New records for low temperatures were set as a deadly blast of actic air covered the eastern part of the United States. According to Yahoo News, the resulting cold front put all travel on halt, drove energy prices higher, and overwhelmed social services for the poor and the needy.
The said cold front is known as a Polar Vortex. According to Fox News, it is the dense and frigid air that forces other weather systems to record low temperatures. Atlanta had recorded 8 degrees while the Geogia mountans had 6 degrees below zero temperatures.
The polar air mass has caused the deaths of nine individuals accross North America. In a report by Reuters, about half of the United States was either under cold weather advisory or in a wind chill warning. With temperatures dropping between 25 degrees and 35 degrees Fareneheit or about 14 to 19 degrees Celsius below normal temperatures all across the Midwest and the Southeast, more danger is expected to come in the next few days.
The cold had also cancelled thousands of flights over the weekend and this has spilled over to Monday, with BBC reporting 3,700 flights cancelled because of wind and snow. In many areas of Canada and northeastern United States, nearly 60 cm of snow has already fallen.
Many areas such as New York's famed Central Park recorded its lowest temperature to date at 4 degrees Farenheit or minus 16 degrees Celsius. NY Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared a state of emergency. Alongside it is the declaration that parts of the New York State Thruway, at the western part of the state, would be closed due to 'dangerous driving conditions'.
The windchill according to the Economic Times is making the cold much more intense. Schools in Chicago and Minneapolis were closed as well as in Cleveland.