Michigan (Web Desk): At least 15 people were dead as the biting cold hit the United States Midwest.
About eight people have been killed in several states as a result of the Arctic weather.
Temperatures fell to -30C (-22F) in Chicago - colder than parts of Antarctica - and -37C in North Dakota.
Freezing weather will chill 250 million Americans, and 90 million will experience -17C (0F) or below.
Snow fell throughout Wednesday, from the Great Lakes region into New England; as much as 24in (60cm) was forecast in the state of Wisconsin, and 6in in Illinois.
States of emergency have been declared in the Midwestern states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois, and even in the normally warmer Deep South states of Alabama and Mississippi.
The US Postal Service has called a halt to mail deliveries in parts of 10 states in the Great Plains and Midwest.
Hundreds of schools, as well as colleges and universities, have been closed in the affected states.
Beer deliveries in Wisconsin have been hit, too, as brewers delay shipments for fear their beverages will freeze in the trucks.
Weather officials in the state of Iowa have warned people to "avoid taking deep breaths, and to minimise talking" if they go outside.
