Storm gone, but cold will stick around through weekend

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Storm gone, but cold will stick around through weekend

2018-01-06 11:50 Last Updated At：13:17

Frigid temperatures, some that felt as cold as minus 30 degrees, moved across the East Coast on Friday as the region dug out from a massive winter storm that brought more than a foot of snow, hurricane-force winds and coastal flooding a day earlier.

Forecasters predicted strong winds and record-breaking cold air to hang around through the weekend.

Jess Flarity, a 32-year-old visiting a friend in Concord, New Hampshire, said the deep chill reminded him of his time in Alaska.

"I've been in minus 60 before so minus 20 doesn't frighten me," he said as he waited for a bus back to Boston Friday. "But I did have to prepare, bring some extra cold weather gear — gloves, boots and those kinds of things."

In Portland, Maine, Jeanne Paterak said the cold snap revived her worries about the impact of climate change. "We are seeing some historic temperatures and everyone will be vulnerable," she said as she stocked up on milk, vegetables and juice at a supermarket Friday morning.

The arctic blast could make temperatures feel as low as minus 15 degrees to minus 25 from Philadelphia to Boston and make residents of states like Maryland and Virginia shiver from temperatures ranging from 10 degrees to 15 degrees. The wind chill could make it feel like minus 35 degrees in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts, the National Weather Service said.

Thursday's storm packed wind gusts of more than 70 mph (113 kph) and dumped as much as 18 inches (46 centimeters) of snow in some places.

It caused school and business closings, airline and rail service cancellations or reductions and thousands of utilities outages, many of them restored quickly. Some ferry services also had to be shut down.

Flights resumed at airports along the East Coast after hundreds were canceled Thursday.

Massachusetts officials said the storm caused more than 1 million gallons of untreated sewage to spill into Nantucket Harbor after a huge sewer main break. In Gloucester, north of Boston, an estimated 50 cars were destroyed in a school parking lot after a storm surge submerged the lot under a few feet of salt water.

In New Jersey, gusty winds carried flames from a vacant building across the street to two other buildings Friday morning. The flames also spread to two structures adjacent to the vacant building, damaging a total of five in Newark. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries.

In the South, the winter weather forced portable toilets to be put in place outside Mississippi's Capitol after pipes burst and it caused iguanas to become sluggish and topple from trees in South Florida. Residents of southeast Georgia were treated to a rare half foot of snow (15 centimeters).

In New England, powerful winds brought coastal flooding that reached historic levels in some communities.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed Friday that water levels in Boston broke the record set during a massive blizzard in 1978.

The flooding sent large trash containers floating down Boston streets, forced the shutdown of a subway station as water cascaded down the steps and prompted rescues of people trapped in cars and homes by rapidly rising waters in several Massachusetts communities.

In Scituate, south of Boston, residents were spending Friday trying to dry out their basements before more frigid temperatures arrived.

Longtime resident Dianne Davis said her home was completely surrounded by ocean water that eventually filled her basement.

"I've never been afraid, but when the water was coming up over my front steps, that's when I said ... 'OK this is getting serious.'" said Davis.

At least 10 people died in weather-related accidents, including a 13-year-old girl who was sickened by carbon monoxide in an apartment building in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.

In Massachusetts, a worker suffered cardiac arrest and died Friday while clearing snow at a Massachusetts Water Resources Authority facility. Two people died of cardiac arrest during the storm Thursday on New York's Long Island, officials said. And in Maine, authorities on Friday said they're still searching for a clammer who disappeared during the blizzard.

Sunday morning was expected to bring the coldest temperatures from Portland, Maine, to Washington, D.C. More seasonable weather is expected to return early next week with temperatures in the high 30s and near 40s.

In Cincinnati, roller rink provides warmth and shelter from nation's Arctic blast

2025-01-08 03:01 Last Updated At：03:11

CINCINNATI (AP) — Tirrdell Byrd sat on the floor strumming his guitar as people milled about Over-The-Rhine Recreation Center, winter coats flung over folding chairs, belongings packed into shopping bags and wheeled totes, the smell of pizza lingering. A blind woman was helped to a drink of water by another woman, while nearby, people gathered around a television for news on a weather system packing lethal cold.

They don't typically spend their days in a roller rink, but about 200 people, many homeless, were grateful for a place to shelter from sub-freezing temperatures that gripped Cincinnati and much of the nation. At night, buses would arrive to take them to overnight shelters to avoid even colder weather that can quickly lead to frostbite and death.

“This is a safe haven for us. And I appreciate ... the love that is still out here,” said Byrd, who has been staying in shelters until he has enough money to “venture on my own."

"I hope people can look at this and understand how much character it takes to be out here,” he added Monday.

Much of the eastern half of the country was expected to experience temperatures 12 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (7 to 14 Celsius) below their historical average this week, as cold air is channeled far south of Canada and the Arctic, AccuWeather said.

In Cincinnati, daytime temperatures were in the 20s on Monday, falling to 11 overnight at Cincinnati Municipal Airport. The bitter cold, with single-digit nighttime temperatures, was expected most of the week, according to the National Weather Service forecast.

Even so, some people chose to remain outside, gritting out the cold with little more for shelter than cardboard.

The center offers extended hours for those who need a warm place, food and transportation to overnight lodging, said Dave Harris, assistant director of the Cincinnati Recreation Commission. It's the third year that this center has served as a daytime shelter, and though the temperature threshold that determines when to open wasn't met, the city decided to open it because of a forecasted storm. Other recreation centers also will be open during the day this week.

“If we weren’t available, those patrons and people would ... probably be out on the streets facing the elements,” Harris said.

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