Millions across the US brace for plummeting temperatures and winter storms

Residents across the country from the Northern Plains to the tip of Maine are bracing for dangerously low temperatures as tens of millions of residents along the East Coast contend with a thick blanket of snow — and more snowfall in the forecast.Winter storm warnings issued by the National Weather Service were in effect for parts of the Mid-Atlantic through Monday morning, and warnings began in New England on Sunday afternoon.Heavy lake-effect snow was expected in western New York state Monday through Wednesday morning, with 2 to 3 feet possible in some areas including Oswego along Lake Ontario.Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland, projected that as many as 70 million residents will be under some kind of winter storm warning in the coming days.Sunday snowfall was just the start of a chaotic week of weather.

Much of the Eastern Seaboard will be enduring some of the coldest temperatures this winter.An area from the Rockies into the Northern Plains will see colder than normal weather over several days, with temperatures forecast to drop to between minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit to minus 55 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday.Sub-zero wind chills are forecast to reach as far south as Oklahoma and the Tennessee Valley.Minnesota residents were urged to wear appropriate clothing and carry a survival kit for travel.

Kristi Rollwagen, director of homeland security and emergency management at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, also urged motorists to drive with a full tank of gas and a fully charged cell phone to keep in touch with loved ones.“It’s not something we haven’t experienced before, it’s just a good reminder that it does get cold in Minnesota,” Rollwagen said.Meanwhile, temperatures in Washington, DC, are expected to dip into the 20s with wind gusts upwards of 30 mph, Chenard said.The forecast prompted President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural ceremony to be moved inside the US Capitol Rotunda.L...