Dangerously cold polar air snapped decades-old records as it spread Tuesday from the Midwest to southern and eastern parts of the U.S. and eastern Canada, making it hazardous to venture outside and keeping many schools and businesses closed.
Monday's temperatures broke records in Chicago, which set a record for the date at -16 Fahrenheit (-27 C), and elsewhere.
Forecasters said some 187 million people could feel the effects of the "polar vortex" by the time it spreads across the U.S.
PJM Interconnection, which operates the power grid supplying energy to more than 61 million people in parts of the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and South, asked users to conserve electricity Tuesday because of the cold. More than 30,000 customers in Indiana were without power late Monday. Polar vortex?
The polar vortex refers to winds that whip around the polar ice cap, trapping Earth's coldest temperatures there.
Its deterioration with global warming, however, can send arctic weather south into areas as far away as the southern U.S. and Europe, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists.
"When the polar vortex ... breaks down, this allows cold air to spill south, affecting the eastern United States and other regions," says NOAA's Dr. James Overland.
"This can result in a warmer-than-average arctic region and colder temperatures that may include severe winter weather events on the North American and European continents."
More than 500 Amtrak passengers spent the night on three stopped trains headed for Chicago because of blowing and drifting snow in Illinois. They were finally getting to Chicago this morning, most of them by bus, a railway officials said.
The trains - the Southwest Chief from Los Angeles, the Illinois Zephyr from Quincy and the California Zephyr from the San Francisco Bay area - got stuck after 3 p.m. Monday in blowing, drifting snow and ice that made the tracks impassable, Amtrak spokesman MarcMagliarisaid.
Passengers spent the night sleeping and eating while emergency workers were on standby. Train crews handed out food and prepared for any medical issues, but authorities said there were none.
"There was no good reason to take people out of warm trains ... into the cold," Magliari said. "We sheltered them in place."
Bob Oravec, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said the blast of frigid air raised concerns that roads wet from melted snow from a weekend storm would freeze over.
But there are signs things were returning to normal.
Warmer temperatures - near or above freezing - were forecast for the Midwest.
"The cold is the real killer here," Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said Monday as he asked schools and businesses to remain closed another day. "In 10 minutes you could be dead without the proper clothes."
On Monday in downtown Louisville, Ky., where wind chills dropped to -30 C Monday, John Tyler gathered with friends at a McDonald's. The self-described homeless man spent Sunday night sleeping on the street.
Dressed in a sweatshirt, two coats and a black woolen cap, Tyler said there's no way to adequately prepare for this kind of cold.
"How we're dealing with it? You can't deal with it," Tyler said. "There's no way you can deal with it." Recovery begins
Recovery will be the focus in several Midwestern states Tuesday, since the subzero cold followed inches of snow and high winds that made travelling treacherous - especially on interstates in Indiana and Illinois - and was being blamed for numerous deaths in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence issued disaster declarations, paving the way to request federal aid.
More than 30,000 customers in Indiana were without power late Monday night. Utility crews worked to restore electricity as temperatures plunged, but officials cautioned some people could be in the cold and dark for days.
"My kids are ready to go home, and I'm ready too," said 41-year-old Timolyn Johnson-Fitzgerald, of Indianapolis, who faced a second night sleeping on cots at a Red Cross shelter with her three children, ages 11, 15 and 18. 'You gotta keep it moving. ' - Anthony Bickham, St. Paul, Minn.
JetBlue Airways, which stopped all scheduled flights to and from New York and Boston on Monday, planned to resume some flights Tuesday.
Southwest Airlines operations in Chicago resumed Monday night, even if it was, as a spokesman for the Texas-based airline called it, "a trickle."
The Minnesota Zoo announced it would reopen to the public Tuesday. State lawmakers in Indiana planned to kick off their 2014 legislative session after a day's postponement.
And warmer temperatures - at least, near or above freezing - are in store for the Midwest. Indianapolis should reach almost -3 C on Wednesday, and other parts of the central U.S. could climb above freezing later in the week.
Even International Falls, Minn., had something to look forward to. Wind chills dropped as low as -48 C Monday, but were expected to rebound to about -32 C Tuesday. By Friday, the low was expected to be between -12 and -15 C, Oravec said.
Until then, take advice for dealing with frostbite- and hypothermia-inducing cold from Anthony Bickham in St. Paul, Minn., who jumped around while waiting for the bus Monday.
"You gotta keep it moving," Bickham said. "Stay warm at ... all costs, you know."
With files from CBC News
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