U.s. News

It’s another day of brutally cold temperatures and dangerous wind chills across much of the United States. Monday promised to deliver the coldest temperatures ever for Iowa’s presidential nominating contest and hold up air travelers yet again. It will also test the mettle of NFL fans in Buffalo for a playoff game that was delayed a day by wind-whipped snow. The National Weather Service says about 150 million Americans are under a wind chill warning or advisory for dangerous cold and wind as an Arctic air mass spills south and eastward across the U.S.

Subfreezing temperatures blasting much of the U.S. have put millions of Americans at risk of potentially dangerous cold as winter storms have left four dead and continue to dump snow from coast to coast. The National Weather Service said Sunday that wind chills could plummet as low as minus 70 degrees in Montana and the Dakotas. An estimated 95 million Americans faced potential windy, frigid conditions with temperatures below zero even into northern Texas. Buffalo, New York, could see up to 2 feet of snow, weather so severe it forced an NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers to be postponed from Sunday to Monday. Elsewhere, parts of the South braced for a round of snow.

Icy winter weather is blanketing the U.S. as a wave of Arctic storms threatens to break low-temperature records in the heartland and spread cold and snow from coast to coast. It's casting a chill over everything ranging from football playoffs to presidential campaigns. As the three-day Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend began Saturday, the weather forecast for the U.S. was a crazy quilt of color-coded advisories. They range from an ice storm warning in Oregon to a blizzard warning in the northern Plains to high wind warnings in New Mexico.

Some hardy winter sport enthusiasts are heading to ski resorts and backcountry slopes in the Western U.S. despite frigid temperatures and a massive winter storm that dumped snow across much of the region. But the storm also brought high avalanche risk in many areas. The first reported U.S. avalanche death of the season happened Wednesday in California. And on Thursday, two men were rescued and a third died after they were caught in an avalanche in Idaho. To stay safe, people who enjoy activities in the snowy backcountry should check the avalanche forecast before heading out and make sure they have the right gear.

A dangerous winter storm swept the northern U.S. on Friday, with blinding snow in some places, freezing rain in others, and bitter cold temperatures and whipping winds across several states. Authorities in Cook County, Illinois say a man died from cold exposure on Thursday in a Chicago suburb. The massive storm continues a week of strong winter weather for much of the U.S. that has led to deadly avalanches and treacherous ice-covered roads. A man was believed dead after an avalanche in the Idaho backcountry. A Wisconsin man died while snow-blowing his driveway. Political leaders in Illinois implored Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to stop sending migrants to Chicago, which is on the verge of dangerous weather. However, Abbott refused.

A massive winter storm is sweeping across the northern U.S. — with blinding snow in some places, freezing rain in others, and whipping winds and bitter cold temperatures across several states.