What a major winter storm could mean for your money

An enormous winter storm is threatening to wreak havoc throughout the U.S. within the days forward — and doubtlessly take a monetary toll on households in its path.

The Nationwide Climate Service mentioned Friday that it expects a “vital, long-duration winter storm” to convey heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain to broad swath of the U.S., from the Southern Rockies to New England, lasting from Friday via Monday.

Snowfall might exceed a foot in sure areas, whereas “regionally catastrophic ice accumulations” and frigid temperatures might set off long-term energy outages, in depth tree harm and widespread journey disruptions, in response to the Nationwide Climate Service.

The storm might influence greater than 170 million households, the Nationwide Climate Service mentioned early Friday.

Regardless of the monetary prices of such storms, households can take steps to dampen the financial hit, monetary consultants mentioned.

This is what to know concerning the potential monetary impacts and find out how to put together.

Winter storms could cause all kinds of bodily harm to a house — something from water harm attributable to frozen, burst pipes to tree limbs that buckle beneath the load of ice and wreck your roof.

Fortunately, these with householders insurance coverage can typically recoup prices for harm from wind, snow, extreme chilly and freezing rain, mentioned Karen Collins, vp of property and environmental on the American Property and Casualty Insurance coverage Affiliation, a commerce group.

The common insurance coverage loss claimed for water harm and freezing was $15,400 from 2019 to 2023, in response to the Insurance coverage Info Institute. The common for wind and hail was about $14,700.

Customers filed greater than 20,000 claims for frozen pipes and winter water harm from January 2024 via June 2025, totaling over $628 million in paid losses, in response to State Farm, an insurer. The common declare fee exceeded $30,000, it mentioned.

Protection for policyholders will depend upon the nice print, nonetheless.

For instance, most owners’ insurance coverage covers “sudden and unintended” water harm from a burst pipe if the house was correctly heated and wasn’t left unoccupied, in response to the Massachusetts Division of Insurance coverage.

Specialists advocate protecting your own home heated to a minimum of 65 levels Fahrenheit to assist maintain pipes from freezing.

“The temperature contained in the partitions the place the pipes are positioned is considerably colder than the partitions themselves,” in response to the Insurance coverage Info Institute. “A temperature decrease than 65 levels won’t maintain the within partitions from freezing.”

That won’t all the time be attainable.

In the course of the so-called “Texas Freeze” in 2021, the most costly winter freeze occasion in U.S. historical past, a chilly spell led to widespread energy outages that prevented folks from heating their houses, finally resulting in sizable insured losses from water harm and burst pipes, mentioned Collins.

Owners may help by insulating inside and exterior pipes, opening the water taps in sinks to permit a gradual trickle of water and assist stop freezing, and determine the placement of the primary water shut-off valve in case a pipe bursts and they should shut the water off, in response to the American Property and Casualty Insurance coverage Affiliation.

Throughout the nation, customers are stockpiling groceries forward of the intense chilly snap.

Whereas it could make sense to purchase sure gadgets because the climate worsens, stockpiling is never a good suggestion, consultants mentioned.

In lots of instances, “widespread stockpiling forward of a winter storm typically doesn’t make sense,” mentioned Amir Mousavian, professor of provide chain administration on the College of New England’s School of Enterprise.

“Households ought to plan to have sufficient meals and important gadgets to get via a couple of days in case journey is quickly restricted, however there may be little profit to purchasing far past that,” he mentioned.

Though there could also be some financial savings advantages to purchasing in bulk, “there may be additionally an actual threat that households overbuy perishable gadgets, resulting in waste and misplaced cash,” Mousavian mentioned.

Typically, this kind of shopping for can backfire, he mentioned.

Costs go up when provide is proscribed however demand rises. Meals costs — greater than many different client items — might be particularly unstable as a consequence of supply-and-demand components.

“Sudden surges in demand can pressure provide chains,” as witnessed in the course of the Covid pandemic, Mousavian mentioned. “Fashionable provide chains are extremely environment friendly, however they aren’t designed to soak up sharp, synthetic spikes in demand, and people spikes can finally drawback customers.”

