A polar vortex, bringing wind, ice, and snow to a large part of the eastern U.S., is forcing schools to close, affecting roads, causing flight cancellations and power outages, while threatening the country's supply chain. 

Challenging road conditions may seriously affect produce shipments transiting through the affected regions, especially imported goods, since ports halt or limit operations as the storm passes. 

Television channel WPRI has reported that authorities said at least 600 motorists were stranded in Missouri over the weekend, while hundreds of car accidents were reported in Virginia, Indiana, Kansas, and Kentucky. Virginia State Police responded to at least 430 crashes over Sunday and Monday.

According to FlightAware's tracking platform, more than 2,500 flights had been canceled, and at least 6,500 more were delayed nationwide up to Monday morning.

Additionally, according to the electric utility tracking website PowerOutage.us, more than 250,000 customers were without power early Monday in Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, and Missouri.

These conditions jeopardize not only the movement of fruit in transit but also customers' ability to buy perishable products.

Norman Barao, Vice President of the International Fruit Company, told Freshfruitportal.com that the storm has only slowed their operations. 

"We would normally get around 20 containers, but it was cut to 14. However, the ports have helped us by staying open later and opening on the weekend so that we can keep the flow of containers moving," he said.  

Even though supply is expected to normalize a few days after the disruptions, industry outlets report that food distributors and producers increased inventories last week in preparation for the storm. 

Fresh produce prices have fallen over the past weeks as holiday demand drops and supplies increase. However, with less fruit being delivered due to the storm, prices could weaken further in the coming days.