A “generational” Arctic blast brought dangerously cold temperatures to parts of the northeastern United States and Canada on Saturday, with forecasters warning that frostbite could occur in as little as five minutes.
Atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire state, the wind chill factor dropped to minus 78 degrees Celsius (minus 108 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
The previous record breaking remote was minus 74 C, the Weather Channel said.
At nearly 6,300 feet (1,920 meters), Mount Washington is the highest peak in northeastern America and known for some of the worst weather in the world.
A temperature of minus 43 C and wind gusts of more than 110 miles per hour (177 kmh) combined for a historic low.
The NWS office in Caribou, Maine, said a low of minus 51 C was recorded in the small town of Frenchville, just south of the Canadian border.
“This is an epic generational Arctic outbreak,” the office warned in a forward-looking advisory.
He said the cold weather will be “something northern and eastern Maine hasn’t seen since similar outbreaks in 1982 and 1988.”
“Most stations are forecast to see the lowest winds in decades or, in some cases, the lowest on record,” the service added.
It is warned that frostbite for exposed skin can occur in five minutes in such conditions.
“The danger of being caught unprepared without shelter from the elements and without proper winter survival gear cannot be overemphasized,” the service wrote.
The NWS said the blast brought temperatures 10 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit below average across the northeastern US and Mid-Atlantic coast.
An extreme weather warning covering several million people is in effect across New England, Quebec and eastern Canada.
An air temperature of minus 41 C was measured at Montreal International Airport.
Energy company Hydro Quebec said the pole’s eruption caused high electricity consumption on Friday and asked customers to turn down the heat by a notch or two.
In New York City, “code blue” rules apply, meaning no homeless shelters can turn anyone in.
In New York’s Central Park, the mercury dipped to minus 16 C, the NWS said.
Cold temperatures dipped below minus 34 C in Boston, where public schools were closed on Friday as a precaution.
Warmer air will move into the area on Sunday.