Arctic Blast Plunges Much Of Nation Into Deep Freeze
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Much of the United States is in the grips of a dangerous, deep-freeze.
The bone-chilling cold is far below normal.
The freeze has started to turn parts of Niagara Falls to ice.
Ice also formed on Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota, where the wind chill dipped to 36 degrees below zero.
Related: Expect To Feel Temps In The 40s In First Cold Front Of 2018
The below normal temperatures is affecting the country from coast to coast.
In Washington State, an ice storm knocked out power lines.
Even the Deep South is in the grips of the bitter cold.
In Texarkana, Arkansas, a fountain froze from top to bottom and in North Carolina, three duck hunters had to be rescued after icy water refroze around their boat.
The frigid cold also hindered firefighters in the Bronx, New York as they battled a massive fire inside a furniture store. More than 20 people were hurt.
It was a similar scene in Nahant, Massachusetts, where firefighters covered in ice, battled a house fire.
"The water freezes on our equipment, on our air packs and on our masks," said Nahant Fire Chief Michael Feinberg.
They rotated shifts thawing out in a mobile unit to keep warm.
The bitter cold is expected to continue for at least several more days.
On New Year's Day, the temperature in Aberdeen, South Dakota dropped to minus 32 degrees, breaking a New Year's Day record set 99 years ago.
