Polar vortex to cause record lows across US

By Umar Farooq

WASHINGTON (AA) - Arctic blasts from the north are bringing in a once-in-a-generation cold this week across the United States.

The spinning pool of cold air, known as the Polar Vortex, could bring temperatures as low as -50 Fahrenheit (-46 Celsius) to some parts of the midwest.

Wind chills are expected to reach -30 to -60 Fahrenheit in the northern midwest, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

Nearly 1,100 flights either into, out of, or within the U.S. have been canceled because of the temperatures, according to the flight tracking service FlightAware.

More than 200 million people, 72 percent of the continental U.S. population, will see temperatures below freezing this week, CNN reported.

The NWS advised people to not go outside, saying anyone exposed to extreme cold could be susceptible to frostbite in a matter of minutes.

In Chicago, forecasters predict the temperature could drop below those in Antarctica.

On Wednesday, the day-time high temperature for Chicago is forecasted to be -15 Fahrenheit (-26 Celsius), the coldest day-time high ever recorded in the city. The previous record coldest daytime high was -11 Fahrenheit on Christmas Eve 1983, according to the Chicago Tribune.

In some parts of Illinois, the temperature could drop to -55 Fahrenheit (-48 Celsius), conditions the NWS called "life threatening."