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Arctic Chill Stretches Across US

by Jarrett Martineau | January 21, 2008 at 06:03 pm | 320 views | add comment

Temperatures continued to drop and cold weather storms intensified across much of the U.S. today.

Is the weather strangely freezing where you are? Send us your photos of the wild weather in your region.

Bitter cold gripped most of the United States on Monday, with temperatures dipping below normal from coast to coast.

Temperatures in the Upper Midwest and Northern Plains were about 30 degrees below normal, CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider said.

"It's very hard to find any part of the country that's warm," Schneider said.

In Presque Isle, Maine, the overnight low dropped to 27 below zero, according to the National Weather Service. Monday's high in extreme northern Maine was not expected to make it up to zero, the service said, and the wind chill made it feel much colder. Video Watch the frigid forecast for Monday »

In Butte, Montana, the temperature at 10 a.m. (noon ET) was 20 below zero, up from an overnight low of 32 below.

The cold hampered firefighting efforts in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where firefighters had to deal with frozen hydrants and frigid temperatures during a seven-alarm fire.

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Icy temperatures in Fort Collins, Colorado, forced organizers to move their celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday indoors, CNN affiliate KMGH-TV in Denver reported.

Heavy lake-effect snow blanketed parts of upstate New York.

In Fulton, New York, near Syracuse, deep snow collapsed the roof of a Department of Public Works garage, according to CNN affiliate WSYR-TV in Syracuse. The people inside escaped unharmed, but snowblowers and salt trucks needed for snow removal were stuck inside the damaged building, the station reported.

More snow was in the forecast for the region -- possibly up to 12 inches.

Snow also was expected in Chicago, Illinois, and other areas near Lake Michigan. Weather was blamed for flight delays of up to an hour and 45 minutes at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and an hour at Salt Lake City International Airport in Utah.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning until 5 a.m. ET Tuesday for parts of Michigan. The service said snowfall could top 8 inches in some areas.