Arctic air descends into the Northeast of USA

New York, The Gulf Observer: Arctic air descended into the Northeast on Saturday morning, bringing dangerously cold sub-zero temperatures and wind chills that dropped to minus 45 to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 43 to minus 45 C) in many areas.

Atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, the overnight wind chill was measured at minus 108 degrees F (minus 78 C), according to the weather observatory at the peak of the Northeast’s highest mountain, famous for its extreme weather conditions.

“This is just kind of an Arctic intrusion,” said Stephen Baron, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine. “Sometimes in the winter the Jetstream dips and the Arctic oscillation allows the cold air to come into our area for a day or two.”

Friday’s high winds were blamed for the death of an infant in Southwick, Massachusetts.

The winds brought a tree branch down on a vehicle driven by a 23-year-old Winstead, Connecticut, woman, according to a statement from the Hampden district attorney’s office.

The driver was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, but the infant died, authorities said.

Most people heeded warnings to stay inside on Saturday, but some people had little choice but to go out.