People are being told to stay inside and some risk near-instant frostbite as subzero temperatures sweep over the Midwest.
Chicago is one of several Midwest cities enduring record cold today as the region is slammed by a once-in-a-generation arctic blast.
WEB DESK
The United States is shivering in a deadly cold snap known as a polar vortex. At least eight people have been killed in several states as a result of the Arctic weather.
Temperatures fell to minus 30 degree Celsius in Chicago, colder than parts of Antarctica and minus 37 degree Celsius in North Dakota. More than 1,600 flights have been cancelled at Chicago airport.
States of emergency have been declared in the Midwestern states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois, and even in the normally warmer deep south states of Alabama and Mississippi.
The US Postal Service has called a halt to mail deliveries in parts of 10 states in the Great Plains and Midwest region. Hundreds of schools, as well as colleges and universities, have been closed in the affected states.
It's so cold in the US that boiling water is freezing instantly pic.twitter.com/8fyJXb41MG
— The Independent (@Independent) January 31, 2019