A frigid air mass called the "Alberta Clipper" is moving from Canada down through the middle section of the United States.
Wind chill readings of 86 degrees below zero were recorded in North Dakota; snow totaled 15 inches in Michigan; Duluth, Minn., recorded a low of 31 degrees below zero; Embarrass, Minn., reported a low of 38 below; and, in Peoria, Ill., a reading of 13 below zero was recorded—a record for the day.
The "arctic juggernaut" roared into the nation's heartland with winds blustering to 35 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
At least four deaths were caused by the storm: three people died in traffic accidents on icy roads in Michigan, and an 18-year-old boy was found dead in Bemidji, Minn., apparently of exposure.
The National Weather Service
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reported that the storm's chill eventually could stretch all the way to Florida.
Harry Rixman, an official with the Florida Department of Citrus in Lakeland, was quoted: "We're going to be on our knees praying. If it gets down into the low 20s, there's not much of anything that you can do if it's for a long duration."
Florida citrus growers were using oil-burning smudge pots to help protect the trees, Rixman said.
Weather service officials in Minneapolis were warning residents not to go outside in the cold if they did not have to. At least three people were treated in Minneapolis hospitals for exposure. One was a 60-year-old man whose hands were "solidly frozen," according to Dr. Brian Mahoney of the Hennepin County Medical Center.
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Exercise 15.4
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2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education