. This will likely bring snow, ice accumulation, and biting cold to parts of the country unaccustomed to harsh winter weather.
The best thing to do is bunker in. But doing so requires preparation. Extreme winter weather can cause a nest of difficulties that combine into a crisis, especially if you live in an area without infrastructure and experience handling a foot of snow and single-digit temperatures. Ice buildup and high winds, and the high energy use that comes with extreme cold, cause power outages that disable the electric home heating systems commonly used in places with normally mild weather. Roads may be impassable for days in cities without a fleet of plows.
You'll want to be prepared to shelter in place until travel is safe, with warm clothing and blankets, and plenty of water and nonperishable food. Ideally, you won't have to leave your house or even look at your car until the acute crisis is past. WIRED offers a broader guide to home emergency preparedness, which we created in consultation with Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness.
But winter storms bring specific challenges and needs. I've spent months as a reporter piecing together the many small tragedies that led to 41 deaths during a historic 2022 blizzard in Buffalo, New York, where one of the most common causes of death was simply being outside at all. I've also witnessed the mix of overconfidence and underpreparedness that leads to casual mayhem when a mere inch of snow and ice befalls my hometown of Portland, Oregon, where snow is rare.
I consulted National Weather Service preparedness lead Charlie Woodrum and our team of product testers for advice on how to prepare for extreme winter weather. “You have to think in that mindset of, ‘We could have power out,’” Woodrum said. “We could lose it for a couple days, or up to even a week, and we also could lose water if pipes freeze or water mains break. You have to plan for both power outages and for the loss of water going into these events.”
Here's how to stay warm if a power outage hits during extreme winter weather, and the essential items you'll need—and definitely don't need—ahead of a winter storm.
What You Need: Drinkable Water or Water Purifiers
In any emergency, securing potable water is always among the first priorities. Humans don’t live long without it. One of the most common risks during an extreme winter storm is that water pipes will freeze or break, disrupting your supply of fresh water. To stop your home's pipes from freezing, keep your taps running at a slight drip. In an interview last year, Jonathan Sury, a senior staff associate at Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness, cited the standard advice to keep a gallon of water per person per day, for personal hydration and food prep. Sury keeps a week’s supply of water at the ready, which can be purified with simple household bleach in emergency situations. (If you go this route, follow the Environmental Protection Agency’s advice on dosing.)
But ideally, you have a water purification kit or a good water filter on hand so you are able to purify water that's been sitting a while. I like the flexibility of filtered water bottles like the Clearly Filtered stainless steel bottle, which can filter any liquid as you suck through it. (You may need to use extra suction, but Clearly's bottle filters a much broader array of potentially harmful substances than most similar filters.) Woodrum at the National Weather Service notes that you can also fill a bathtub with usable water in advance of a storm, or fill up jugs or buckets.
What You Should Not Do: Drink Unfiltered Snow
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