East, Midwest Brace For Deep Freeze...01/21/00

WASHINGTON, — A cold snap lingered across much of the East Coast of the United States Friday, bringing freezing temperatures, bitter winds and chilling misery to millions. Forecasters said frigid temperatures were likely to linger for the next couple weeks.

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 freezing temperatures and strong winds. The National Weather Service said colder-than-normal temperatures reached as far south as North Carolina Friday and were likely to continue through the coming days as the storm worked its way out over the Atlantic and was replaced by a blast of frigid arctic air. Snow that caused mostly minor accidents in the Boston region on Thursday was expected to prove but a prelude to Friday night temperatures near zero degrees there, with expected 30 mph winds yielding a wind chill of -40 degrees. A day after 2.5 inches of snow cloaked Central Park in white for the first time this winter, New York City was expected to shiver through wind-chill readings of -10 to -20 below zero.