Thousands of flights were canceled or delayed, some areas struggled under a foot of snow and more than 200 million people were forecast to freeze as a historic Arctic air mass swept across a wide swath of the nation Tuesday.
Freezing temperatures were reported from the Canadian border to South Texas. The freeze was moving east, headed for a swath from New England to Florida.
Chicagoans awoke to single digits, a few inches of snow and a forecast high of 20 degrees that would smash the city's record for the date by 8 degrees. That's after an American Eagle flight slid off a runway Monday while landing at O'Hare International Airport. No injuries were reported.
"Chicagoans are advised to take precautions due to low temperatures and winter weather, whether you're on the road or going for a walk," Mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted a warning serving as good advice across the region.
It was a warmer 20 degrees in Detroit this morning, but areas around the city were blasted with almost 10 inches of snow. In addition to messy roadways and several accidents reported by police, delays at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Monday reached an average of 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Milwaukee, 9 degrees, set its third daily snowfall record in the past 12 days.
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In Texas, residents of Hebbronville, 60 miles from the Mexican border, woke up to freezing temperatures and snow. It was 9 degrees in Amarillo.
"For them, this morning was the worst case scenario," AccuWeather meteorologist Tyler Roys said Tuesday. "For others, Wednesday will be worse."
Wednesday will be colder for many from the Great Lakes to the Northeast and down all the way into Florida, Roys told USA TODAY.
"You are talking single digits in Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit," Roys said. "Atlanta will see the mid-20s. Low 20s in Birmingham, some other parts of Alabama. We will be challenging records everywhere."
More snow and cold were on the way. More than 200 million people will be freezing between Tuesday through Thursday, AccuWeather said. The snow isn't done yet, either.
"Wintry conditions have moved into the southern Plains and extend into the Northeast," the National Weather Service tweeted. "Several inches of snow possible from the Mid-South to portions of the Northeast. A foot or more of snow is possible in the Great Lakes."
More than 300 daily records could fall through Thursday, the weather service said. Houston's record low for Tuesday, 29 degrees, was set 113 years ago. The forecast for Tuesday called for 27 degrees. Nashville's record of 18 degrees for Tuesday, set in 1911, was imperiled by a forecast of 16 degrees.
"24-hour temperature change is incredible with 40°-50°F drops behind the brutal front," tweeted meteorologist Ryan Maue of BAM Weather. "Actual temperatures have fallen into the 20s as far south as Texas."
Weather forecast for the South
The cold will dip deep into the South. A freeze watch was in effect for Pensacola, Florida, where temperatures were forecast to dip below freezing Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Crestview, north of Fort Walton Beach, could see 26 degrees, Roys said. It was 77 on Monday.
The high Tuesday in Dallas is forecast for 44 degrees – 24 degrees below average for the date. By Tuesday night, Dallas is forecast for a low of 22 degrees. The record low for the date is 21 degrees.
Monday's high in Brownsville, Texas, was forecast for 86 degrees – more than double Tuesday's forecast high of 42 degrees.
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East Coast weather
By Wednesday, the coldest temperatures will drift east. Cities from Boston to Washington will challenge record lows for the date.
Snow will add to the wintry feel across the interior Northeast on Tuesday and Wednesday. Rochester, New York, already had more than 8 inches of snow late Monday, smashing the day's record by 3 inches, according to the Weather Service.
"We expect a swath of higher snowfall totals from central New York to northern Maine, where accumulations could climb into the double digits," AccuWeather meteorologist Courtney Travis said.
Contributing: Victoria E. Freile, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle; Amy Huschka and Omar Abdel-Baqui, Detroit Free Press; Joe Taschler, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel