Temperatures Plummet as Low as 34 Below Zero in Northeast

A wave of cold air invaded the Northeast on Saturday, pushing temperatures as low as 34 degrees below zero and chilling Boston with its first subzero reading in more than five years.

Temperatures from 20 to 30 degrees below zero were common across Vermont. East Haven registered a reading of 34 below, the National Weather Service said.

The extreme cold did not dampen the enthusiasm of skiers who flocked to the Vermont slopes.

“What we are doing is to tell people to dress warm--wear face masks and layers,” said Richard Courcelle of the Killington ski resort.

“When it’s this cold, conditions are perfect. The sky is crystal-clear blue. The skiing conditions are ideal,” he said.

In Boston, the temperature dipped to 1 below zero, marking the first time since January, 1982, that a subzero reading was recorded there.

It was 11 below zero in Portland, Me., tying a record low for the date. A reading of 10 below in Albany, N.Y., also tied a record.

The cold kept towing firms and homeless shelters busy in Rhode Island.

“I don’t know what the temperature is, but it’s cold,” said Mike Zeoli, a tow truck operator in Providence, where it was 1 degree.

Zeoli said people with dead batteries and other cold-related car problems had to wait at least an hour for a truck Saturday morning.

The Amos House shelter in South Providence had to turn away people because it was filled to capacity, said Suzanne Schmidt, a worker at the shelter.

Meanwhile, snow was scattered over the northern parts of Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania. Snowfall totals included three inches at Marquette, Mich., and one inch at Detroit.

Severe thunderstorms raked the southern Plains on Saturday, and a tornado watch was in effect for parts of Oklahoma and Texas.