Arctic air grips the central and eastern U.S., bringing record-breaking cold, dangerous wind chills, and historic snowfall. Follow Newsweek's live blog.

The coldest temperatures of the year hit Houston overnight, with some people in Southeast Texas waking up to temps between 14 and 18 degrees, the coldest since last January's arctic outbreak. According to Space City Weather meteorologist Eric Berger,

After a brief winter weather event fueled by Arctic air from Siberia, which brought snowfall to parts of Texas — including Houston — the state now prepares for up to five consecutive days of rain starting Saturday.

A polar vortex dipping down from Siberia is bringing a cold front with frigid temperatures to millions Americans. See maps of the arctic blast.

Now, after temperatures plummeted below zero, Lake Erie is about 60% frozen. That’s about 20% more ice than average for this time of year. Lake Erie is shallower and narrower than other Great Lakes, so it freezes faster.

I’ve been convinced that we are about to experience a very serious and dangerous weather episode,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire said Sunday.

Heavy snow is expected to blanket large portions of the Eastern U.S. while much of the country will endure dangerously cold temperatures in the coming days.

After millennia as a carbon deep-freezer for the planet, regional hotspots and increasingly frequent wildfires in the northern latitudes have nearly canceled out that critical storage capacity in the permafrost region,

Most schools in New England remained open despite arctic blast. How cold does it have to be to cancel school, and how to keep kids safe in icy temps

A blast of Arctic air is bringing cold weather to New England over the next several days. Wind chill values in the mornings are going to be 0 to 15 below, with the coldest areas across the hillier terrain of Worcester County and the Berkshires.

Temperatures on Wednesday are forecast to struggle to make it above 20 degrees. However, on Thursday, New York City residents can expect some relief as temperatures are expected to jump up to a high of 30 degrees. Friday is slated for a high of 32 degrees and Saturday is expected to reach a peak temperature around 33-34 degrees, as noted by Dombek.

Hundreds of flights at the Denver International Airport were delayed and canceled, and there were several traffic jams and road closures during whiteout conditions. An extreme cold warning was issued for places that reached or were likely to reach minus 25 to minus 35 degrees.