Arctic blast hits US bringing life-threatening cold, South braces for snowstorm

A record-breaking Arctic cold snap is sweeping across much of the United States as the Great Lakes deal with heavy snow and the South prepares for a significant winter storm.

Saturday brought record-breaking cold to much of the northern Plains, with Montana feeling the deepest chill. Chester, Montana, clocked in as the coldest spot in the nation when the temperature plunged to a mind-numbing minus 54 degrees.

In Kansas City, Missouri, on Saturday, football fans braved negative-degree wind chills to watch the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Miami Dolphins.

Wind chill alerts are in effect Sunday across two dozen states from Colorado to Illinois to Texas.

On Sunday morning, the wind chill — what temperature it feels like — fell to minus 35 degrees in Kansas City — the coldest since 1989.

Chicago is facing blowing snow and life-threatening cold.

And in Iowa, wind chill warnings have been issued across nearly the entire state as residents gear up for Monday’s caucuses. It could feel as cold as minus 35 degrees in Des Moines on Monday morning.

The record-breaking cold temperatures will persist in the southern Plains over the next few days, with Dallas, Nashville and Little Rock, Arkansas, feeling the freeze.

In the Northeast, extremely heavy snow and whiteout conditions are pounding the Buffalo, New York, area, where New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a travel ban.

The Buffalo Bills were set to host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, but the game was pushed to 4:30 p.m. Monday because Sunday’s snow forecast would make driving extremely dangerous.

Snowfall rates are reaching up to 2 inches per hour and travel around Buffalo is nearly impossible.

The Buffalo and Watertown, New York, areas will see snow totals of 1 to 3 feet by the time the storm tapers down early in the week.

And in the larger Northeast region, snow squalls are in the forecast on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a new storm will bring snow and an icy, wintry mix to the South.

Light freezing rain or freezing drizzle is possible Monday morning across a large swath of Texas, including Dallas and Austin, making roads very treacherous.

Snow is in the forecast for Little Rock and Nashville. Up to 3 to 5 inches of snow is possible in Memphis.

Even Shreveport, Louisiana, could see sleet and 1 to 2 inches of snow.