A severe winter storm in the United States has claimed the lives of at least 16 people in the eastern half of the country.
Blizzard conditions have left up 60cm of snow in some places and led to the cancellation of thousands of flights across the country.
An Arctic front is sweeping across the east and northeast of the US, bringing with it the region's lowest temperatures in two decades.
"Combined with gusty winds, these temperatures will result in life-threatening wind chill values as low as 60 degrees below zero (-51C)," the National Weather Service said.
In weather that cold, frostbite can set in on uncovered skin in a matter of minutes, experts warned.
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton ordered all public schools in the state to stay closed today to protect children from dangerously cold weather.
Chicago public schools followed suit, reversing an earlier decision, saying that it would be dangerous for children to commute to school amid sub-zero temperatures and high winds.
The NWS said the widespread chill was a result of a relatively infrequent alignment of weather conditions, allowing the Arctic polar vortex to be displaced unusually far south.
"The weather pattern across North America right now is set up to be very favourable for the southward transport of Arctic air," said Bob Oravec, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
"It's not going to be long-lived," he said. "By the end of the week the temperatures definitely start to moderate across the whole of the country."
In Wisconsin, NFL fans braved the biting cold to see the San Francisco 49ers beat the Green Bay Packers 23-20.
Officials at the Packers' Lambeau Field stadium had promised fans two free hot cocoa or coffee drinks.
Elsewhere in the midwest, forecasters warned Chicago and Indianapolis could see overnight lows of minus 12F (-24C), Minneapolis minus 29F (-34C) and Fargo, North Dakota, minus 31F (-35C).
The coldest temperature reported in the lower 48 states yesterday was minus 40F (-40C) in the towns of Babbitt and Embarrass, Minnesota, according to the NWS.
More than 7,300 flights were delayed and 3,514 were cancelled yesterday.
Half of the flights in and out of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport were delayed.
In New York, John F Kennedy International Airport was closed for a couple of hours on Sunday morning after a Bombardier jet skidded off a taxiway soon after landing.
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