US Midwest, mid-Atlantic face icy temperatures

PITTSBURGH: A wall of cold air behind the heavy snowstorm that battered the Midwest brought bone-chilling temperatures to the region on Monday and threatened the mid-Atlantic with a deep chill in days ahead, forecasters said.

Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin shivered in temperatures not expected to top single digits, and motorists were stranded on impassable roads in northwest Indiana.

While the midwestern skies had mostly cleared, the landscape was ice-bound and blanketed with snow.

In Minneapolis, where the Metrodome stadium's inflatable roof collapsed under the weight of snow, schools were closed after the weekend's thigh-high snowfall. Buses could not travel on snowbound roads, and there was concern for children waiting for buses in near-zero temperatures with strong winds.

The frigid weather was supposed to last through midweek, with another storm arriving in the Midwest on Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

Snow was heading east, with severe weather alerts issued for Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, western Pennsylvania, western New York and Vermont, forecasters said.

Pittsburgh braced up to four inches (10 cm) of snow to accumulate on Monday and another six inches by early Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Cleveland could get as much as eight inches (20 cm), with wind chill pushing the temperature near zero.

Lake-effect snow off the Great Lakes would bring as much as two feet of snow through Tuesday in northern Indiana, Ohio, western Pennsylvania and western New York, said AccuWeather meteorologist Justin Povick.

He said Indianapolis, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh Povick said will all have enough snow to cause travel trouble.

Frigid temperatures will hit New York City and Philadelphia by Tuesday.

"Today, the bitter cold is overspreading the rest of the eastern half of the country. While actual temperatures may not fall below zero early this week, horrendous winds will make it feel that way for millions," AccuWeather.com meteorologist Heather Buchman wrote.

The cold air mixed with wet surfaces could create dangerous flash freezes, making travel treacherous, AccuWeather said.

In the southern United States, temperatures dipped below 20 degrees Fahrenheit with light snow that forced the closing of some schools and roads, authorities said.

"We've had an increase in accidents on the roads," said Yasamie Richardson, spokeswoman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. "Some schools have been closed today or had delayed openings."

In Georgia's mountainous Rabun County, all schools were closed and side roads were icy, but weather-related accidents were at a minimum, said Captain Jeff Harris of the Rabun County Sheriff's Department.

"Pretty much, most people stayed off the roads," he said.