Bitter cold weather has taken hold of much of the northern United States and is expected to stay put for days to come into the New Year. Forecasters warned of hypothermia and frostbite from arctic air settling in over the central U.S. and spreading east. The National Weather Service reported International Falls, Minnesota, the self-proclaimed Icebox of the Nation, plunged to 37 degrees below zero, breaking the old record of 32 below set in 1924. Hibbing, Minnesota, bottomed out at 28 below, breaking the old record of 27 below set in 1964. Wind chill advisories or warnings were in effect for much of New England, northern Pennsylvania and New York (map bottom). With temperatures in the single digits, Ray Levesque, mate of the crab/lobster boat Bradbill, makes his way across the deck covered in ice to tie off, after arriving in New Bedford, Massachusetts harbor on Thursday from a one day fishing voyage (main). For people in Washington, D.C., the cold weather is not stopping them from going outside to take in the sites. A woman and her family braved the temperatures in the teens to go to the National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall in DC on Thursday (inset).
