Snow and ice covers Central Park on a frigidly cold day. (Agence France-Presse)
From frosty orange groves in Florida to the frozen waters of Niagara Falls, nearly half the nation was plunged into a deep freeze Friday morning.
In New York City, it was 2 degrees in Central Park at 8 a.m. and wind gusts made it feel like 15 degrees below zero.
But it could be worse. It could be Embarrass, Minnesota, where the temperature was measured at 41 degrees below zero Thursday - the coldest spot in the country.
The cold temperatures put a strain on water mains, gas pipes and other critical infrastructure as public officials warned people to stay indoors and bundle up if venturing outside. Some public transit agencies reported delays Friday morning, including New Jersey Transit, whose service was affected by ice buildup in the tunnel under the Hudson River.
Last winter, the weather-related term of the season was "polar vortex." This time, the deep freeze is being credited to the "Siberian Express."
Tim Morrin, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said that what is actually happening is a confluence of events that are feeding into one another.
The jet stream is carrying air from the Arctic and Siberian regions south across the central and eastern parts of the United States - in a sense it is like an expressway for cold air.
But as the air moves south, it would typically warm up.
That is not happening now because the ground is completely snowpacked along much of that expressway.
The result is record low temperatures across the nation.
In New York City, Friday brought the coldest temperature ever recorded on this date, breaking a record set in 1950, when it was 7 degrees.
The all-time low temperature in the city itself, however, is 15 degrees below zero, set on Feb. 9, 1934, according to the National Weather Service.
While that record seems quite safe, Morrin said New Yorkers should not expect relief anytime soon.
The forecast calls for a light snowfall Saturday, which will then turn to an icy, rainy mix by Sunday morning.
On Sunday, Morrin said, there will be a brief period of relative warmth, perhaps reaching 40 degrees, before the region is swept back into another cold snap.
As temperatures dip back down into the low teens Monday, that brief respite might prove a problem, as melting snow could freeze and make roads treacherous for the morning commute.
On Friday, some people found beauty in the cold, especially in the many images of usually flowing waters that were now frozen.
From the fountain in Union Square to the stilled waters around Niagara Falls, photos of frozen waters appeared on Instagram and other social media outlets.
But all the ice also posed a threat, as the officials at Bryant Park noted on the park's website.
"The recent cold snap, which still has another two weeks to go, has made some incredible photo opportunities at our frozen Josephine Shaw Lowell Fountain," they wrote on the park's blog Feb. 13.
"Unfortunately, all this beauty is causing the fountain pain. The weight of the icicles is putting undue strain on the fountain's granite bowls."
With each new icicle, the threat increases.
"So we'll be turning the water off so that new icicles do not form," they said. "Don't worry, we'll be turning the water back on when Mother Nature warms up enough that the fountain has thawed and handling a safe weight of ice."
© 2015, The New York Times News Service