Cities throughout the northeast saw record low temperatures on Sunday including New York; Boston; Providence, Rhode Island; and Hartford, Connecticut.
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Benedikt Vom Orde and Julia Felte, tourists from Essen, Germany, walk along Park Avenue in NY during a bitter cold spell, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016.
People shield themselve from the wind as a woman leaves after the Christian Siriano Fall 2016 show during Fashion Week, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in NY. Bitter temperatures and biting winds had much of the northeastern United States bundling up for the some of the worst cold of the winter ¿ a snap so bad it forced an ice festival in Central Park to cancel and caused an Interstate pileup that killed three.
Boston reached minus-23 C, breaking the record set in 1934 of minus-18.5. Brisk winds there made the readings feel closer to minus 77. – As frigid temperatures continue to effect the entire state, Governor Cuomo is reminding people to stay indoors. Providence hit minus-23°C and Hartford minus-24.5°C, also breaking records from 1979. Wind chills Sunday morning dropped into the 40s below zero in portions of Upstate New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts, including Saranac Lake, New York (minus 45 degrees), Pittsfield, Massachusetts (minus 43 degrees), and Montpelier, Vermont (minus 45 degrees).
Temperatures across NY state could plummet as low as 30 degrees below zero.
An emergency generator didn’t kick in for Sheffield Selectboard Chairman Walter Smith, who said he lost a greenhouse full of about 500 orchids.
“Yes, it’s working a bit”, said one. About 8 000 customers were without power Sunday morning in Lynn, Massachusetts.
“I just came from a church service, and it definitely wasn’t as packed as it usually is”, the 60-year-old Toms River man said. That storm was expected to bring at least a couple inches of snow in some areas, plus possible icy conditions to the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast on Monday.
The Berlin Police Department says town officials have opened a warming shelter at a middle school to help affected residents.
The Weather Channel explains that the Arctic air bringing some of the coldest temperatures to the Northeast has been brought in by strong high pressure in the east. The high-pressure system will impact the midwest first where snow is already falling Sunday in many states including Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana and Western Kentucky, according to the Weather Channel. The Washington, D.C., suburb of Fairfax, Va., is expected to get 1-3 inches of snow and sleet, about the same as Philadelphia. As much as five inches (12.7 cm) could fall in Virginia and West Virginia.
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But on Sunday, officials were only concerned by the cold they said was unsafe and could be fatal to those spending too much time outdoors – especially the homeless.
