Polar vortex brings record cold across US

BISMARCK, North Dakota — More than 95 million people in the United States were facing numbing cold on Tuesday as a polar vortex sent temperatures plunging to record levels, closing schools, bursting pipes and forcing communities to set up more temporary shelters for the homeless.

"Some of the coldest temperatures of the entire winter season (are) right now across the central United States," said Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The harsh cold descended on the nation's midsection on Monday on the heels of weekend storms that pummeled the eastern US killing at least 17 people. Some areas in the Midwest have wind chills as cold as — 45 C to-50 C, Orrison said.

It is so dangerous that hundreds of public school districts canceled classes or switched to online learning on Tuesday in Oklahoma, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Kansas and Missouri. And in Kansas City, Kansas, dozens of tents were set up in one building to house the homeless.

Record-setting cold temperatures are likely to hit on Thursday and Friday, Orrison said. But North Dakota already felt more like the North Pole on Tuesday as Bismarck hit — 38.9 C, breaking the record of — 38.3 C set in 1910 for the same date.

Stephanie Hatzenbuhler's family has been contending with the cold in many ways on their farm and ranch west of Mandan, North Dakota — from their calving operation, to starting their vehicles and equipment, to keeping up their coal-fired furnace.

"There's always something new to learn and something new to experience. It doesn't matter how many times you've done this, so you have to adapt," said Hatzenbuhler, who called the cold spell "the Siberian experience".

Conditions were rapidly deteriorating across northeast, east and central Oklahoma as residents in these parts of the state were dealing with freezing rain, ice and snow, according to the National Weather Service.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said US Highway 75 between Tulsa and Okmulgee was shut down in both directions because of the number of vehicles and semi-tractor trailers that were stuck on the road due to the ice.

"Our troopers are working to get salt and sand trucks to the area to treat the roads, but it is extremely slick in that area," the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said in a post on X.

In flood-battered Kentucky, the state was bracing for a winter storm that could dump 1.5 meters or more of snow in some parts of the state, starting on Wednesday.

"This is a snowstorm in the middle of a natural disaster," Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said at a news conference on Tuesday in Frankfort, the capital city.

The weather-related death toll in Kentucky rose to 14, the governor said.

Eight green sea turtles were released back into the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday, nearly a month after an Arctic blast brought a rare snowfall to northern Florida and left the aquatic reptiles suffering from a condition known as cold stunning.

A total of 17 sea turtles found stranded last month along Florida's northeastern Atlantic Coast were brought to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, north of West Palm Beach, for rehabilitation.

It snowed as far south as northern Florida, which is extremely rare, with frigid temperatures reaching South Florida.

Agencies Via Xinhua