U.S. News

Bone-Chilling Cold Polar Vortex Sweeps Continental U.S. (PHOTOS)

Subzero temperatures across the Midwest and parts of the eastern U.S. have commuters, the homeless and anyone else caught outside battling the cold.

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Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty
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A woman bundled against the cold walks past a homeless man in McPherson Square as temperatures dipped into the single digits Fahrenheit and minus degrees with the wind chill on January 7, 2014 in Washington, DC.

Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty
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A woman walks through a gust of blowing snow in frigid cold temperatures though downtown Chicago, Illinois, January 6, 2014.

Jim Young/Reuters
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A man leaves a Starbucks with a hot coffee in Washington DC.

Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty
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Homeless men try to stay warm at the Washington DC Metro station. 

Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty
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Pedestrians walk past mounds of snow during bitter cold temperatures in downtown Detroit, Michigan January 6, 2014.  

Rebecca Cook/Reuters
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 Commuters make their way across the Chicago River during a sub-zero trek to their offices.

Scott Olson/Getty
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More commuters in Chicago fight the cold on their way to work.

Scott Olson/Getty
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Garnder Pedro Bejer, at Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando, covers tomato plants in the vegetable garden Monday, January 6, 2014 to protect them from forecasted freezing temperatures.

Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/MCT, via Getty
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Teresa Wooldridge has a hard time finding the path to clear snow in front of Brands Park on the Northwest Side of Chicago on Monday, Jan. 6, 2014. The park is a designated warming center.

Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune/MCT, via Getty
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Ice builds up along Lake Michigan at North Avenue Beach as temperatures dipped well below zero on January 6, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. Chicago hit a record low of -16 degree Fahrenheit this morning as a polar air mass brought the coldest temperatures in about two decades into the city. 

Scott Olson/Getty
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A woman covers her head with a jacket as she walks in frigid cold temperatures though downtown Chicago, Illinois, January 6, 2014.   

Jim Young/Reuters