Snowstorm paralyses central US as New York cold hits record low

Record-breaking cold gripped the eastern United States while an icy winter storm crippled the nation’s central states and then moved into the mid-Atlantic, dumping snow and forcing federal offices in Washington DC to close on Tuesday.

Heavy snowfall and ice moving eastward from the Southern Plains pounded Missouri, Arkansas, southern Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, the National Weather Service said.

With the storm headed east and sleet and freezing rain expected to also take a swipe at the South, states of emergency were declared in North Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky, as well as in the capital .... http://www.theguardian.com