Northeast US, Canada gripped by Arctic blast

NEW YORK: A “generational” Arctic blast brought dangerously cold temperatures to swaths of the northeastern United States and Canada on Saturday, with forecasters warning that frostbite can occur in just five minutes.

Atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire state, the wind-chill factor reached minus 78 degrees Celsius (minus 108 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

That broke the previous low recorded there of minus 74 C, the Weather Channel said.

At almost 6,300 feet (1,920 meters), Mount Washington is the highest peak in northeast America and is known for having some of the world´s worst weather.

Temperatures of minus 43 C and wind gusts of over 110 miles per hour combined for the historic low.

The NWS office in Caribou, Maine, said a wind chill of minus 51 C was recorded in the small town of Frenchville, just south of the border with Canada.