Winter blast cripples much of US, closing schools, snarling travel into Tuesday

The arctic blast that put more than 110 million Americans under wind chill advisories Monday and froze the Iowa caucus is set to close dozens of major school districts and slow air travel Tuesday.

Millions of students will have an extra-long Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, with schools closed Tuesday in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, Denver and other major cities, citing cold and snow.

Winter Storm Heather brought subzero temperatures that can be felt from Missoula, Mont., to Chicago.

In the Windy City, Monday’s low fell to minus 10 degrees and is forecast to hit a comparably toasty zero degrees Tuesday. Wind chills are expected to dip into at least the minus 20s in some parts of Chicagoland, and hit minus 35 on Monday.

The entire central U.S., from the Rocky Mountains to Ohio, is under either a wind chill advisory or warning, according to the National Weather Service. Winter storm advisories or warnings also extend from Tennessee, over the entire Appalachian range and into New England.

Nashville got about 6 inches of snow between Sunday and Monday, more than its annual average for the last 30 years. Nashville schools will close Tuesday and Wednesday due to the weather.

The nation’s capital saw its first snowfall of the season Monday, with a projected 3 inches falling in much of the DMV between Monday and Tuesday. It’s the first snowfall of more than an inch in two years — to the day — for the District.

New York City is also expected to break a similarly long snowless record Tuesday, with about 3 inches of snow forecast after 701 days without a shower of more than an inch.

In the air, more than 1,200 flights have already been canceled for Tuesday and another 1,800 delayed, after more than 2,600 were canceled Monday, according to FlightAware.

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