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Satellite images have captured the progress of the big freeze that has gripped the United States and Canada, plunging many states into unfamiliar freezing temperatures.

2 January 2014

New Year brought a massive winter storm to the eastern coast. Forecasters warned of very cold temperatures, blizzards and dangerous wind chills of down to -48C (-55F).

3 January

As the storm hit it brought up to 24 inches (61cm) of snow to some areas. The storm closed schools, roads, and airports, and more than 2,000 flights were cancelled. The National Weather Service predicted an Arctic blast would follow.

4 January

The most extreme arctic blasts, blamed on a shift in the weather pattern known as the "polar vortex", sent colder air further south than usual.

6 January

The polar blast threatened crops and livestock across the American farm belt, even in the usually temperate Deep South. The freeze was expected to reach as far south as Texas and central Florida, the National Weather Service said. Embarrass, Minnesota, experienced the lowest temperature in the nation on Tuesday: -37C (-35F), colder than readings recently recorded on Mars by the Mars Rover.

7 January

Satellite images from 7 January show cloud off the east coast - more than 191 million are believed to have been affected by the cold weather, at least 21 have died as a result. Forecasters are now expecting the eastern US to warm a little - although some still face temperatures 15-25 degrees below average.

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North America's big freeze seen from space

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Satellite images have captured the progress of the big freeze that has gripped the United States and Canada, plunging many states into unfamiliar freezing temperatures. New Year brought a massive winter storm to the eastern coast. Forecasters warned of very cold temperatures, blizzards and dangerous wind chills of down to -48C (-55F).

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Eric Stern from Casual Adventure talks to the BBC about preparing for the extreme cold weather that has been hitting parts of the US and Canada.

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So what is the polar vortex? US big chill explained

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The polar vortex is causing hazardous weather conditions across the north eastern United States. But what is the polar vortex? Our Weather Presenter Liam Dutton explains.

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North America's brutal cold snap is heading south and east, ushering in dangerously low temperatures.

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North America's brutal cold snap is heading south and east, ushering in dangerously low temperatures.

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As the east cost of America prepares to face dangerously cold temperatures that have already hit the Midwestern states, meteorologist Jacqui Jeras explains what a polar vortex is to the BBC's Katty Kay.

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North America's brutal cold snap is heading east, ushering in dangerous temperatures not seen in two decades, forecasters warn.

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A deadly, record-shattering polar vortex was beginning to ease late Tuesday, with temperatures expected to be closer to normal Wednesday, but its effects - thousands more canceled flights and power grids straining as people cranked up the heat - will continue to be felt for days.

Wednesday will still be unseasonably cold across the central and eastern U.S., but by the afternoon, subzero temperatures will be gone pretty much everywhere but extreme northern Minnesota, forecasters said.

All 50 states dipped below 32 degrees at some point Tuesday - even Hawaii, where it was 25 at the top of the Mauna Kea volcano, which is normally right at the freezing line this time of year.

Schools and businesses closed for a second day. Single-digit temperatures were recorded at sunrise as far south as Georgia and Alabama, and parts of Minnesota were as cold as 25 degrees below zero.

Records - not for all time, but at least for the date of Jan. 7 - fell in dozens of cities: 11 degrees below zero in Cleveland, 6 above in Atlanta and 12 above in Austin, Texas.

A 118-year-old record was shattered in Central Park in New York, where it was 4 degrees, the coldest reading on the books for Jan. 7 and the coldest at any time since January 2004. Factor in the wind, and it felt like 31 below in Chicago, 16 below in New York and 45 below near the U.S.-Canadian border in Minnesota.

"Cold enough to take your breath away," said Kevin Roth, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel.

Forecasters said the effects of the system, a swirling mass of North Pole air that has pushed unusually far south, would be felt by as many as 187 million people - more than half the country's population.

At least 17 deaths were blamed on the severe weather since snow and bitter cold started punishing the Midwest late last week, according to counts by NBC News, NBC stations and The Weather Channel.

They included a 90-year-old woman who was found dead near her stranded car in Ohio and a 1-year-old boy who was killed in Missouri when the car he was in collided with a snow plow Monday.

Deaths were also reported in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. They included people who succumbed to exposure and had heart attacks shoveling snow.

Airports offered warmth but plenty of frustration. More than 2,600 flights in and out of U.S. airports were canceled Tuesday - almost 900 in Chicago alone - bringing the two-day total to about 7,000. JetBlue, which grounded flights at four airports in the Northeast while it waited for the cold to pass, started flying again but warned that there would still be delays.

Homeless shelters were overwhelmed by people seeking shelter from the cold, which the National Weather Service warned was severe enough in North Dakota and Minnesota to freeze human flesh in five minutes.

Amtrak had to charter buses to get some customers to their destinations. Three trains, all headed for Chicago and carrying more than 500 passengers in all, were delayed overnight, a spokesman said.

Adding to the misery, parts of western New York were under a blizzard warning because of lake-effect snow blown around by wind gusts as strong as 40 mph, creating drifts 3 feet deep or more.

Snow off the Great Lakes was falling as fast as 4 inches per hour - "actually so intense that we're getting little areas of thunder and lightning," said Carl Parker, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel.

