Extreme cold faced by much of US forces cancellation of 2042 flights

Snow and ice through the country's midsection forced the cancellations of more than 2,000 flights across the United States Sunday, FlightAware.com reported. CNN reported New York's JFK International Airport was closed Sunday morning when a regional jet slid off the runway. The Federal Aviation Administration said flights should resume around 11:30 a.m. Snow moving across the central Great Plains and Great Lakes states forced the cancellations of more than 1,175 flights at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Accuweather.com said. As much as 6 inches of snow could fall in some areas from St. Louis to Chicago, Detroit and London, Ontario, forecasters said. Temperatures in parts of the Midwest and Plains states will drop as low as 30 degrees below zero on Sunday, with wind chills bringing the cold to minus 50 in some areas, CNN reported. "Brutal conditions will continue pushing southeastward to the Ohio Valley and Mid-South by Monday, and to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic by Tuesday," the National Weather Service said. "Afternoon highs on Monday for parts of the Midwest states and the Ohio Valley will fail to reach zero degrees." In Green Bay, Wis., Packers fans could endure temperatures as low as 15-below-zero to watch the team play the San Francisco 49ers in the city's open-air stadium. With the wind chill, the air could feel as cold as minus-30 to minus-40 degrees at the sold-out game, CNN said. The team was offering fans free hand warmers, hot chocolate and coffee for braving the cold on Sunday, spokesman Aaron Popkey said. States in the Deep South could see highs in the single digits Sunday. CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri said Atlanta will be colder than in Anchorage, Alaska, on Monday. The National Weather Service's Twin Cities office in Minnesota warned low temperatures and wind chills can cause frostbite or hypothermia. "Exposed flesh can freeze in as little as 5 minutes with wind chills colder than 50 below," the weather agency said. Forecasters in Minnesota warned of "the coldest air in two decade."