Polar vortex to cause record lows across US

By Umar Farooq</p> <p>WASHINGTON (AA) – Arctic blasts from the north are bringing in a once-in-a-generation cold this week across the United States.</p> <p>The spinning pool of cold air, known as the Polar Vortex, could bring temperatures as low as -50 Fahrenheit (-46 Celsius) to some parts of the midwest.</p> <p>Wind chills are expected to reach -30 to -60 Fahrenheit in the northern midwest, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).</p> <p>Nearly 1,100 flights either into, out of, or within the U.S. have been canceled because of the temperatures, according to the flight tracking service FlightAware.</p> <p>More than 200 million people, 72 percent of the continental U.S. population, will see temperatures below freezing this week, CNN reported.</p> <p>The NWS advised people to not go outside, saying anyone exposed to extreme cold could be susceptible to frostbite in a matter of minutes.</p> <p>In Chicago, forecasters predict the temperature could drop below those in Antarctica.</p> <p>On Wednesday, the day-time high temperature for Chicago is forecasted to be -15 Fahrenheit (-26 Celsius), the coldest day-time high ever recorded in the city. The previous record coldest daytime high was -11 Fahrenheit on Christmas Eve 1983, according to the Chicago Tribune.</p> <p>In some parts of Illinois, the temperature could drop to -55 Fahrenheit (-48 Celsius), conditions the NWS called &quot;life threatening.&quot;