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Northeast US wakes up to record cold

Temperatures on Valentine's Day in New York, Boston, Rhode Island and Hartford and Connecticut dipped to as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius.

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Source: AAP


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For much of the northeast United States, Valentine's Day was the coldest on record, with people bundling up for the not-so-warm embrace of teeth-chattering temperatures.

From New York and Boston to Providence, Rhode Island and Hartford, Connecticut, temperatures on Sunday morning dipped to as low as -40 degrees Celsius - on Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

The National Weather Service said the temperature in New York City's Central Park fell to -15 Celsius, a record low for the date.

Boston reached -23 Celsius, breaking the record set in 1934 of -18.5 Celsius.

It reached -26.5 Celsius in Worcester, Massachusetts, breaking the 1979 record of 24 below zero Celsius. Providence hit -23 Celsius and Hartford -24.5 Celsius, also breaking records from 1979.

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In Montpelier, Vermont, the overnight temperature hit -28.5 Celsius, tying a record set in 2003. And South Lincoln, Vermont, recorded 33 below zero Celsius).

Temperatures were so low in some spots they knocked out utilities.

A frozen regulator left about 400 customers in Connecticut without natural gas service and officials believe extreme cold in Vermont broke a utility pole, knocking out service to about 1,500.

The cold kept many people inside.

Temperatures were expected to climb before a winter storm already bringing snow to the Midwest moves into the region.


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