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FULL TITLE: Bundle up! Life-threatening bitter cold weather takes hold of northern US with record-breaking arctic blast bringing temperatures as low as 37 below zero Bitter cold weather has taken hold of much of the northern United States and is expected to stay put for days to come into the New Year. Forecasters warned of hypothermia and frostbite from arctic air settling in over the central U.S. and spreading east. The National Weather Service reported International Falls, Minnesota, the self-proclaimed Icebox of the Nation, plunged to 37 degrees below zero, breaking the old record of 32 below set in 1924....

A Canadian cold front packing heavy winds that gusted up to 60 mph swept into the Puget Sound region as expected late Thursday, leaving tens of thousands of residents without power but largely sparing Seattle. The storm felled trees and damaged homes mostly in Snohomish and Pierce counties. Power companies there reported about 80,000 customers lost power for a time. In the areas served by Tacoma Power, for instance, nearly 30,000 customers remained without power by nightfall Friday. "We are having some transmission-line problems," said Tacoma Power spokeswoman Sue Veseth. When those primary lines are fixed, power will be restored...