NPR Blogs

Blizzard Has Passed, But Frigid Temperatures Remain Along East Coast

By Camila Domonoske

Published January 5, 2018 at 9:54 AM EST

1 of 11 — J.J. Laprise shovels his driveway in Scituate, Mass., on Friday. Frigid temperatures, some that could feel as cold as minus 30 degrees, moved across the East Coast as the region attempted to clean up from a massive winter storm.

J.J. Laprise shovels his driveway in Scituate, Mass., on Friday. Frigid temperatures, some that could feel as cold as minus 30 degrees, moved across the East Coast as the region attempted to clean up from a massive winter storm.

2 of 11 — People walk through the snow the morning after a massive winter storm in Boston. Schools and businesses throughout the Boston area get back to work Friday after the city received over a foot of snow during a fast moving storm yesterday.

People walk through the snow the morning after a massive winter storm in Boston. Schools and businesses throughout the Boston area get back to work Friday after the city received over a foot of snow during a fast moving storm yesterday.

3 of 11 — A Spirit Airlines airplane prepares to drive around a large snow pile at Logan International Airport in Boston. Hundreds of flights were cancelled and delayed because of the storm.

A Spirit Airlines airplane prepares to drive around a large snow pile at Logan International Airport in Boston. Hundreds of flights were cancelled and delayed because of the storm.

4 of 11 — A man is reflected in a frozen window in Boston. The National Weather Service said early Friday that very cold temperatures and wind chills will follow for much of the Northeast through the weekend.

A man is reflected in a frozen window in Boston. The National Weather Service said early Friday that very cold temperatures and wind chills will follow for much of the Northeast through the weekend.

5 of 11 — A man shovels snow from a footpath in New York City.

A man shovels snow from a footpath in New York City.

6 of 11 — Firefighters respond to a building fire early Friday morning in Newark, N.J. The fire broke out in a vacant structure and spread to two adjacent structures. Gusty winds carried the flames to two buildings across the street.

Firefighters respond to a building fire early Friday morning in Newark, N.J. The fire broke out in a vacant structure and spread to two adjacent structures. Gusty winds carried the flames to two buildings across the street.

7 of 11 — Ajamu Gumbs makes his way to a bus station in Atlantic City, N.J. A winter storm is traveled up the East Coast.

Ajamu Gumbs makes his way to a bus station in Atlantic City, N.J. A winter storm is traveled up the East Coast.

8 of 11 — Ornamental plants are covered in a thin layer of ice in Plant City, Fla. Temperatures in central Florida dipped to below freezing. Growers spray water on the plants to help protect them from extreme cold.

Ornamental plants are covered in a thin layer of ice in Plant City, Fla. Temperatures in central Florida dipped to below freezing. Growers spray water on the plants to help protect them from extreme cold.

9 of 11 — A wave crashes over homes in Scituate, Mass., as a massive winter storm begins to bear down on the region. The "bomb cyclone" is expected to dump heavy snows in New England as the storm system moves up the East Coast.

A wave crashes over homes in Scituate, Mass., as a massive winter storm begins to bear down on the region. The "bomb cyclone" is expected to dump heavy snows in New England as the storm system moves up the East Coast.

10 of 11 — A seagull takes flight in high winds and blowing snow in Hull, Mass. The brutal conditions in the Northeast come one day after the same storm system brought wintry weather to the South.

A seagull takes flight in high winds and blowing snow in Hull, Mass. The brutal conditions in the Northeast come one day after the same storm system brought wintry weather to the South.

11 of 11 — Nora Hughes walks her dog, Potato, down Newbury Street in Boston.

Nora Hughes walks her dog, Potato, down Newbury Street in Boston.

As a large, powerful winter storm passes north into Nova Scotia, cold weather is sticking around in the Northeast.

"An arctic outbreak will keep temperatures 20 to 30 degrees below average across the northeastern U.S.," the National Weather Service says.

The "bomb cyclone" that raked up the East Coast in the middle of this week left behind snow, ice and damaging coastal flooding. National Guard units were mobilized in multiple states, and officials urged people to stay off the roads if they could, as many regions experienced high winds and near zero visibility.

But the end of the storm doesn't mean the end of the danger.

"While conditions have begun to improve across the northeastern U.S., the arctic surge is already underway accompanied by brisk winds at times," the NWS weather forecast says. "Dangerously low wind chill temperatures are to be expected the next couple of days with some blowing snow possible. "

Many regions in New England, the Midwest and the southern U.S. might be breaking daily temperature records in this cold snap.

Counting wind chill, parts of New England could feel as cold as minus 30 degrees, The Associated Press reports:

" 'This is chilly, chilly stuff,' said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md.

"The arctic blast could make temperatures feel as low as minus 15 degrees to minus 25 from Philadelphia to Boston and make residents of states like Maryland and Virginia shiver from temperatures ranging from 10 degrees to 15 degrees."

The recent stretch of cold has been implicated in more than a dozen deaths. The snow from the winter storm also contributed to multiple car accidents, and at least one man was struck and killed by a snow plow, The Associated Press reports.