So, just how cold has it been? It's been this cold:

Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo kept its polar bear inside.

The zoo closed at 3 p.m. both Monday and Tuesday because of the extreme cold. On Monday - which set a record low for Jan. 6 of 15 degrees below zero - officials decided it was too cold even for Anana, the zoo's star polar bear, NBC Chicago reported.

Timothy Clary / AFP - Getty Images

Sharon Dewar, a spokeswoman for the zoo, explained that because Anana has settled in the - usually - warmer climate of Chicago, she doesn't have the full, thick layer of fat she'd have on a polar bear's typical diet of seals and whale carcasses. But still: It was officially too cold for polar bears in Chicago.

The cold caused water pipes to burst Tuesday at both Washington-Reagan National Airport - flooding the baggage claim area - and at George Washington University Hospital, flooding 33 patients' rooms, NBC Washington reported.

Blood supplies were at critical levels, the American Red Cross said. About 240 blood drives had been canceled in 23 states by Tuesday afternoon because of the weather, leaving the Red Cross short by almost 7,000 blood and platelet donations.

In Kansas City, Mo., the Pet Project's 250 kennels were all full with animals that had anonymously been dropped off by their frustrated owners or that had been found abandoned in the snow.

A tabby cat left at the shelter had to be treated throughout the night and into Tuesday to make sure her body temperature remained stable, Tori Fugate, a spokeswoman for the shelter, told NBC station KSHB.

"She had icicles coming out of her nose," Fugate said. "We see a lot of the animals who are dumped by the shelter because people are just not wanting to pay the fees."
Alexander Smith and Erin McClam of NBC News contributed to this report. Related:
This story was originally published on

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Some relief (not much) on the way after deadly polar vortex

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A deadly, record-shattering polar vortex was beginning to ease late Tuesday, with temperatures expected to be closer to normal Wednesday, but its effects - thousands more canceled flights and power grids straining as people cranked up the heat - will continue to be felt for days.

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BBC Weather: Why is it so cold in the US?

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John Hammond from the BBC Weather Centre explains how a "polar vortex" has caused record-low temperatures across the United States.

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North America's brutal cold snap is heading east, ushering in dangerous temperatures not seen in two decades, forecasters warn.

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It may be dangerously cold in the American Midwest, but that hasn't stopped people venturing out to see how freezing temperatures can affect everything from bubbles to urine.

Parts of the United States have recorded temperatures lower than those in the Arctic, and even on Mars, as a blast of air from the polar vortex spreads south across the US.

In this life-threatening weather, frostbite can set in within minutes, and authorities have been forced to open overflow accomodation for thousands of people seeking to escape the cold.

What is the polar vortex?Weather Presenter Liam Dutton explains

However, some people have put a brave face on the polar vortex - posting videos on YouTube as they experiment in the arctic conditions. Channel 4 News lists our top six below.

Yellow snow

One young "scientist" in Minnesota risked life and one particularly cherished "limb" to see what happens when you urinate in -17F (-27C). The results, which can be seen in the video below, are a departure from the traditional experiment of throwing hot water into the air to see it instantly freeze.

If very hot water is thrown into the air in freezing conditions, because it is so close to boiling, it breaks into tiny droplets that freeze - creating the effect of frozen steam.
Warning: the below video contains some language viewers may find offensive.
Forever snowing bubbles

One woman and her mother used the cold weather in Michigan to freeze soap bubbles. In temperatures, including windchill, of -25F (-32C), the bubbles can be picked up off the ground and even squeezed.

Ice breaker

A man in Iowa posted a video to Vine showing what happens when you jump on a wet trampoline after it has been left in temperatures of -21F (-29C). The video, picked up by a local news station, shows the young man jumping from a stepladder to break ice.

Frostiest gun in the Midwest

The classic experiment that has been used on US television to show how cold it is has been to throw a glass of hot water into the air, but one man in Rochester, Minnesota, gave the experiment a twist.

Using a watergun filled with hot water, he created a "frost-thrower" in temperatures reported to be as low as -60F (-51C) including windchill.

Cool clothes

Stephen Clark, an anchor from 7 Action News, used a T-shirt to show how cold it was in Southfield, Michigan. Mr Clark said it took the wet T-shirt two minutes to freeze solid, and joked that when the item of clothing fell on him it "kinda hurt".

He said the test was proof that you "really need to bundle up out there", though presumably not if your clothes are wet.

Frostbite

When the sun comes out in the UK, one news cliche is to show how hot it is by cooking an egg on a car bonnet. In International Falls, Minnesota, a man turned the cliche on its head by showing how an egg freezes in five minutes on a metal pan.

The point of the video, Matt Sampson of The Weather Channel said, was to show how dangerous metal in such cold temperatures can be to human skin.
See the latest Channel 4 News Youtube videos here.

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Freezing urine, and five other polar vortex experiments

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It may be dangerously cold in the American Midwest, but that hasn't stopped people venturing out to see how freezing temperatures can affect everything from bubbles to urine. Parts of the United States have recorded temperatures lower than those in the Arctic, and even on Mars, as a blast of air from the polar vortex spreads south across the US.

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A woman from Indianapolis has delivered her first baby without the help of midwives during the snowstorm in the US.