HINGHAM, Mass. — Appi, a 14-year-old bichon frise, placed one pedigreed paw out her front door Thursday morning, then turned to her dog-walker with a frosty glare that said: No way.
The temperature in this small colonial seaport south of Boston was 2 degrees, but with the wind chill it felt like minus 20.
The same numbing conditions prevailed across the region as a cold front from Siberia continued to grip the Northeast on Thursday. Meteorologists said the icy weather would only worsen today.
New Hampshire Fish and Game officials said a hiker was found dead Thursday in the White Mountains, where temperatures fell to minus 44 and the wind chill approached minus 100. Friends said the middle-age man had been outdoors since Monday.
In Caribou, Maine, the temperature was minus 10. Atop Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, the thermometer at midday hovered at minus 34 degrees; with the wind chill it dropped as low as minus 102. In Burlington, Vt., the temperature was minus 9, but wind chill made it feel much colder.
Temperatures in Boston began at well below zero, edging up as the sun teased the city with a brief midday appearance. Steady winds made the Siberian-import air feel even colder. By Thursday evening, temperatures across the region again dropped below zero.
"For the Boston area, this is the coldest wave of weather in at least the last 50 years," said Rob Gilman, a meteorologist in the coastal community of Hull. "If you want to warm up, you go to Alaska."
Temperatures across the Northeast were so cold they made the inside of a meat locker (15 degrees) seem downright tropical.
At the weather observatory atop Mt. Washington -- New England's highest peak -- summit manager Pete Sweeney said at noon on Thursday the thermometer read 34 below zero. Wind gusting between 70 and 90 miles per hour brought the temperature to minus 102.
Sweeney said that by Friday, the temperature probably would plummet below the record low of minus 47 degrees set in 1934.
In Maine, frigid conditions prompted Gov. John E. Baldacci to declare a civil emergency. The measure allowed fuel oil and propane drivers to circumvent federal regulations so they could work overtime to make emergency deliveries.
Thursday's brutal weather did not keep a Jewish community in Bangor, Maine, from predawn worship. Sixty families pray daily at Congregation Beth Abraham, said Sandy Podolsky, a member of the synagogue for more than 60 years. On the Sabbath, the families walk to their service, regardless of weather.
