Cold Wave Grips Midwest; New Lows Set in 23 Cities

A brutal cold wave stretching from the Dakotas to southern Texas paralyzed the Midwest Saturday with temperatures as low as 25 below, shattering records in at least 23 cities across nine states.

Meanwhile, snow tapered off in the Northeast as residents dug out from a storm that dumped up to 10 inches of snow on New England before moving into the Atlantic, the National Weather Service said.

Parts of New Hampshire got up to 10 inches of snow by Saturday morning, with 4 to 8 inches common from northeastern New York state across Vermont and New Hampshire into central and southern Maine.

Elsewhere, a front of warm air from the Pacific Ocean pushed into Nebraska Saturday, offering a temporary respite from the freezing weather last week. The temperature hit 40 in Ord, Neb., Saturday afternoon, 30 degrees higher than Friday.

However, bitter arctic air continued to lock the central states in a deep freeze, and temperatures remained below freezing Saturday across the upper Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes. Winds near 15 m.p.h. pushed wind chill factors to 50 below zero.

In Rhinelander, Wis., where it was about 25 below overnight, Oneida County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Winchell said: “People are just staying home and staying warm.”

Readings of 19 below in Waterloo, Iowa, 17 below at Green Bay, Wis., 10 above in San Angelo, Tex., and 18 in Shreveport, La., were record lows. Freezing temperatures were recorded as far south as the southern tip of Texas.

In St. Paul, Minn., a woman suffered severe frostbite in 17-below weather when her car slid in a ditch and motorists refused to aid her as she tried to walk home, authorities said.

Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode on Saturday ordered police to remove homeless people from the city’s streets and take them to shelters because of frigid temperatures, whether they wanted to go or not.

Karen Warrington, the mayor’s spokeswoman, said Goode activated the city’s emergency weather operations plan for the first time this year amid predictions of overnight temperatures in the teens and a wind-chill factor of 10 below.

Chicago Mayor Harold Washington declared a cold-weather emergency late Friday, activating a plan to provide shelters for 1,500 people without shelter or heat.

Freeze warnings were posted for most of the Deep South. Floridians, who have enjoyed unseasonably warm weather this fall, bundled up against the first blast of northern air of the season, which was expected to bring freezing temperatures as far south as Daytona Beach.