Power Outage in a Winter Storm: What to Do, Hour by Hour

When a winter storm cuts the power, keep the fridge and freezer closed, switch to flashlights, dress in layers and close off rooms you are not using. Never heat the house with a gas stove or oven, and run a generator outdoors only, 20 feet or more from the house. A closed fridge keeps food safe about 4 hours.

The full storm plan, from watches and warnings to the car kit, is on our winter storm preparedness hub. This page covers the hours after the lights go out.

What should you do first when the power goes out?

Work through these in the first few minutes:

1. Close the fridge and freezer and keep them closed.
2. Unplug appliances and electronics. Ready.gov says power can come back with surges or spikes that damage them.
3. Switch to flashlights. CPSC says to use flashlights or battery-operated candles instead of candles.
4. Check the carbon monoxide alarms. They need a battery or battery backup to work in an outage.
5. Turn on a battery or hand crank radio for local news and alerts.

Ready.gov’s advice is a flashlight for every household member, plus a portable charger or power bank for phones. If anyone relies on a powered medical device or refrigerated medicine, Ready.gov says to have a plan with the medical provider before the storm.

How long will food stay safe without power?

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) gives clear numbers, as long as the doors stay shut.

Two winter-specific rules from FSIS are worth knowing. First, do not put perishable food out in the snow: outside temperatures vary and animals can reach it. Instead, fill buckets or empty milk jugs with water, leave them outside to freeze and use that ice inside. Second, if you use dry ice, never touch it with bare hands or put it directly on food.

An appliance thermometer in both the fridge and the freezer takes the guesswork out. FSIS says the fridge should read 40°F or below and the freezer 0°F or below.

What to throw out afterward

FSIS’s rule is simple: never taste food to decide whether it is safe. When in doubt, throw it out. After more than 4 hours without power, it lists raw and cooked meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, soft cheeses, leftovers and cut fruit among the foods to discard. Hard cheese, butter, whole fruit and bread are usually fine. Ready.gov adds one more line: throw away food that has been at 40°F or higher for two hours or more.

Frozen food is more forgiving. FSIS says food that still has ice crystals, or stayed at 40°F or below, can be refrozen, although the quality may suffer.

How do you stay warm when the heat goes out?

The National Weather Service gives a short list for power outages:

• Wear layers of loose-fitting, lightweight, warm clothing, plus hats, mittens and blankets.
• Close blinds or curtains to keep in some heat.
• Close off rooms you are not using.
• Put towels or rags in the cracks under doors.

If the cold becomes extreme, Ready.gov says to go to a community location with power and to check with local officials about warming centers near you. Once your own household is safe, the NWS suggests checking on neighbors, especially anyone older or living alone.

For backup heat, read space heaters in a power outage first: an electric heater needs a power source big enough to carry it. Battery-heated layers are another route, covered in our guide to heated jackets, vests and gloves. If you plan to run a generator, portable generators for winter outages covers sizing and placement. Cold rooms also put plumbing at risk, so see how to prevent frozen pipes.

Which radio keeps you informed when the power is out?

A NOAA Weather Radio carries National Weather Service alerts around the clock, and it keeps working when the internet and cell service do not. The NWS receiver guide lists three features to look for:

• A tone alarm. The NWS sends a 1050 Hz tone before most warnings, which wakes the radio up.
• SAME coding, so you only hear alerts for the counties you choose.
• Battery backup, since power outages often happen during storms.

Radios carrying the Public Alert logo meet a set of technical standards and include many of these features. A hand crank model adds a way to charge it without batteries.

NOAA weather radios with tone alert and battery backup

Shop NOAA weather radios→

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What should you do when the power comes back?

• Plug appliances back in one at a time.
• Check the fridge and freezer thermometers before you decide what to keep.
• Ready.gov says that if the power was out for more than a day, throw away medication that should be refrigerated unless its label says otherwise, and call your doctor or pharmacist for a new supply.
• Restock flashlight batteries, ice packs and water before the next storm.

The rest of the before, during and after checklist is on our winter storm preparedness hub.