BOSTON (Reuters) - A cold snap lingered across much of the East Coast of the United States on Friday, bringing freezing temperatures, bitter winds and chilling misery to millions. A day after the mid-Atlantic states were hit by their first major snow of the season, commuters from Boston to New York and Washington struggled with unusually frigid temperatures and strong winds.

The National Weather Service said colder-than-normal temperatures reached as far south as North Carolina on Friday and were likely to linger through the coming days as the storm worked its way out over the Atlantic and was replaced by a blast of frigid arctic air.

New England was hit with its first big winter storm a week ago and most of the region has been chilled with bitter cold since then. But the greater reach of Thursday's storm snarled traffic and air travel up and down the East Coast.

The storm and extreme cold have contributed to a jump in heating oil prices to their highest level in nine years. Low inventories also boosted fuel prices.

Temperatures were forecast to fall to between five and minus five degrees Fahrenheit in Boston and wind gusts up to 45 mph would make it dangerous to be outside at night, said Charlie Foley of the National Weather Service.

He said Washington D.C., which was hit by several inches of snow on Thursday, would see temperatures of about 20 with even colder temperatures in the suburbs. He advised New Yorkers to bundle up as the mercury was expected to drop to about 5 to 10 degrees there.

Flights at some major airports were delayed for a second day on Friday, with high winds delaying travelers at Boston's Logan International by an average of more than an hour.

But it was Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket that bore the brunt of the storm, Foley said. He said 6 to 7 inches of snow were dumped on the Cape and wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour were making it very tough to dig out.

The storm was indirectly responsible for at least one death when a sledding accident in southwestern Ohio killed a 22-year-old man on Thursday. He suffered fatal head injuries when his sled struck a concrete culvert, officials said.

In the Midwest, a new squall unleashed more cold and snow. The region got between 3 and 10 inches of snow at midweek, with more on the way.

International Falls, Minnesota -- on the northern border with Canada -- recorded a low of minus 33 Fahrenheit, said Janine Burtness of the town's chamber of commerce. Snow was falling in the town, which bills itself as ``the Nation's Icebox,'' on top of a foot already on the GCground and crews were grooming snowmobile trails.