
11 died in Texas 2023 winter storm - then a brutal cold snap struck the US northeast and Canada
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Around 100 million people in Canada and the US are preparing for some of the coldest air on earth, when a record-breaking deep freeze is moving in over North America.
UPDATED FEBRUARY 6:
In some areas, like New Hampshire, the temperature including wind chill has been minus 78 C / 108 F, and residents have been advised to stay inside and not be outside for more than ten minutes at a time, according to Reuters.
In many cities, schools have closed, heated communal gathering areas have opened and special help missions have been arranged for homeless people.
In the city of Caribou, the National Weather Service have received reports of "frost cracks", which are tremors in the ground occuring when the soil cracks due to the deep cold.
Several Canadian cities have reported actual temperatures as low as - 50 C / - 58 without wind chill.
Historic cold in the south now affecting the northeastern US and Canada
Earlier in the week, some of the southern US states experienced a historic snow storm which killed 11 people since Monday. Eight people died in Texas, two in Oklahoma and one in Arkansas due to bad weather conditions since Monday, February 1st.
The cold weather is now moving east, and north expecting to reach the eastern part of Canada over the weekend.
Th US National Weather Service has warned of "once-in-a-generation" wind chills which could cause frostbite in less than 10 minutes.
According to BBC News, several temperature records are expected to be broken by Friday afternoon in several US states. A total of 82 million people are expected to experience temperatures of -17 Celsius (0 F) or lower.
For Canadian or Northern European standards, this may not seem very high but for states used to much more mild temperatures, and without the equipment and housing to withstand the cold, these temperatures can create problems.
Minus 50 C / 58 F predicted for parts of Canada
Some states closer to the Canadian border are expecting very cold temperatures. In Maine parts of the state are expecting the lowest temperatures recorded since 1971.
In the city of Portland, temperatures including wind chill are expected to reach -41 F (-40.5 C) which is very unusual.
An extreme cold advisory issued by Environment Canada on Friday morning predicted temperatures anywhere between -38 C to - 50 C (-36.4 F to -58 F) for parts of Canada. The most difficult conditions are expected for the Maritime provinces, most of Quebec and all of Ontario, and parts of the province of Manitoba.
In Ottawa, Canada's capital city, the temperature dropped to - 29 C (-20 F) on Friday.