NEW YORK -- Bitter temperatures and biting winds had much of the northeastern United States bundling up for the some of the worst cold of the winter -- a snap so bad it forced an ice festival in Central Park to cancel.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio urged residents to take "extreme precautions" while forecasters warned that high winds in the northeastern New England states could make it feel as cold as minus-35 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-37 degrees Celsius).
"These temperatures can be life threatening -- especially for seniors, infants and people with medical conditions," de Blasio said. Stay indoors and take care of each other, he counselled.
Weather may have been a factor in a deadly pileup in Pennsylvania that saw dozens of vehicles -- tractor-trailers, box trucks, cars and SUVs -- tangled together across three lanes and the snow-covered median of Interstate 78. Officials said drifting snow had been reported in the area at the time of Saturday morning's crash.
The bone-chilling cold also cancelled horse racing at New York's Aqueduct Racetrack as well as the Central Park Ice Festival, which was to feature ice-carving artists and music. Organizers called the ice festival off just a few weeks after Winter Jam, Central Park's free winter sports day, had to be cancelled due to a major snowstorm.
A wind chill advisory was in effect for New York City beginning Saturday afternoon and continuing to noon Sunday. With the actual temperatures falling as low as minus-4 degrees F (minus-20 degrees C), the weather service says the city could see wind chills of minus-18 F (minus-28 C) to minus-24 F (minus-31 C). Wind gusts may reach 45 mph (72 kph).
Even with the freezing temperatures, tourists cloaked in heavy layers wandered over the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan, snapping photos. Deliverymen cycled through the windy streets, their hands covered with plastic bags, and garage employees changed tires.
City department of homeless services officials were on the streets responding to reports of people in need of shelter. On Friday night, 62 people were brought into shelters and 207 people came to hospitals to get out of the cold.
The cold snap was bringing cold temperatures to cities along the U.S. East, but Northern New England wasn't going to set any records, meteorologists said. The record for cold in Concord, New Hampshire, on Valentine's Day is minus-28 degrees F (minus-33 degrees C), and the forecast is for a low of minus-10 F (minus-23.5 C), said meteorologist Bob Marine.
Subzero temperatures were also expected in the Boston area, with wind chills that could make it feel 35 below F (37 below C) in some places. Winds could gust up to 45 mph (72 kph)inland and 50 mph (80 kph) on Cape Cod.
Meanwhile, in the West, heat records have fallen in recent days, from Oregon to Los Angeles, where surfers hit the beaches and golfers strolled fairways. Much of California marked its 10th straight day on Friday without measurable precipitation and temperatures reached 95 degrees F (35 degrees C). The blue skies were increasingly unwelcome in a state that just logged its four driest years on record.
