US weather - live updates: 12 dead as polar vortex brings record low temperatures approaching -50F
The polar vortex in the US is expected to see records tumble as temperatures reach minus 40F - and a town in Michigan called Hell freezes over.
Chicago is expected to break the city’s record of minus 26F (minus 32C), set more than 30 years ago as the cold snap intensifies.
Some nearby isolated areas could see temperatures as low as minus 40F (minus 40C), that would break the Illinois record of minus 38C set in 1999.
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Milwaukee had similar conditions. Minneapolis recorded minus 26F (minus 32C) while Sioux Falls, South Dakota, saw minus 24F (minus 31C).
Wind chills reportedly made it feel like minus 49F (minus 45C) or worse.
Trains and buses in Chicago operated with few passengers as the hardiest commuters ventured out only after covering nearly every square inch of flesh against the extreme chill, which froze ice crystals on eyelashes and eyebrows in minutes.
The blast of polar air that enveloped much of the Midwest on Wednesday closed schools and businesses and strained infrastructure with some of the lowest temperatures in a generation.
The deep freeze snapped rail lines, cancelled hundreds of flights and strained utilities.
Crews in Detroit will need days to repair water mains that burst on 30 January, and other pipes can still burst in persistent subzero temperatures.
Temperatures are expected to improve later this week and more people are expected to return to work in the nation’s third largest city.
