In pictures: US polar vortex nears end, blamed for 21 deaths

Bitter cold was caused by mass of air known as the polar vortex drifting south from its usual position over North Pole

Tens of millions of Americans braved Arctic-like temperatures on Thursday as low -49 Celsius that paralysed the US Midwest and were blamed for at least 21 deaths.

Officials across multiple states linked numerous deaths to the frigid air. The death toll rose from a previous 12 after at least nine more people in Chicago were reported to have died from cold-related injuries, according to a doctor at the city’s John H Stroger Jr Hospital.

The bitter cold was caused by the mass of air known as the polar vortex drifting south from its usual position over the North Pole.

Homes and businesses used record amounts of natural gas to fight the cold.

 

A woman is reflected in a puddle of water on path beside the falls in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, on January 31, 2019. A brutal cold wave moved eastward on January 31, 2019, after bringing temperatures in the US Midwest lower than those in Antarctica. PHOTO: AFP



US Coast Guard members work on a boat used as an ice breaker along the Hudson river between the towns of Kingston and Poughkeepsie during a polar vortex in New York. PHOTO: REUTERS

US Coast Guard workers continue to work along the Hudson river between the towns of Kingston and Poughkeepsie. PHOTO: REUTERS

US Coast Guard members on the boat during New York's polar vortex. PHOTO: REUTERS

Mail carrier Tiffany Sufficool delivers the mail during subzero temperatures carried by the polar votex in Fargo, North Dakota. PHOTO: REUTERS

Water vapor rises above St. Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River beneath the Stone Arch Bridge during frigid temperatures on January 31, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. PHOTO: AFP

A brutal cold wave moved eastward Thursday after bringing temperatures in the US Midwest lower than those in Antarctica, grounding flights, closing schools and businesses and raising fears of hypothermia. The extreme weather has now been blamed for as many as eight deaths. PHOTO: AFP





Logan Airport in Boston, Massacusetts on January 31, 2019 as aircraft take off and land on a day where over 2000 flights were cancelled and delayed due to extreme cold and ice conditions caused by the Polar Vortex over the midwest and northern parts of the country. PHOTO: AFP