Intense cold front from the Arctic reaches the Northeast of the USA and the country can record up to -79° Celsius

Early on Friday, the core of the cold air mass, driven from the Canadian Arctic towards the US by high-altitude air currents, was centered on the US plains.

An intense Arctic cold front hit the northeastern United States on Friday, threatening to send temperatures to record lows in many spots, including Mount Washington in New Hampshire, where wind chill can bring temperatures of up to -79° Celsius, meteorologists said.

A statement from the US National Weather Service (NWS) said the icy air mass would keep temperatures at dangerous levels through Saturday, warning of "extremely dangerous" conditions caused by the short-lived cold front.

In the cities of Boston and Worcester, the two largest cities in the so-called New England region, schools were closed on Friday over concerns about the risk of hypothermia and frostbite while children waited for the bus or walked to school.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu declared a state of emergency through Sunday and opened heating centers to help the city's more than 650,000 residents cope with what the NWS warned could turn into a "once-in-a-generation" cold front. ".

The forecast of severe cold forced the rare closure of a floating museum that features a daily re-enactment of the 1773 Boston Tea Party, when colonists disguised as Native Americans dumped crates of tea taxed by the King of England into port.

Early on Friday, the core of the cold air mass, driven from the Canadian Arctic towards the US by high-altitude air currents, was centered on the US plains, meteorologist Bob Oravec said.

"It's moving to the Northeast" and temperatures will drop throughout the day on Friday, he said. "That's the biggest story of the day."

At Mount Washington State Park, the highest peak in the Northeast, temperatures are expected to drop to a record -46° Celsius on Friday, New Hampshire Park Service officials said. By comparison, air temperatures at Eureka, Canada's northernmost arctic weather station, were hovering at -41°C on Friday morning.