5 US Cities Where It's Astoundingly Cold

Bone-chilling cold gripped much of the US as 2018 began, breaking century-old records and leading to several deaths that authorities attributed to exposure to the dangerously low temperatures. The National Weather Service issued wind chill advisories and freeze warnings Tuesday covering a vast area from South Texas to Canada and from Montana through New England. It's even cold in the Deep South, as temperatures plummeted early Tuesday to 14 in Atlanta and 26 as far south as New Orleans. Temperatures fell to 8 degrees near Cullman, Ala., and 20 degrees in Mobile, Ala. Georgia saw one of its coldest temperatures of the winter: 2 degrees shortly before dawn at a US Forest Service weather station at Toccoa. The bitter cold wave enveloped much of the Midwest on Monday. Here are six standout temperature readings, per the AP:

1. In Aberdeen, SD, the mercury dropped to a record-breaking minus 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The city's previous New Year's Day record had stood for 99 years.
2. In Nebraska, temperatures hit 15 below zero before midnight Sunday in Omaha, breaking a record low dating to 1884. Omaha officials cited the forecast in postponing the 18th annual New Year's Eve Fireworks Spectacular that draws around 30,000 people.
3. It was colder in Des Moines, Iowa, where city officials closed a downtown outdoor ice skating plaza and said it wouldn't reopen until the city emerged from sub-zero temperatures. The temperature hit 20 below zero early Monday, with the wind chill dipping to negative 31 degrees.
4. The weather service said temperatures in Indianapolis early Tuesday tied a record low of minus 12 degrees for Jan. 2 set in 1887. Indianapolis Public Schools canceled classes for Tuesday on all its campuses due to the predicted sub-zero temperatures.
5. And in Duluth, Minn., a city known for its bitter cold winters, the wind chill dipped to 36 below zero.

(More freezing temperatures stories.)