Arctic cold air invasion with snow and or ice spans worldwide

Arctic cold temperatures have plunged deep into the Southern United States with an even colder airmass poised to overwhelm the central and eastern half of the United States by the end of the week.

At least 20 people have died from exposure in 11 states across the country from the extended cold weather since January 1st.

A weekend snowstorm dumped an all-time record of more than 33 inches on Burlington, the largest city in Vermont. That broke a single-storm record of nearly 30 inches set in 1969.

Florida is expected to see some of the coldest weather in 9 or so years!  Parts of Central Florida could see lows below freezing nearly every day this week.  

Broward County, Florida declared an Cold Weather Emergency on Monday due to the expected cold temperatures.  In Miami-Dade County, farmers are watering their crops, trying to protect them from the freezing temperatures.

The National Weather Service said the mercury could fall below zero in St. Louis later this week for the first time since 1999.

The Salem, New Jersey nuclear power plant shut down due to icing on the Delaware River on Monday.   The icing also led to power being reduced to 80 percent at Salem Unit 1. Both plants draw water from the river for (non-radioactive) cooling purposes.

Rare snow flakes fell across Northeastern Louisiana and Mississippi Monday morning with a dusting of snow reported in portions of Northern Mississippi and more snow is expected across the South as another more potent  blast of cold arctic air moves into the South towards the end of the week.

High temperatures by Friday will only manage to rise into the 20s as far south as Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Georgia.

The United States is not the only place dealing with an arctic cold air invasion.  The very cold weather combined with snow and ice spans worldwide.

Britain began the new year with  freezing temperatures and snow and forecasters warn the country will continue to see periods of snow for the next ten days.

Forecasters warn Britain is facing the coldest winter in 25 years with temperatures dropping to minus 16 degrees Celsius or 3 degrees Fahrenheit.  They also warned there will likely be no let up in the freezing cold snap until at least mid-January, with snow, ice and severe frosts dominating.

 In Switzerland, four people were killed and three more were feared dead after two avalanches struck at the same Swiss resort just minutes apart on Sunday.

 As an Alpine search team arrived to free one man buried under tons of snow, a second avalanche hit the slope 20 minutes later burying several rescuers and more skiers.

One person was found dead at the scene, while three more died later in hospital, including one rescue service doctor.  Five others were injured, and three more were still missing in what police said was one of the worst avalanche disasters in Switzerland in ten years.

 Two skiers were buried in separate incidents in another avalanche near the town of Verbier close to the border with France and Italy. One person was killed while his guide was rescued alive.

The start of the ski season and heavy snowfall in recent days have prompted officials to warn of a heightened avalanche risk in the Swiss Alps.

In China,  snow storms on Sunday caused chaos in China's capital of Beijing, bringing airplanes to a halt and causing severe traffic delays.  Around 90% of all flights were either delayed or canceled, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.  This was the heaviest snowfall in six decades!

In addition, major roads in Beijing and Tianjin, as well as nearby provinces Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, were forced to close due to the heavy snow.

Authorities in Beijing and Tianjin announced on Monday, that there will be no classes at primary and middle schools on Tuesday as people are unable to drive their cars in the heavy snow.

In India,  Over 30 people died in cold-weather related incidents in Northern India over the past 24 hours, with 10 of those losing their lives in train accidents caused by the fog.   Twenty-four homeless people also died in the Uttar Pradesh state since Saturday due to the severe drop in temperatures.

Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir were all hit with heavy snow, while Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi also recorded snowfall over the past 24 hours.  India is not a country usually associated with snow.

In Russia,  a country much more used to dealing with high levels of snow, low temperatures dropped to a chilling -20 Celsius and or 4 below zero in Moscow on Monday.

In Germany, snow caused a jet to veer off the runway at Dortmund Airport in Western Germany.  None of the 165 passengers and six crew members were injured.

In Austria, native Austrians, who are much more accustomed to dealing with snow struggled to deal with the freezing lows of 17 degrees at night and 26 degrees during the day.  Periods of light snow is expected over the next several days.

In South Korea, on the first workday of the New Year on Monday, South Koreans were greeted by heavy snowfall, which brought the city of Seoul to a near standstill.  

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said 25.8 cm of snow had blanketed the Seoul metropolitan area Monday morning, the most snow South Korea has seen since KMA first kept record in 1937!

In Japan, the mountains of central Japan were pounded by heavy snow.  One person was killed and at least two others were missing after the heavy snow ended on Sunday.

In Canada,  east coast residents were cleaning up on Monday after a powerful weekend storm that killed at least three people.  Over the weekend, Yarmouth, N.S., received about 65 centimeters of snow or just over 25 inches, with some areas of New Brunswick receiving close to 30 centimeters and or 12 inches.  

The snow was accompanied by powerful winds, knocking out power to thousands of people in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

Sources: AP News, Daily Mail Online UK, WSVN, New Jersey News room, NOAA

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