Record cold, heavy snow grips much of the US, with more on the way
Updated 1155 GMT (1955 HKT) December 31, 2017
Story highlights
- Portions of Niagara Falls are frozen
- The South will also see unusually low temperatures this weekend
(CNN)Across
the United States, temperature records are falling faster than this
week's snowflakes in Erie, Pennsylvania, and it's only going to get
worse.
From Portland, Maine, to Danville, Virginia, temperatures
fell overnight Friday to lows not seen in decades. It was a measly 8
degrees Fahrenheit in Worcester, Massachusetts, breaking a record that
had stood since 1903.
"Just
grab everything in your closet and put it on," said CNN meteorologist
Allison Chinchar. "That's the best thing I can tell you. Everything you
own, just layer up."
The
bone-chilling cold even managed to freeze portions of the monstrous
Niagara Falls, turning the attraction into a frozen, sparkling paradise.
The frozen brink of the Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls, Ontario, is seen in this photo from December 29, 2017.
Visiting
tourists will have to continue to battle low temperatures -- Sunday's
high for the area is 5 degrees Fahrenheit, according to CNN
meteorologist Gene Norman, with a wind chill of minus 11, or maybe minus
14.
If the present forecast holds true, this will be the third-coldest New Year's Eve ball drop
in New York's Times Square since the event started in 1907, according
to the National Weather Service. The expected low will be 8 degrees,
with a wind chill between minus 10 and zero, forecasters say.
In Duluth, Minnesota, it felt like it was minus 44 degrees Saturday morning.
"It's so cold, people can't even walk their dogs without risking frostbite," said CNN meteorologist Jennifer Varian.
About
70 million people, mainly in the Northeast and northern Plains, were
under a wind chill alert Saturday morning. That's up from an already
whopping 30 million a day earlier.
It
felt like it was minus 38 in Minneapolis, minus 12 in Chicago and minus
6 in Boston, but it's not just the north that's grappling with the
cold.
Temperatures will also be unusually low as far south as Texas and Georgia.
Mississippi and Alabama will see especially low temperatures, Norman said.
Between
Saturday night and Sunday morning, he said, there's a "good chance" for
a little ice accumulation in some Southern states.
"Highs
will only be in the 20s for central Mississippi, Alabama, even parts of
Georgia," Norman said. "There may be single digits through the teens in
morning lows in those same places."
"When
we get into single digits -- teens," Norman added, "it's a serious
impact, because people aren't used to it. They're not ready for it."
More
records are expected to topple in the coming days -- as many as 25 new
lows could be set on New Year's Day, the National Weather Service says.
And Erie? After being slammed with more than five feet of snow this week, the city could be in for even more. Lake-effect snow is expected to continue in the area, from Rochester, New York, to Cleveland.
The good news for Erie: The lake may be frozen over by the end of next week, which will cut off the lake-effect snow.
But
if you're looking to escape the cold, you should head to Miami. As
Norman points out, if you were to fly from Minneapolis to Miami, you
would experience a 100-degree temperature change.
