North-east arctic blast sets record -108F wind chill on New Hampshire summit

Arctic air in the US north-east on Saturday brought dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills including a record-setting -108F (-78C) on the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

Authorities in Massachusetts took the unusual step of keeping the South Station transit hub open so homeless people had a place to sleep. High winds brought down a tree branch on a car in western Massachusetts, killing an infant.

The Arctic air reached the region just as a rapid cyclogenesis developed over Labrador and Newfoundland, churning up powerful winds, said Donald Dumont, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service (NWS) in Gray, Maine, explaining the temperature plunge. A cyclogenesis refers to an intensification of a cyclone or low-pressure storm system.

Across the rest of the region, wind chills dropped as low as -45 to -50F (-43 to -45C), the NWS reported.

In Southwick, Massachusetts, on Friday winds brought a branch down on a vehicle driven by a 23-year-old woman, according to the Hampden district attorney. The driver was taken to hospital with serious injuries but the infant died.

The emergency room at Massachusetts General Hospital treated several people for hypothermia and a couple were admitted for frostbite.

Boston; Providence, Rhode Island; Hartford, Connecticut; Worcester, Massachusetts; Albany, New York; and Glens Falls, New York set or matched record low temperatures for 4 February, according to the NWS.

The good news was that the cold air moved out of much of the region on Sunday. Temperatures in many areas climbed to the mid-40sF. Atop Mount Washington, the temperature rose to a relatively balmy 18F, or -8C.