Weather brings deaths, frustration

Dangerously cold air has sent temperatures plummeting into the single digits around the U.S., with wind chills driving them even lower. Throw in the snow some areas are getting and you’ve got a bone-chilling mix that may also be super messy.

The result?

School delays and cancellations, a fatal car pileup and worries about the homeless.

Here’s a look at what’s happening:

Delaying, canceling school

School districts from the South to the Northeast and Midwest delayed the start of classes or canceled school altogether.

Wind-chill readings were at or below zero in such places as Alabama and North Carolina, along with a chunk of the Midwest, the Plains and the Northeast. The wind chill was minus-40 in Saranac Lake in upstate New York on Thursday morning.

In northwest Georgia, schools in Catoosa County had a two-hour delayed start on Thursday because of temperatures expected to top out at 27 degrees and dip as low as minus 2 degrees with wind chills.

Deaths in Michigan

Authorities say the severe weather and blowing snow are factors in the deaths of two northern Michigan men – an 85-year-old who was struck by a car while crossing a road to get his mail and a 64-year-old who was hit by a car while clearing snow.

A car struck 85-year-old Carl Dewey on Wednesday in Helena Township, about 30 miles northeast of Traverse City, the Antrim County sheriff’s department said. There were whiteout conditions at the time, the department told the Grand Rapids Press.

The Kalkaska County sheriff’s department said 64-year-old Zane Chwastek, of Bear Lake Township, was using a snow blower in his driveway Wednesday when a car slid off the road and struck him.

Whiteout, pileup

An 18-vehicle pileup that happened in whiteout conditions on a western Pennsylvania interstate left two people dead and nearly two dozen injured.

Nine trucks, several of them tractor-trailers, and nine cars were involved in the crash Wednesday afternoon on Interstate 80 in Clarion Township, state police said. At least one of the trucks was carrying hazardous material, but no leaks were found.

None of the injuries was thought to be life-threatening, but three of the approximately 20 people taken to the hospital appeared to have serious injuries. The others were treated for everything from bumps to broken bones.

Commuter frustration

Below-freezing temperatures in the nation’s capital caused headaches for commuters.

In all, there were delays on five of the Metro system’s six lines Thursday morning.

The Washington transit agency said the system’s red line was delayed in both directions because of weather-related equipment problems on train cars. The other four lines were delayed because of broken or cracked rails.

Commuters vented their frustration on Twitter, with many posts including photos of stations and trains jam-packed with people. One Twitter user wrote that he loves being told to avoid lines that have delays, adding, “OK, I’ll just move my house and job for the day.”

Bright side

Temperatures have dropped to zero or below in southern New England and to 7 above in New York City, with wind chills getting into the minus-20s in some places. But little or no snow is forecast for most of the Northeast.

Around this time last year, parts of the region were digging out from 2 feet of snow accompanied by brutal polar air.

In fact, this season’s snowfall totals are way down from last year, one of the snowiest seasons on record.

Meanwhile, in Arizona

Phoenix posted a record high temperature of 80 degrees on Wednesday. That broke the old record of 79 set in 1948.

Over in Tempe, 74-year-old Bill Justice was wearing shorts while hanging out in his yard, just days after the National Weather Service announced that 2014 was the warmest year ever recorded in Arizona.

“We can enjoy all kinds of things in the winter and the same thing in the summer,” Justice said, adding that if he lived in Colorado or another cold climate, his swimming pool would be frozen by now.