Hell freezes over during US bomb cyclone

A ‘bomb cyclone’ is sweeping the US this winter.

Over 200 million people are under a weather warning or advistory as temperatures drop to -45C and below in some of the worst affected places.

The storm is so brutal that even Hell, a town in Michigan, froze over as several cities report the weather being the coldest since records began.

Across the US, officials have attributed deaths to exposure, car crashes, a falling tree limb and other effects of the storm.

At least three people died in the Buffalo area, including two who suffered medical emergencies in their homes and could not be saved because emergency crews were unable to reach them amid historic blizzard conditions.

Deep snow, single-digit temperatures and day-old power outages sent Buffalo residents scrambling on Saturday to get out of their houses to anywhere that had heat.

Forecasters said 28 inches (71 centimetres) of snow accumulated as of Saturday in Buffalo. Last month, areas just south of the city saw a record six feet of snow (about 1.8 metres) from a single storm.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the Buffalo Niagara International Airport would be closed through Monday morning and almost every fire truck in the city was stranded in the snow.

“No matter how many emergency vehicles we have, they cannot get through the conditions as we speak,” Ms Hochul said.

Blinding blizzards, freezing rain and frigid cold also knocked out power in places from Maine to Seattle, while a major electricity grid operator warned the 65 million people it serves across the eastern US that rolling blackouts might be required.

Forecasters said a bomb cyclone - when atmospheric pressure drops very quickly in a strong storm - had developed near the Great Lakes, stirring up blizzard conditions, including heavy winds and snow.