Arctic Blast Brings Record-Crushing Cold in US

An Arctic air mass has brought record-breaking low temperatures to several places in the US.

The Arctic blast, which began in Siberia, has brought heavy snow and ice to many areas.

Daily records have been set in states including Kansas and Illinois. Forecasters say hundreds of records could be matched or broken this week.

Snow and ice contributed to four deaths in motor vehicle accidents in the Plains and the Midwest  and caused highway pileups involving dozens of vehicles on highways across the Midwest took aim at the East and the South, where more record and near-record low temperatures were forecast for Wednesday.

Several cities in Kansas set record low temperatures on Tuesday, when compared to the same date in previous years. The lowest temperature was recorded in Garden City, where it dropped to -1 Fahrenheit  (-18C), breaking the record of 7F set last year.

Chicago recorded a low of 7F, breaking the previous record of 8F set in 1986. The city also set a daily record for snowfall on Monday.

Rare snowfall was even seen in the Texas town of Brownsville, on the US-Mexico border.

Numerous schools and businesses remained shuttered on Tuesday because of the unusual cold weather.