-43 degrees below zero recorded in Montana
NBC News
The lowest temperature recorded Friday was 43 degrees below zero in an area 4 miles west-northwest of Rainsford, Montana, according to the weather agency. National Weather Service.
In stark contrast, the number was 89 in Pompano Beach, Florida.
Rescuers recover the body of a man from an avalanche in Idaho
Dennis Romero
Rescuers recovered the body of a man believed to have been killed in yesterday's avalanche in Idaho this afternoon and have been identified, the Shoshone County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
The man, who was part of a group of three skiers caught in the avalanche near Stephen Peak yesterday afternoon, was identified today as Corey J. Zalewski, she said. Deputies found the other two people after a Garmin GPS alerted authorities that they were in trouble, the office said.
She added that these two survived and are recovering. Deputies and members of the U.S. Air Force, Kootenai County Sheriff's Office, Silver Valley Search and Rescue and Silver Mountain Ski Patrol were part of the search.
Stephen's Peak reaches 7,000 feet near Idaho's border with Montana. It is very popular among hikers, skiers and climbers.
A 66-year-old man died in an avalanche in Tahoe, California, on Wednesday.
Storms are disrupting travel plans from coast to coast
Maggie Vespa
Two powerful winter storms are blowing across the country, canceling hundreds of flights, wreaking havoc on highways and burying parts of the Midwest under inches of snow.
A man dies after a truck passes through ice on a Minnesota lake
Rebecca Cohen
An 80-year-old man died this morning in Minnesota when his truck went through ice on Mille Lacs Lake, the Mille Lacs County Sheriff's Office said.
A 911 caller said he saw an area of the lake where the truck had gone through the ice and found an adult male in the water nearby wearing a flotation device, officials said. The caller said he was able to retrieve the man and bring him to shore.
The man, identified as Richard Francis Gadbois of Isle, Minnesota, was taken to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Lake Mille Lacs is located about 100 miles north of Minneapolis.
Second avalanche at Lake Tahoe Ski Resort
Rebecca Cohen
The day after an avalanche killed a skier at Palisades Tahoe in Olympic Valley, California, a second avalanche rocked the resort.
A second avalanche hit the Wolverine Bowl section of Alpine Meadows around 12:30 p.m. yesterday, resort spokesman Patrick Lacey said.
Lacey said no guests or employees were affected or injured, but the resort conducted searches of the mountain to confirm. Once the area was cleared, the elevator was reopened for the day.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry issues a state of emergency
Rebecca Cohen
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry issued a state of emergency in anticipation of severe weather expected to hit the state over the weekend and into next week.
The southern state is expecting a “wintry mix” in some areas and wind chills in the teens near freezing in central and northern Louisiana, according to a statement from Landry's office.
“We encourage everyone to prepare for these conditions and listen to the advice of local officials,” Landry said. “Road crews are on standby trying to keep our roads open.”
SAFETY FIRST: Chiefs are asking fans to bring blankets and heated clothing below freezing
Jimmy Knodel
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Temperatures in the area are not expected to rise above zero until Wednesday at the earliest, and some of the heaviest weather is expected tomorrow — the day of the playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins at Arrowhead Stadium.
The daytime high is expected to be only 5 degrees, and it will be much colder during the night match.
The home team wants to keep fans as safe and comfortable as possible, and announced some weather-related adjustments today.
- Fans will be allowed to bring blankets, cardboard (to stand on) and portable chargers to power heated clothing.
- Heating stations will be set up inside and outside the stadium.
- Designated drivers will be given hot coffee or hot chocolate to help avoid the cold weather.
Major flight cancellations and delays at O'Hare in Chicago
Rebecca Cohen
Most of the flight cancellations in the world today were seen from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.
More than 420 flights (41%) were canceled from the airport, and 280 flights (27%) were delayed, according to the website. To O'Hare, 394 flights were canceled (38%) and 224 flights were delayed (21%).
The nearby city of Elgin, Illinois, was covered in more than 8 inches of snow, according to the British Daily Mail. National Weather ServiceThe snow, along with strong winds and freezing temperatures, will continue throughout the weekend.
Because of the storms, O'Hare said at 3 p.m. local time that it had happened 850 flights were preemptively cancelled The average delay was 25 minutes.
A Wisconsin man died while cleaning a car near Milwaukee
Rebecca Cohen
Matthew Mata
A 69-year-old man was found unconscious after clearing his driveway with a snow blower in Franklin, Wisconsin, near Milwaukee, and was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.
The Milwaukee Medical Examiner's Office said it would investigate the crash as a weather-related death but would not perform an autopsy.
Pritzker asks Abbott to stop busing migrants to 'save lives' during the cold
Rebecca Cohen
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is urging Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to stop busing migrants into Illinois during the extreme cold snap.
Abbott has been sending busloads of migrants from their arrival point in Texas to major American cities, including Chicago, for months. But with storms dumping feet of snow and bringing negative winds to the Midwest, Prizker is asking Abbott to pause.
“You are now sending asylum seekers from Texas to the upper Midwest in the middle of winter — many without coats, without boots to protect them from the snow — to a city whose shelters are already full of the migrants you sent here,” Pritzker wrote. Letter to Abbott.
He continued: “Your cruelty, sending buses and planes full of migrants in this weather, now threatens the lives of every one of the arrivals. The health and survival of hundreds of children and families are at risk because of your actions.”
Pritzker acknowledged that there must be bipartisan agreement in Congress on how to move forward with the current migrant crisis.
“But now we are talking about humans and their survival,” Pritzker said in the letter. “I hope we can at least agree to save lives now.”
