Frigid cold grips much of nation

HOUSTON, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Bitter cold gripped much of the United States Monday as an Arctic low plunged temperatures to zero or below in much of the country.

The tail-end of a weekend storm front kept many schools closed from the Northern Plains through the Great Lakes states as temperatures overnight dropped to well below zero in Montana, Minnesota, Kansas and North Dakota, AccuWeather.com reported.

In the West, nearly a foot of snow blanketed California's Sierra Nevada, while drenching rains threatened mud slides and flash floods in southern California and ice storms closed schools and roads in northwestern Oregon, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Much of Texas saw freezing rain and low temperatures as the Arctic mass moved through, with temperatures in southeast Texas expected to remain in the low 40s through Tuesday, the Houston Chronicle reported.

In New England, tens of thousands of homes and businesses remained without power Monday following Sunday's ice storm which downed power lines throughout New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts, AccuWeather.com reported.