'Brutal' Arctic blast is affecting 200 million people from Chicago to Texas, and it isn't over yet

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CHICAGO – Thousands of flights were canceled or delayed, some areas struggled under more than a foot of snow and more than 200 million people faced a freezing forecast Tuesday as a historic Arctic air mass swept across much of the nation.

Bitter cold temperatures were reported from the Canadian border to South Texas. The freeze was moving east, headed for a swath from New England to Florida.

Chicagoans awoke to single digits, a few inches of snow and a forecast high of 20 degrees that would smash the city's record for the date by 8 degrees. That's after an American Eagle flight slid off a runway Monday while landing at O'Hare International Airport. No injuries were reported.

The National Weather Service in Chicago warned that the combination of air temperatures and blustery northwest winds had sent wind chills below zero.

Ederin Davis, 31, flew in from New Orleans and 70 degrees on Sunday. Two days later the Chicago resident was shivering on Michigan Avenue.

"I woke up to nothing but snow. It’s not even that late in November. I also just ordered a new, longer coat and boots," Davis said. "It’s terrible.”

Jarrett Bluett, who has lived in the city for 40 of his 49 years, shrugged off the wintry weather.

"I’m immune to it. I just put clothes on, and it doesn’t bother me," he said. "You adjust to it."

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Detroit was also looking at record cold – and a record November snow of almost 10 inches. In addition to messy roadways clogged with accidents, delays at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Monday reached an average of 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Empire, Michigan, reported 30 inches of snow. Bangor got more than 2 feet. In Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 9 degrees, set its third daily snowfall record in the past 12 days.

The wintry event wasn't just a northern thing. In Texas, residents of Hebbronville, 60 miles from the Mexican border, woke up to freezing temperatures and snow. It was 9 degrees in Amarillo.

"For them, this morning was the worst case scenario," AccuWeather meteorologist Tyler Roys said Tuesday. "For others, Wednesday will be worse."

Wednesday will be colder for many from the Great Lakes to the Northeast and down all the way into Florida, Roys told USA TODAY.

"You are talking single digits in Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit," Roys said. "Atlanta will see the mid-20s. Low 20s in Birmingham, some other parts of Alabama. We will be challenging records everywhere."

More snow and cold were on the way. More than 200 million people will be freezing between Tuesday through Thursday, he said. The snow isn't done yet, either.

"The cold will continue to shift south and east into Wednesday, finally encompassing more than half of the country," Roys said.

More than 300 daily records could fall through Thursday, the weather service said.

The weather front is related to the polar vortex, a large cold air mass high up in the atmosphere that normally spins over the North Pole in winter. Sometimes it drifts down, funneling cold air across the country.

"Of course, this Arctic blast is related to the dreaded polar vortex," tweeted meteorologist Ryan Maue of BAM Weather, who also noted that "24-hour temperature change is incredible with 40°-50°F drops behind the brutal front."

Weather forecast for the South

The cold will dip deep into the South. Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning, temperatures are forecast to dip into the 20s in Pensacola. The record low of 30 for Nov. 13 was set in 1911.

“The big story is how cold it’s going to be,” said Cody Lindsey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “And with the gusty winds during the day, it will definitely feel a little colder than it actually is.”

The high Tuesday in Dallas was forecast for 41 degrees – 27 degrees below average for the date. Tuesday's forecast high of 39 degrees in Brownsville, Texas, was more than double Monday's high temperature of 86 degrees.

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East Coast weather

By Wednesday, the coldest temperatures will drift east. Cities from Boston to Washington will challenge record lows for the date.

Snow will add to the wintry feel across the interior Northeast on Tuesday and Wednesday. Rochester, New York, already had more than 8 inches of snow late Monday, smashing the day's record by 3 inches, according to the weather service.

"We expect a swath of higher snowfall totals from central New York to northern Maine, where accumulations could climb into the double digits," AccuWeather meteorologist Courtney Travis said.

In Chicago, Cristen Hamilton said she has no problem with the cold and snow. The California transplant said her 6-year-old daughter was thrilled.

"I think it’s fantastic to have snow and clear skies and cold weather compared to fire and smoke and blackouts," Hamilton said. "It’s still kind of beautiful to see snow on trees that still have leaves and color."

Bacon reported from McLean, Va. Contributing: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY; Victoria E. Freile, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle; Amy Huschka and Omar Abdel-Baqui, Detroit Free Press; Joe Taschler, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Annie Blanks, Pensacola News Journal