Videos, pictures show danger and beauty of cold snap across U.S.

Arctic air blowing in from Canada caused temperatures to plunge below zero in the East and the Midwest, school closures throughout several regions and a fatal multivehicle crash in western Pennsylvania.

The dangerous cold snap blasting much of the U.S. with snow and ice has created breathtaking but brutal winter landscapes, which people are sharing on social media.

Frozen fountains

The winter chill was so cold Thursday morning that many fountains in states up and down the Eastern Seaboard froze over.

New York is used to unforgiving winters, but several beautifully frozen fountains were also spotted in the Carolinas.

Atlanta also got its fair share of ice.

Up north in Michigan, large portions of the Great Lakes had frozen over.

Reduced visibility

Two men died in a tragic massive pileup Wednesday afternoon on Interstate 80 in Clarion County, Pa., authorities said.

The blinding snowstorm reduced visibility to less than a quarter-mile, causing 18 vehicles, including nine tractor-trailers, to lose control, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

Pictures of the crash site caught a glimpse of the destruction.

Local residents shot footage of the near-zero visibility that created the dangerous driving conditions.

School closings

Large swaths of the Midwest and the Great Plains, as well as areas of North Carolina, were forecast to see below-zero wind-chill readings. The harsh weather caused many school districts to cancel classes.

Chicago public schools, for instance, canceled classes for a second day on Thursday due to extreme cold and wind.

But the decision by school districts for Fairfax County and Loudoun County in Virginia not to cancel school earlier in the week resulted in two critical hashtags that were used by students: #closeFCPS and #closeLCPS.

Some of the teens argued that their schools were not prioritizing safety. Others used the opportunity to share some jokes.

Bracing for more

Another Alberta clipper will bring more bad weather from Canada to the Dakotas — meaning it will get worse for some before it gets warmer.

The National Weather Service has posted a variety of winter-weather advisories. But most people did not need any meteorologists to tell them that it might be best to bundle up and stay indoors until the cold snap passes over.

Still, plenty of people are heading out into the elements to capture images of what their regions look like blanketed in this winter weather.

The Baltimore Orioles shared a Vine showing the baseball diamond at Camden Yards covered in snow.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.