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| A taxi cab drives into a pile of snow on East End Ave near E 86th St after an overnight storm dropped up to 7 inches of snow in New York City. |
There was no sign of respite Saturday from the brutal chill that has struck since the start of 2014 in parts of the northeastern United States and Canada, prompting New York and New Jersey to declare a state of emergency.
Following heavy snowfall Thursday, one of the coldest Arctic outbreaks in the past two decades is set to plunge America's Midwest close to record cold conditions.
Chicago could on Monday see some of its most bracing weather ever, with temperatures hovering around minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 Celsius), weather analysts said.
Gusty winds could bring what forecasters at the National Weather Service called "very dangerous levels" of wind chill.
"Incredibly, it may feel as cold as -50 to -60 (Fahrenheit) on Sunday night over sections of the north-central states with the frigid air remaining in place into early next week," it said.
In such conditions, exposed skin would suffer frostbite in as little as five minutes, forecasters cautioned.
Authorities have urged people in the worst-hit areas to spend the first weekend of the new year at home for their own safety and to allow rescue and clean-up teams to get to work as quickly as possible.
"Chicagoans are a hearty bunch," said Matt Smith, spokesman for the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services.
"But when temperatures get as cold as they are predicted, you want to start thinking out things in advance," the Chicago Tribune quoted him as saying, adding that the department had advised people stay indoors and ensure they have medical supplies and food.
In Minnesota, Governor Mark Dayton has already announced schools will be closed Monday "to protect all our children from the dangerously cold temperatures."
The storm has been the first big test for New York City's new Mayor Bill de Blasio, who only took up his job Wednesday.
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