US weather: Airports across East Coast close as freezing temperatures drop further – as it happened

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Snow falls in Florida as winter storm hits East Coast of America

The US East Coast faces freezing sub-zero temperatures after being battered by heavy snow​ storms as a bomb cyclone tore through the region.

Even as the winter storm faded, authorities warned that historically low temperatures were still to come. The harsh winter weather has led to widespread travel chaos as airports, roads and schools were forced to close.

Even Florida has not escaped the chill, with reports reaching us of frozen iguanas dropping from trees after being rendered immobile by the extraordinary cold.

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From Baltimore to Caribou, Maine, efforts were under way to clear roadways of ice and snow as wind chill temperatures were to plunge during the day, reaching -40 C (-40 F) in some parts after sundown, according to the National Weather Service.

The brutal cold was forecast to reach from New England across to the Midwest and down to the Carolinas, forecasters warned, adding that low-temperature records could be broken across the broad region in the coming days.

Utility companies across the East worked to repair downed power lines early in the day as about 31,000 customers remained without electricity, down from almost 80,000 the day before, and issued warnings that temperatures may become dangerously low.

“If the temperature in your home begins to fall, we recommend taking shelter elsewhere until service can be restored,” National Grid power company, which serves Massachusetts, said on Twitter.

The storm, with winds gusts of more than 70 miles per hour (113 kph), dumped a foot (30 cm) or more of snow throughout the region, including Boston and parts New Jersey and Maine, where heavy snow continued to fall early on Friday.

The wintry weather has been blamed for at least 17 deaths in the past few days, including three in North Carolina traffic accidents and three in Texas because of the cold.

Reuters contributed to this report

Key Points

• Snow storm batters North East, grounding flights and sparking scramble to clear roads
• Frozen iguanas raining down from trees in Florida as temperatures drop
• What actually is a bomb cyclone anyway, and is it as bad as it sounds?

[5 January 2018 20:30 · Kristin Hugo]

This week's "bomb cyclone" brought historically low temperatures, but also racked up some impressive highs: 

• Snow piled up to 18.3 inches in Bangor, Maine (and even dusted parts of Florida)
• Winds reached up to 106mph (171kph) in Grand Etanq, Nova Scotia
• Waves reached higher than 50 feet off of Nova Scotia's coast

"Thirty-five years, I've never seen anything like this," Walt Morris, a Nova Scotia resident, told CBC. "This is worse than any hurricane we've ever had."

[5 January 2018 20:56 · Kristin Hugo]

A Rhode Island man has gone viral for driving his convertible with the top down through this week's massive snow storm.

John Pratt told Eyewitness News he was driving to the shop to get his roof fixed when he got stuck in the snow. Mr Pratt claimed the roof had been broken for a month, and he regularly went out for drives in the cold.

This week's weather, however, proved too much for the car. Mr Pratt wound up being dragged home in a pickup truck, while footage of his ill-fated drive made the rounds on social media.

[5 January 2018 22:04 · Kristin Hugo]

We are bringing our coverage to an end for now. Thanks for reading!