Heavy winter snow hits New York City and major cities across the United States. New York, USA, January 25, 2026.
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us natural gas price It soared above $6 on Monday for the first time since late 2022 as a huge winter storm battered the country, leaving hundreds of thousands without power and forcing mass flight cancellations.
Natural gas futures for February delivery were trading at $6.21 per million British thermal units, a new 52-week high, up 17.7%, or 93 cents, as of 11:46 a.m. London time (6:46 a.m. ET).
It has risen about 68% since the beginning of the year, and this is the first time the contract has exceeded the $6 level since December 2022, when European demand for U.S. liquefied natural gas surged following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine at the beginning of the year.
More than 822,000 customers were without power in the aftermath of the massive winter storm late Sunday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us, which collects real-time power outage data from power companies across the country.
The massive freeze, known as Winter Storm Fern, is expected to bring heavy snow and “catastrophic ice accumulation” across a wide swath of the Rocky Mountains to New England over the weekend, affecting at least 180 million people in 37 states, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The NWS said in a social media post Sunday that temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 45.56 degrees Celsius) will continue across two-thirds of the eastern United States this week, and well-below-normal temperatures are expected to continue into early February.
The extreme cold was blamed for seven deaths across the country, NBC News reported, citing local officials.
More than 12,500 flights were canceled in the United States on Sunday, with another 3,965 canceled as of Monday, FlightAware reported. delta airlineshad previously urged travelers to rebook their flights, but announced on Sunday that it would reduce its flight schedule after ice disrupted operations.
An American Airlines plane at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in Queens, New York, USA, during a winter storm on Sunday, January 25, 2026.
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The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday issued two emergency orders to alleviate power outages in New England and Texas, aimed at maintaining power grid stability and minimizing the risk of power outages.
“As Winter Storm Fern brings extreme cold and dangerous conditions across the country, maintaining affordable, reliable and safe power is non-negotiable,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement Monday.
Power outages cost the United States approximately $44 billion annually, according to data from the DOE National Laboratory.