Airways have already canceled 1000’s of flights because the winter storm looms.

A number of main airways, together with Delta and United, have already introduced change payment waivers for vacationers whose itineraries could also be impacted by the upcoming winter storm.

Benefiting from these gives could possibly be sensible for some vacationers, consultants mentioned.

For instance, if in case you have a non-essential journey booked and also you’re in a position to reschedule it for every week or so from now, it could be a good suggestion to go forward and alter your flight, mentioned Nick Ewen, senior editorial director at The Factors Man.

If an airline cancels your flight and you do not settle for any rebooking choices, then you can get a full refund, Ewen mentioned.

Nonetheless, for those who select to cancel the flight your self, you might solely be entitled to a credit score or voucher with the airline, except you paid for a totally refundable flight. You’d additionally lose out on a full refund in case your unique flight is canceled, Ewen mentioned.

“In the event you’ve already proactively modified it, you are now on that new flight and that new itinerary, these new days, and you then’d be topic to no matter coverage is in place for that new ticket,” he mentioned.

Be sure to have your airline’s app downloaded and notifications turned on so you’re knowledgeable about any modifications to your flight, he mentioned.

For rental automobiles, most firms will let you make modifications or cancellations to your reservation as much as the time of pickup, Ewen mentioned. However that won’t maintain true for those who booked via a third-party, comparable to a journey web site or your bank card firm, the place you usually pay upfront.

Resorts usually supply free cancellations as much as 24 or 48 hours upfront of your keep, nevertheless it relies on your reservation. In the event you booked at a non-refundable fee, you will not be entitled to a full refund, nevertheless it’s price calling the resort and explaining the scenario, particularly if it is weather-related, Ewen mentioned.

“It is not a assure, however for those who name [and] you clarify the scenario, you might be eligible for them to be a bit bit extra lenient,” he mentioned.

Some bank cards supply journey interruption protection, although, he mentioned. If the resort will not refund you, you should still be capable to file a declare together with your bank card firm and get your a reimbursement so long as you paid with that card.

A separate journey insurance coverage coverage might supply extra protections, too.

Many households can count on greater heating prices as temperatures dip and extra energy is required to maintain houses heat.

When chilly climate hits, particularly over a big swath of the nation, there’s typically elevated power demand for house heating, in response to the U.S. Vitality Info Administration. That in flip raises demand for each electrical energy and pure fuel. 

The spot worth of pure fuel has risen sharply during the last week to $8.15 per million British thermal items on Jan. 22 from $5.19 every week earlier. Increased wholesale pure fuel costs typically contribute to greater wholesale electrical energy costs, in response to the EIA.

Customers have already felt the pinch of upper electrical energy prices. A few of that’s attributed to the event of knowledge facilities, which energy synthetic intelligence and place further demand on the electrical grid.

In response to the newest studying of the patron worth index, electrical energy costs had been up 6.7% in December from a 12 months earlier.

In the meantime, for houses that use heating oil, the per-gallon value was $3.66 as of Jan. 19, a drop from $3.93 a 12 months earlier, in response to the EIA.

Courtney Fieldman, utility program director for the Southwest Vitality Effectivity Program, provided the following pointers for saving power — and due to this fact cash — in the course of the frigid climate on its method:

• Optimize your thermostat. In the course of the day, when there may be nonetheless warming daylight, setting your own home’s temperature a bit decrease — to 65 to 68 levels Fahrenheit — can maintain you comfy, in addition to trim 10% off heating prices.

• Block drafts. Use towels, blankets and even rolled-up garments to seal gaps beneath doorways and home windows, and shut off unused rooms by shutting doorways and vents to maintain warmth the place you want it. These air leaks round home windows, doorways and attics can waste as much as 30% of warmth.

• Use pure warmth and minimize non-essentials. Open curtains on sunny sides of your home in the course of the day and shut them afterward to entice the warmth in. Put on heat layers, flip off lights in empty rooms and use blankets as a substitute of house heaters if attainable to keep away from further draw throughout peak hours.