Frigid temps continue to leave much of nation shivering

Subfreezing temperatures across much of the U.S. left millions of Americans facing dangerous cold as Arctic storms knocked out electricity to tens of thousands in the Northwest, brought snow to the South, and walloped the Northeast with blizzard conditions that forced the postponement of an NFL game.

An estimated 95 million people nationwide faced weather warnings or advisories Sunday for wind chills below zero Fahrenheit. Forecasters said the severe cold was expected to push as far south as northern Texas while the bitter blast sends wind chill readings as low as minus 70 degrees in Montana and the Dakotas.

“It takes a matter of minutes for frostbite to set in,” the South Dakota Department of Public Safety said in a statement Sunday urging people to stay indoors.

In Buffalo, N.Y., where snowfall of 1 to 2 feet was forecast, severe conditions led officials to postpone the Buffalo

Bills-Pittsburgh Steelers NFL playoff game from Sunday to today. Winds whipped at 30 mph, and snow was falling at a rate of 2 inches per hour.

Workers with shovels and trucks worked to clear snow from the field at Buffalo’s Highmark Stadium as the Bills warned volunteers eager to help with the shoveling to stay at home and not defy a travel ban on area roads.

“Looks like a pretty good day to not have a football game,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Buffalo native, posted on X with a video clip of whiteout conditions in the western New York city.

Zack Taylor, a National Weather Service meteorologist in College Park, Md., warned some parts of the Northeast would see intense snowfall and extreme winds, with gusts up to 50 mph possible.

Across the country in Oregon, more than 135,000 homes and businesses were without electricity, most of them in the Portland metro area, a day after high winds and a mix of snow and ice brought down trees and power lines.