Cold Again Breaks Records in Midwest

A stubborn cold spell broke temperature records from Nebraska to the nation’s capital on Tuesday as wintry storms dumped snow across the Midwest and hit the South with sleet and freezing rain.

A fresh batch of record lows gripped parts of Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Ohio and the Washington, D.C., area, intensifying what National Weather Service officials said is already one of the coldest Decembers on record.

The temperature slipped to a record 19 degrees below zero at Norfolk, Neb., and 16 below at Grand Island, Neb. Youngstown, Ohio, which had a second straight day of record-breaking temperatures, reported a low of 3 below.

Bitter cold gripped northern Wisconsin also on Tuesday, with the low temperature plunging to 32 below zero at Harrison.

Temperatures in Harrisburg, Pa., fell to 5 degrees, breaking a record set in 1919, and the mercury dipped to a record 2 degrees below zero at Dulles International Airport outside Washington. It was the fifth straight day for record low temperatures there, the weather service reported.

“Looks like the coldest mass is yet to come,” meteorologist Jeffrey Stoudt said. “There are some indications that the arctic highs might be the last in the series . . . but it may take another seven to 10 days for it to run its course.”