Big freeze hits US and Canada after snowstorm

Residents in America’s north east and Canada were just beginning to emerge from their homes after heavy snowfall that grounded thousands of flights, closed schools and government offices, caused several deaths and left the region in the grip of bitter cold.

But frigid temperatures have now gripped a wide swath of America’s mid west and north east, as well as parts of Canada, as the regions braced for another blast of dangerous winter weather.

Temperatures dropped to minus 29 degrees Celsius in Toronto, helped by chill winds, while in Quebec, temperatures plummeted to minus 38 degrees celsius – the lowest recorded in two decades.

Photo: a tourist in Times Square, New York, makes the most of the snowfall

The Boston area was hard hit by the first major winter storm of 2014 (see below), getting nearly 45cm (18 inches) of snow, while some towns north of New England’s largest city saw close to 60cm of accumulation.

Major cities from Washington D.C., to Portland, Maine, were also covered in snowfall. Dog walkers, sledgers and tourists were out in New York’s Central Park, after Manhattan was covered in 15cm of snow.

Photo: Boston’s John Hancock Tower is seen through the smoke, as temperature drop in Massachusetts

Cold weather warning

But while snow ploughs were able to clear roads and runways of powdery snow, the authorities warned residents to expect unusually cold weather across the midwest and north east. A new round of Arctic air will bring potentially record low temperatures in areas from Montana to Michigan starting this weekend, with the extremely cold air pushing eastward and blanketing the north east.

In Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said: “temperatures tonight and tomorrow are expected to be extremely low, and dangerously so.”

The forecast overnight low for Boston was minus 4F (minus 20C) while New York looked for a low of minus 16 degrees Celsius.

New York City’s department of homeless services went to “code blue” and doubled the number of vans patrolling streets to help those who needed shelter from the cold.

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has ordered all public schools in the state to stay closed on Monday to protect children from dangerously cold weather. Chicago schools will be open but officials advised parents to “use their own discretion in deciding whether to send their child to school.”

Photo: Sledging down Cedar Hill in Central Park, New York

Flights cancelled

Snow and icy conditions have snarled air travel in recent days, and on Saturday delays and cancellations continued to cause headaches for travelers.

A total of 993 flights had been canceled across the United States and 4,211 flights were delayed, with Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey among the hardest-hit, according to tracking firm FlightAware.com