Brr!: temperatures plunge well below zero in midwest US

Bitter cold with temperatures lower than Antarctica gripped the American Midwest on Wednesday, grounding flights, closing schools and businesses and raising frostbite and hypothermia fears for homeless residents. Mail deliveries were suspended and people encouraged to stay home in nearly a dozen US states where the mercury plunged into the negative double digits, the worst freeze to grip the region in a generation. The morning temperature in the Windy City was -22 degrees Fahrenheit (-30 Celsius), which felt like -50 degrees (-46 Celsius) with wind chill.