USA freeze set to continue by John Hammond
Relief from the bitter cold across much of northern USA may be a long way off as temperatures remain well below zero until next week.
Bitterly cold arctic air pushed down from Canada early this week behind a succession of winter storms which gave some heavy snowfall for several states across the Midwest and northeast. The cold has now stretched down as far south as Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina giving southerners unaccustomed to the cold, a big shock.
So far, the big freeze has been responsible for the death of at least six people and contributed to dozens of severe accidents on the roads. Schools were closed in dozens of states and homeless shelters were quickly overcrowded. The cold has frozen over lakes and ponds and threatened to kill large numbers of native flora and fauna.
The National Weather Service expects the bitter cold to persist into the weekend and the start of next week. The combination of the wind and sub zero temperatures have led to severe wind chill. Warnings were in effect across several states across the north and northeast, advising that the wind chill factor could lead to hypothermia, frost bite and death. Meanwhile, lake-effect snow warnings were issued for the eastern Lake Ontario region and Cayuga County as continuous heavy snow could lead to accumulations of 46cms (18 inches) of lying snow.
