The Nation : Subzero Cold Holds Midwest in Icy Grip

A cold front spread freezing temperatures over much of the country, with temperatures below zero or in single digits in many Midwest cities. “We’re still talking in terms of below normal temperatures over the western third of the nation,” Harry Gordon, a National Weather Service forecaster, said. The East Coast also can expect below normal readings while the midsection from the Mississippi to the Appalachians would feel “near normal” temperatures for this time of the year, he said. Temperatures dropped as low as 13 below zero in Lansing, Mich., marking the sixth straight day with a morning low of minus 5 or colder, a record for that spot, the weather service said. In Mason City, Iowa, the temperature plunged as low as 19 degrees below zero. It was 6 degrees at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, 12 degrees at the city’s lake front, 17 degrees in Detroit and 20 degrees in St. Louis.