Snow Adds to Misery in East and Midwest

Misery from the season’s strong blast of frigid air mounted Tuesday in the East and Midwest, with a snowstorm that temporarily closed two airports in the Washington area. The number of deaths blamed on the cold reached seven.

The Washington storm shut down Washington National Airport for 90 minutes and closed Baltimore-Washington International Airport to jetliner traffic for nearly two hours while several inches of snow was cleared from runways.

The U.S. government kept working, although some agencies sent employees home early. The District of Columbia city government closed down at midafternoon.

Freezing rain and light snow caused havoc in Virginia, where several tractor-trailers skidded into barriers or jackknifed on ice, causing backups up to five miles on interstates.

West Virginia was cloaked in snow and freezing rain.

In New York, officials said that three men have died from the bitter cold temperatures since the weekend, including one man with a history of depression who perished as he slept on a park bench in Brooklyn.

Another of the men died in the streets after being turned away from a Manhattan rooming house.

The dead also included two in Indiana, a 64-year-old homeless man found frozen in an alley in Toledo, Ohio, and one woman in Baltimore.

Record lows for the date included 21 below zero at Mason City, Iowa. The coldest spot in Maine this morning was 22 below at Houlton, and Caribou had a record low of 19 below. Tower, Minn., hit 38 below, almost mild compared with Sunday’s 50 below.

But Minnesota warmed up enough that the Holidazzle parade in Minneapolis could be held as scheduled. Monday’s parade, one of a series of downtown promotions, had been canceled because of the cold.

Meanwhile, in Nome, Alaska, about 150 miles from the Arctic Circle, temperatures this week surpassed those in much of the Lower 48.

“Everybody’s in T-shirts,” said Duane Cocking. “I don’t understand it--not at this time of the year. I think we even have a palm tree coming up.”

“Our polar bears are wearing bikinis,” joked Vickie Horton.

Nation’s Deep Freeze

The jet stream helped push cold weather further south than usual this week. The air mass is expected to lose its punch over the next five days. Tuesday’s hardest hit: Tuesday’s record lows: Degrees Mason City, Iowa: -21 Houlton, Maine: -22 Caribou, Maine: -19 Tower, Minn.: -38 *

Snow and rain

Band of freezing rain stretching from southern Missouri into Virginia. Snow also fell heavily across Great Lakes and into New England.

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Worst hits Paradise, Mich.: 9 inches of snow in 24 hours Indian Head, Maryland: 4 inches in 6 hours Source: WeatherData Inc.