Bone-numbing cold ices Northeast

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Vicious cold gripped the Northeastern section of the United States, while lake-effect snow blanketed the eastern Great Lakes.

Meanwhile, forecasters noted the next winter storm system began moving into the Plains Monday and will head to the East by midweek, AccuWeather.com reported.

In the wake of an arctic cold front, some cities along the East Coast experienced a 50-degree drop from Sunday to Monday, forecasters said. Wind chill advisories were in effect from the northern Plains to the mid-Atlantic states.

Between 3 and 6 inches of lake-effect snow was predicted on the eastern sides of both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

Meanwhile, AccuWeather.com forecasters in State College, Pa., said a storm emerging from the northern Rockies into the Plains will be a snow-maker as it moves east, with the heaviest snowfall expected in a stretch from South Dakota to Iowa.

Sleet and ice were predicted for southern Plains states. Moisture drawn from the Gulf of Mexico was expected to help fuel showers and thunderstorms across east Texas and Oklahoma, AccuWeather.com said.