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Dangerously Cold Temps Blast Much Of The US, Keeping Schools Closed And Flights Grounded


Dangerously cold temperatures affected much of the Rockies, Great Plains and Midwest on Tuesday, with wind chills below minus 30 degrees (minus 34.4 Celsius) in many parts of the central U.S.

More than 85,000 U.S. homes and businesses were without power early Tuesday, the bulk of them in Oregon after widespread outages that started Saturday. Portland General Electric warned that the threat of freezing rain Tuesday could delay restoration efforts. Transportation officials urged residents to avoid travel as roads were expected to be hazardously slick with ice that could weigh down trees and power lines, causing them to fall.

Classes were canceled Tuesday for students in Portland and other major cities including Chicago — home to the nation’s fourth-largest public school district — Denver, Dallas, Fort Worth, Texas, across New England and in the Washington, D.C., region. Federal offices in and around the the nation’s capital were also closed Tuesday.

The storms and frigid temperatures affected everything from air travel to NFL playoff games to Iowa’s presidential caucuses, and were also the cause of several deaths around the country.

At least four people in the Portland area died, including two people from suspected hypothermia. Another man was killed after a tree fell on his house and a woman died in a fire that spread from an open-flame stove after a tree fell onto an RV.

In Wisconsin, the deaths of three homeless people in the Milwaukee area were under investigation, with hypothermia the likely cause, officials said.

Freezing rain and sleet was expected to continue across portions of the Southeast into Tuesday morning. Winter storm warnings were in effect for Lawrence, Limestone and Madison counties in Alabama and in Franklin County in Tennessee, southeast Arkansas, northeast Louisiana and much of northern, central and southwestern Mississippi.

Moderate to heavy snowfall was expected into the Mid-Atlantic on Tuesday morning with winter weather advisories in effect from the Mid-Atlantic into New England, according to the National Weather Service. Another 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) of snow was expected in New York state and 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 centimeters) of snow was expected in upper New England through Wednesday.

In the Pacific Northwest, significant freezing rain was expected Tuesday morning, with ice storm warnings in effect through Wednesday morning. In parts of the Cascades into the Northern Rockies, 15 to 28 inches (38 to 71 centimeters) of snow was possible.

Another day of record cold temperatures was expected across much of the Rockies, Great Plains and Midwest on Tuesday, with wind chills below minus 30 extending into the mid-Mississippi Valley, according to the National Weather Service.

Monday night saw temperatures drop as low as 10 degrees (minus 12.2 C) in Olive Branch, Mississippi, and Jackson, Tennessee.

Frigid temperatures in the Northeast didn’t stop fans from heading out to cheer on the Buffalo Bills at a snow covered Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. The Bills beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday in an AFC wild-card playoff game that was delayed 27 1/2 hours because of a storm that dumped more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow on the region.

And voters handed former President Donald Trump a win Monday night in the coldest first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses on record. Temperatures dipped to minus 3 degrees (minus 19.4 C) in Des Moines, with the wind chill making it feel far colder.

Air travelers across the country experienced delays and cancellations. The flight tracking service FlightAware reported more than 3,300 cancellations Monday within, into or out of the United States and more than 1,200 cancellations were already reported by daybreak Tuesday on the East Coast.

Temperatures are expected to moderate midweek but a new surge of colder air is forecast to drop south over the Northern Plains and Midwest, reaching the Deep South by the end of the week.

Daniel Cole uses a plastic spoon to clear ice from the front of his vehicle in downtown Florence, Ala., Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Dan Busey/The TimesDaily via AP)
A jogger trots on a snow-covered road during a winter storm, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Grand Prairie, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
A firefighter slips on frozen water from a water line break as freezing temperatures as low as -38 celsius have hit the city of Calgary, Alberta, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Todd Korol/The Canadian Press via AP)
Kemp Foster, 3, learns how to sled in his driveway, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Tupelo, Miss. (Thomas Wells/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)
Cannon Lambert, 6, left, and Edward Nahar, 7, race down a hill using laundry baskets for sleds, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Tupelo, Miss., as they enjoy the snowy conditions. (Thomas Wells/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)
Riley Manning walks his Saint Bernard down a snowy street, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Tupelo, Miss. (Thomas Wells/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)
A family has a group photo taken together in the snow, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in downtown Tupelo, Miss., as they make their way around town in ATVs. (Thomas Wells/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)
A Buffalo Bills fan sits amongst snow covered seats while waiting for the start an NFL wild-card playoff football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
A Southwest Airlines plane is de-iced just before departing for Portland, Maine at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Maryland on Monday Jan. 15, 2024. A winter storm is moving from the South through to New England and the Northeast, expecting gusty winds and a mix of wintry precipitation Tuesday. (David Gruneld/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)
With the daytime high temperature in negative far below zero and a light snow falling, a motorist clears snow from the windscreen of a vehicle Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Denver. Forecasters predict that the frigid weather will persist until midweek in the intermountain West. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
With the daytime high temperature in negative far below zero, a handful of motorists head southbound on Interstate 25 near the Steele Street overpass Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Denver. Forecasters predict that the frigid weather will persist until midweek in the intermountain West. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
With the daytime high temperature in negative far below zero, a pedestrian leads a pair of dogs around the lake in Washington Park Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Denver. Forecasters predict that the frigid weather will persist until midweek in the intermountain West. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
With the daytime high temperature below zero, motorists guide sports-utility vehicles across the Steele Street overpass over Interstate 25 Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Denver. Forecasters predict that the frigid weather will persist until midweek in the intermountain West. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Rickey Reed bundles up as temperatures dipped below freezing as he walks to the store on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024 in Conroe, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A man clears snow along a sidewalk on State Street in St. Joseph, Mich., Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. Residents are digging out after a winter storm moved across the state with blowing and drifting snow and temperatures in the single digits. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
A man prepares to clear snow along a sidewalk on State Street in St. Joseph, Mich., Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. Residents are digging out after a winter storm moved across the state with blowing and drifting snow and temperatures in the single digits. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
Heavy snow falls below the bluff in downtown St. Joseph, Mich., Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. Residents are digging out after a winter storm moved across the state with blowing and drifting snow, along with temperatures in the single digits. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
Heavy snow falls as city trucks clear Main Street in downtown Benton Harbor, Mich., Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. Residents are digging out after a winter storm moved across the state with blowing and drifting snow, along with temperatures in the single digits. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
A man walks over a snowbank as heavy snow falls in downtown St. Joseph, Mich., Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. Residents are digging out after a winter storm moved across the state with blowing and drifting snow, along with temperatures in the single digits. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
People and traffic are sparse on Rosa L. Parks Blvd. after a winter storm in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Denny Simmons/The Tennessean via AP)
Good Samaritans help a driver out after his rear-wheel drive vehicle got stranded on Rosa L. Parks Blvd. after a winter storm in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Denny Simmons/The Tennessean via AP)
Nashville residents, from left, Ashley Harper, Ally Walsh and Joseph Williams venture up the Victory Park hill north of the Tennessee State Capitol for tubing after a winter storm in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (/The Tennessean via AP)
Brandon Woodward of Nashville tries a little downhill skiing on a Victory Park hill north of the Tennessee State Capitol after a winter storm in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Denny Simmons/The Tennessean via AP)
Billie, a beagle-mix, leads the way for owner Brandon Crooks of Nashville as they walk near the Tennessee State Capitol after a winter storm in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Denny Simmons/The Tennessean via AP)
Workers clear a snow covered sidewalk, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
A pedestrian braves sub-zero temperatures while walking Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in downtown Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

(AP)



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