Midwest Shivers, Snow Blankets East Coast

Bitter arctic weather enveloped the central and midwestern United States Saturday and snow again blanketed the capital and other Eastern cities.

There were record lows reported across the country and television stations cautioned residents against such problems as ``eyelash freeze'' and warned that the killer cold could freeze jewelry to flesh.

In Lincoln, Nebraska, it was minus 21 degrees -- the lowest temperature recorded in 110 years.

In International Falls, Minnesota, the thermometer plunged to minus 30 degrees but with the windchill factor it was much colder.

Forecasters at privately-owned Weather Services Corp said the arctic winds would shift from the Midwest to the East over the next few days, providing some relief early next week for those shivering at home.

In Chicago, where the mayor declared a cold weather emergency Friday, it was minus 16 degrees overnight. At least seven people have died in fires in Chicago while trying to keep warm.

Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, was blanketed in 6 to 8 inches of snow -- much less than last month's 21 inch snowfall, which caused federal government to close down and paralyzed air, road and rail travel in the area.

Washington's two airports were both open Saturday but delays were reported there as well as in Philadelphia.

In New York, officials expected up to 10 inches of snow. Average annual snowfall is about 14 inches in New York, but the city has already had 45 inches so far this year. A coastal storm dumped more than a foot of snow along the New Jersey shore.

In the Southeast, residents awoke to one of the coldest mornings in a decade. Temperatures ranged from the single digits in Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains to the teens and 20s in Alabama and Georgia.

In Atlanta where this year's Summer Olympics will be held, the arctic air turned the city into a sheet of ice and led to a blizzard of travel cancellations and travel warnings.

A woman died on a road in Georgia when a sliding tractor trailer swept her car off the road and pinned it against a concrete barrier, police said.

Local weather forecasters said temperatures would be below freezing until Monday.

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