Huge winter storm leaves at least 28 dead

Two-thirds of the U.S. braces for more bitter cold that's not going away anytime soon.

- BY CHARLOTTE KRAMON AND RUSS BYNUM

IN NEW YORK City, Jaylean Melvin takes a break from trying to clear snow from her car on Monday.

(SETH WENIG Associated Press)

Many in the U.S. faced another night of belowfreezing temperatures and no electricity after a colossal winter storm heaped more snow Monday on the Northeast and kept parts of the South coated in ice. At least 28 deaths were reported in states afflicted with severe cold.

Deep snow — more than a foot extending in a 1,300-mile swath from Arkansas to New England — halted traffic, canceled flights and triggered widespread school closures Monday. The National Weather Service said areas north of Pittsburgh got up to 20 inches of snow and faced wind chills as low as minus 25 degrees late Monday into Tuesday.

The bitter cold afflicting two-thirds of the U.S. wasn't going away. The weather service said Monday that a fresh influx of arctic air is expected to sustain freezing temperatures in places already covered in snow and ice. And forecasters said it's possible another winter storm could hit parts of the East Coast this weekend.

A rising death toll included two people run over by snow plows in Massachusetts and Ohio, fatal sledding accidents in Arkansas and Texas, and a woman whose body was found covered in snow by police with bloodhounds after she was last seen leaving a Kansas bar. In New York City, officials said eight people were found dead outdoors in the course of the frigid weekend.