After record snow comes record cold, with the mercury in the Minnesota city of International Falls plunging to minus 37C

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Bitter cold weather across much of the northern US is expected to stay put for days to come, as two Minnesota cities have set record low temperatures and a city in Pennsylvania continues to dig out from a record snowfall.

'This is insane': Erie, Pennsylvania buried under 1.3m of snow Read more

Forecasters warned of hypothermia and frostbite from Arctic air settling in over the central US and spreading east.

The National Weather Service (NWS) reported that International Falls, Minnesota, the self-proclaimed “Icebox of the Nation”, plunged to -37C, breaking the old record of -32C set in 1924. Hibbing, Minnesota, bottomed out at -28C, breaking the old record of -27C set in 1964.

Wind chill advisories or warnings were in effect for much of New England, northern Pennsylvania and New York. Those places and states in the northern Plains and Great Lakes were projected to see highs in the teens or single digits and lows below zero for the rest of the week and into the new year.

The NWS said wind chills in many areas on Thursday could make temperatures feel below zero.

People in Erie, Pennsylvania, continued to dig out from a storm that brought 34in of snow on Christmas Day, smashing the daily snowfall record for the Great Lakes city of 8in, and 26.5in more on Tuesday. More than 65in total fell on the city in just a few days.

Strong westerly winds over Lake Erie picked up moisture, developed into snow and converged with opposing winds, dumping snow in a band along the shore from Ohio to New York, said Zach Sefcovic, an NWS meteorologist in Cleveland.

Sabrina Ram drove into Erie on Christmas Eve to visit her parents just as the snow began to fall. Ram, who lives in suburban Washington DC, and her father spent five hours on Christmas and two hours on Tuesday clearing the driveway.

“In DC we’d be out of commission for weeks,” Ram said. “Things here are pretty much back to normal now.”

In New York, communities near Lake Ontario’s eastern end, including Redfield and Boylston, also saw around 5ft of snow this week.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pedestrians try to keep warm while walking in New York’s Times Square. Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP

Officials said the storm’s timing was good, since people were off the streets and staying home for Christmas, giving plows more space to clear streets.

By Wednesday, Erie’s roads were relatively clear, emergency calls were relatively slow and the big task was digging out, county executive Kathy Dahlkemper said.

“We’re used to a lot of snow here in Erie but this is unprecedented,” Dahlkemper said.

In Millcreek, outside Erie, it took Kathleen Palkovic and her son two hours to shovel out so she could make it to her waitressing job. The five-mile drive to Dave’s Diner in downtown Erie took an hour. Palkovic and the cook opened the restaurant at a little after 6am in single-digit temperatures.

“We’re dedicated people, I guess,” Palkovic said. Something else helped. “It took 800mg of Ibuprofen after all that to get me to work,” she said.