iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — After some record Christmas Day snowfalls, snow is continuing to pile up across the United States. As a major blast of cold stretches from the Rockies into the Northeast, western New York state is bracing for a massive blast.
Northeast
Records were shattered in Erie, Pennsylvania, when it picked up 19 inches of new snow from midnight to 6 a.m. today, bringing the snowfall total there to 53 inches within 30 hours.
That was the greatest two-day snowfall total in the state of Pennsylvania, the National Weather Service said. The previous record was 44 inches in Morgantown in 1958.
And the snow isn’t over.
The National Weather Service has continued a lake-effect snow warning from Ohio to Pennsylvania and into western New York state.
Some areas in western New York are forecast to see up to 50 inches of snow through Wednesday. Some travel bans are in effect in the Buffalo area, ABC affiliate WKBW-TV reported Tuesday morning.
Midwest
Parts of the Midwest had the coldest Christmas on record.
Chicago and Minneapolis had the coldest Christmas since 1996, while Duluth, Minnesota, had the coldest Christmas since 1933.
And the Midwest is experiencing frigid temperatures today.
This morning’s temperature reached minus-8 degrees in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and minus-16 in Ladysmith, Wisconsin.
West Coast
Seattle had its first white Christmas in nine years.
Downtown Portland, Oregon, also had a white Christmas; its sixth since 1884.
Major cold blast
A major cold blast is stretching across the country with 18 states from Montana to New York feeling dangerous wind chills.
The National Weather Service has issued wind-chill warnings and advisories for wind chills expected to dip as low as minus-50 in the Northern Plains.
The National Weather Service in the Northern Plains and western Great Lakes is warning that exposed skin can get suffer frostbite in as little as 10 minutes.
The polar air is set to continue Wednesday morning with winds chills approaching minus-10 degrees in Chicago and near zero in Boston.
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