US grapples with snow as 'polar vortex' of subzero temperatures approaches

• 16 dead after storm drops heavy snow along north-east
• Midwest braces for 'life-threatening' winds and cold

• Martin Pengelly in New York and agencies
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• theguardian.com, Saturday 4 January 2014 10.55 EST

Snow makes it way down to the platform of the 65th Street subway station during a winter storm in New York. Photograph: Zoran Milich/Reuters

At least 16 people died as a result of the winter storm which hit the north-eastern US on Friday, authorities said. But as the cleanup from near-blizzard conditions continued, in temperatures as low as -9.4F (-23C), forecasters warned of worse to come for the midwest on Sunday.
One meteorologist, Ryan Maue of Weather Bell, called the system of cold air approaching the midwest a “polar vortex”. “All the ingredients are there for a near-record or historic cold outbreak,” he said. “If you're under 40, you've not seen this stuff before.”
The temperature was predicted to fall as low as -31F (-35C) in parts of Minnesota, with wind chill potentially making that feel like -69F (-56C). In a region accustomed to brutally cold weather, however, the Green Bay Packers' NFL wild-card playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lambeau Field in Wisconsin is expected to go ahead on Sunday evening, as the coldest NFL game ever played. Forecasters said it would be -2F (-19C) at kickoff (4.45pm ET) and -8F (-22C) by the fourth quarter.
Fans – who bought the remaining 40,000 tickets this week after the NFL threatened to prohibit local TV from airing the game if the team was unable to sell out – were warned to take extra precautions, such as dressing in layers and sipping warm drinks.
Delays and cancellations continued to affect air and road transport. By midday Saturday, nearly 1,000 flights had been cancelled and 4,200 delayed across the US. More than 180 flights out of O'Hare International Airport, in Chicago, had been cancelled.
In Minnesota, Governor Mark Dayton ordered schools closed across the state for the first time in 17 years. In North Dakota, "life threatening wind chills" were forecast through Tuesday morning. Experts said that in such conditions, frostbite could set in on exposed skin within five minutes.
Maue added that though the cold spell approaching the midwest would last for only a few days, “it raises the chances for future cold” across the country.
The NFL is watching such forecasts closely, as it has scheduled Super Bowl XLVIII to be played on 2 February at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the outdoor venue shared by the New York Jets and the New York Giants. Contingency plans are in place to play the showpiece game, which is usually staged at warm-weather venues or in domed stadiums, on 1 or 3 February if necessary.
"Right now for the winter we will have had two significant shots of major Arctic air and we're only through the first week of January,” said Maue. “And we had a pretty cold December.”
The cold blast will also affect parts of the east coast still clearing up from Friday's storm. Sally Johnson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, said: "This one happens to be really big and it's going to dive deep into the continental US. And all that cold air is going to come with it."

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• ABC News -AU

Snowstorm slams north-eastern United States

Updated Sat 4 Jan 2014, 12:33am AEDT

Photo: Winds whip snow from the beach across the shore drive in Winthrop, Massachusetts. (AFP/Getty: Darren McCollester)

Map: United States

A major snowstorm has hit the north-eastern United States, blasting brutal wintry weather on many states and major cites, and delaying or cancelling thousands of flights.

The storm has caused more than 1,700 US flight delays and cancellations, paralysed road travel, and closed schools and government offices.
The governors of New York and New Jersey have declared a state of emergency and pleaded with residents to stay indoors.
The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings and advisories for a huge area including Chicago, New York, New England and Washington DC.
Severe weather is also hitting the country's Midwest, dropping a blanket of snow and cancelling flights at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

Photo: A child goes down a hill on a sled in Humboldt Park in Chicago, Illinois. (AFP/Getty: Scott Olson)

Temperatures in New York are expected to drop to -13 degrees Celsius, and forecasters predict 10 to 20 centimetres of snow, and winds that could reach up to 56 kilometres per hour.
The National Weather Service says blizzard conditions are possible for eastern Long Island and the coast of Massachusetts.
"Bitter cold will move into the Midwest and East following the storm," it warned.

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