Winter weather brings serious hazards — including carbon monoxide poisoning, hypothermia, and burst pipes — that can threaten lives and homes, according to public safety officials and health experts. With proper preparation, people can substantially reduce their risk, experts say.
The dangers intensify during extended winter storms, when people stay indoors for long periods and heating systems run continuously. Vulnerable populations — homeless individuals and people with disabilities — face heightened risk from lack of access to warm, safe shelter.
Stay Safe Indoors
Winter weather forces people inside, but the longer heating systems run, the greater the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. The deadly gas is produced by furnaces, stoves, and heaters, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can also be created when people use portable generators or run cars in their garages to stay warm or charge phones.
Carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless, making it difficult to detect. “The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can be really insidious. They can sneak up on patients and can range from just developing a headache or maybe a little bit of nausea to all the way to losing consciousness and seizures,” said Dr. Alex Harding, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
Recognize Hypothermia Risk
Cold temperatures pose immediate dangers through frostbite and hypothermia. “Really cold temperatures and winds can make temperatures feel a lot colder, and the result of that could be cold air that could eventually lead to frostbite at a much faster rate or hypothermia at a much faster rate than normal,” said Jon Palmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine.
Hypothermia occurs when the body loses heat faster than it can produce it. The risk is greatest for people exposed outdoors without appropriate clothing or with wet clothing. “If they have a safe place that’s warm, where they can hunker down, where they have water and food and all those kind of necessities … then that’s going to limit their exposure to those risks,” Harding said.
Vulnerable populations face heightened danger. Homeless individuals and people with disabilities often struggle to find warm, safe places to shelter during extended winter storms.
Prevent Pipe Damage
Frozen pipes are a particular problem in the South, where plumbing equipment is often located outside structures. But other parts of the country also contend with the issue.
Jose Parra, a master plumber with Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical in Houston, recommends insulating any pipes exposed to the outside, turning off and draining sprinkler systems, and letting faucets inside a home drip during freezing temperatures to keep water running through the pipes.
“A lot of what we’re fixing, I would say 80% to 90%, could have been prevented with just a little bit of work ahead of time,” Parra said.
Electric Vehicles in Cold
Cold weather affects electric vehicles, but drivers can operate normally with minor adjustments, according to experts. Inside EV batteries, lithium ions flow through a liquid electrolyte to produce electricity. In cold temperatures, they move more slowly through the electrolyte and release less energy, which cuts into vehicle range and can deplete batteries faster.
Neil Dasgupta, associate professor of mechanical and materials science engineering at the University of Michigan, said automakers are likely to develop better battery protection and warming systems in the short term. New battery chemistries being developed are designed to be more resilient in cold weather.