Temperature extremes

Meanwhile it is +30F in Moscow, and -30F in the coldest place on earth, Norilsk, in Siberia within the Arctic circle

Record low temperatures forecast in Nth America

Record low temperatures are forecast in the midwest and northeast of the United States on Monday.

Radio NZ,

5 January, 2013

Forecasters at the National Weather Centre predict temperatures around minus 23C in Chicago.

Domestic and international flights are cancelled or delayed at John F. Kennedy airport in New York and also in Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia.

A state of emergency was declared in New York and New Jersey after heavy snow fell on Thursday.

The New York Times said the temperature in Central Park was the same as in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The BBC reports residents were advised on Friday to stay indoors and non-essential state employees in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey were ordered to remain at home.

Some commuter trains in New York city were on a reduced schedule.

At least 11 deaths are blamed on the storm, named Hercules, including a man in Philadelphia who was crushed on Friday by a 30-metre pile of salt being prepared to treat roads.

Eastern Canada is also hit badly: residents in many parts of Newfoundland lost power on Saturday morning.

Temperatures there plunged to minus 15C, but the wind chill reportedly made it feel as cold as minus 35C.

Climatologist David Phillips told the BBC the temperature in Toronto on Friday morning, -24C, was the coldest in nine years.

A frozen waterfall in Michigan

US grapples with snow as 

'polar vortex' of subzero 

temperatures approaches

• 16 dead after storm drops heavy snow along north-east

• Midwest braces for 'life-threatening' winds and cold

the Guardian,

4 January, 2013

At least 16 people died as a result of the winter storm which hit the north-eastern US on Friday, authorities said. But as the cleanup from near-blizzard conditions continued, in temperatures as low as -9.4F (-23C), forecasters warned of worse to come for the midwest on Sunday.

One meteorologist, Ryan Maue of Weather Bell, called the system of cold air approaching the midwest a “polar vortex”. “All the ingredients are there for a near-record or historic cold outbreak,” he said. “If you're under 40, you've not seen this stuff before.”

The temperature was predicted to fall as low as -31F (-35C) in parts of Minnesota, with wind chill potentially making that feel like -69F (-56C). In a region accustomed to brutally cold weather, however, the Green Bay Packers' NFL wild-card playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lambeau Field in Wisconsin is expected to go ahead on Sunday evening, as the coldest NFL game ever played. Forecasters said it would be -2F (-19C) at kickoff (4.45pm ET) and -8F (-22C) by the fourth quarter.

Fans – who bought the remaining 40,000 tickets this week after the NFL threatened to prohibit local TV from airing the game if the team was unable to sell out – were warned to take extra precautions, such as dressing in layers and sipping warm drinks.

Delays and cancellations continued to affect air and road transport. By midday Saturday, nearly 1,000 flights had been cancelled and 4,200 delayed across the US. More than 180 flights out of O'Hare International Airport, in Chicago, had been cancelled.

In Minnesota, Governor Mark Dayton ordered schools closed across the state for the first time in 17 years. In North Dakota, "life threatening wind chills" were forecast through Tuesday morning. Experts said that in such conditions, frostbite could set in on exposed skin within five minutes.

Maue added that though the cold spell approaching the midwest would last for only a few days, “it raises the chances for future cold” across the country.

The NFL is watching such forecasts closely, as it has scheduled Super Bowl XLVIII to be played on 2 February at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the outdoor venue shared by the New York Jets and the New York Giants. Contingency plans are in place to play the showpiece game, which is usually staged at warm-weather venues or in domed stadiums, on 1 or 3 February if necessary.

"Right now for the winter we will have had two significant shots of major Arctic air and we're only through the first week of January,” said Maue. “And we had a pretty cold December.”

The cold blast will also affect parts of the east coast still clearing up from Friday's storm. Sally Johnson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, said: "This one happens to be really big and it's going to dive deep into the continental US. And all that cold air is going to come with it."

"Six inches fell in Central Park in New York City. Photograph: Steve Remich/Corbis

Nearly two feet of snow fell on some north-eastern areas on Thursday night and into Friday, causing widespread road and flight delays, closing schools on the second day back after Christmas, and leading the governors of New York and New Jersey to declare states of emergency. Cities from Washington DC to Portland, Maine were affected; the heaviest snow fell north of Boston. Nearly 18in fell in Boston itself and in parts of New York state; Manhattan island, in New York City, recorded 6in in Central Park.

Nearly 3,500 flights were canceled on Friday across the US; 12,400 were delayed. On the roads, deaths were reported in Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. A worker was killed in Philadelphia when a pile of rock salt fell on the machine he was operating, and authorities said a 71-year-old New York state woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease died after leaving her rural home.

Authorities rescued a number of people from accidents caused by the ice and snow. On Friday a man was rescued after falling through the ice at Ramapo Lake in New Jersey. A police dive rescue team pulled 34-year-old Guncel Karadogan to safety and resuscitated him. He was taken to a local hospital. In Monmouth, in the same state, fire officials said three people were rescued after the Shrewsbury River flooded on Friday morning.

In New York City, the snow provided an immediate test for the new mayor, Bill de Blasio, who took office on New Year's Day. De Blasio, who in 2010 was one of the leading critics of his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, for allegedly prioritising the clearing of Manhattan over the other four boroughs, was photographed shovelling snow in front of his Brooklyn home.

Asked about the snow-shovelling effort made by his 16-year-old son Dante, who achieved a certain fame in the election campaign and who the mayor's wife, Chirlane McCray, said would be sent out to work, de Blasio said: “I give Dante an A for effort and a D for punctuality."

New York City transport was affected by the storm, with some highways shut overnight and commuter services running on weekend or reduced schedules, but by Saturday morning services were largely back to normal. Over the Hudson River in New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie closed state offices and courthouses and ordered non-essential workers to stay home.

Authorities warned the public to be ready for continuing low temperatures. The governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, said: "Temperatures tonight and tomorrow are expected to be extremely low, and dangerously so. These are dangerous conditions."

New York City's Department of Homeless Services declared "code blue", doubling patrols seeking those who needed shelter and streamlining the check-in process for homeless shelters.