Earth Changes
Parts of highways connecting Henan, Shanxi, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces were blocked. In northern Shanxi province, greenhouses for vegetables collapsed under the weight of snow, footage on state television showed on Sunday.
"More than 45,000 acres of fruit trees, tea farms as well as greenhouses for vegetable have been damaged by freezing rains and snow," the Ministry of Agriculture said, adding that wheat planting could be delayed due to the cold weather.
Spanish police and soldiers were working to rescue thousands of people trapped on roads in the centre of the country after heavy snowfall forced them to spend Saturday night in their cars.
Hundreds of vehicles were caught in the snow on the AP-6 motorway in Castile and León and north-western parts of the Madrid region as people returned from Epiphany celebrations.
More than 150 members of the army's military emergencies unit (UME) were deployed early on Sunday to help Guardia Civil officers reach stranded motorists.

Civil Protection Forces and the Marine Rescue Unit in Alexandria found a dead fin whale on the beach of the Azur Hotel in Rushdi area, eastern Alexandria
A dead fin whale was found Sunday on Egypt's Alexandria Mediterranean shore, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.
The 12-metre-long black and white female whale is believed to have been washed into the Mediterranean shores from its natural habitat at the Atlantic ocean through strait Gibraltar because of a sea storm.
The 7-8-year-old rare fin whale was then pulled to the shore and found at Roshdy beach in Alexandria, Al-Ahram said.
The woman told Florida Highway Patrol officers that a cat jumped into her car and attacked her Friday night in a residential West Cocoa neighborhood as she attempted to drive away from a home on the block. As the unidentified woman tried to fend off the foul feline inside her vehicle somehow she bailed out of her car but forgot that it was still in reverse.
She was run over by her own car as it backed up over her, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Today reported.
The surfer, known only as Justin, was pulled from the water and initially treated on shore by an off-duty nurse before he was transported to Margaret River Hospital about 6pm.
Andy Gradisen was surfing alongside the man when the unknown species of shark struck and said the attack took "a small chunk" out of his mate's foot.
"We were out the back of South Point and I heard Justin flapping about in the water," Mr Gradisen said.
"He put his foot up and he was bleeding quite badly.
This follows the eruption of a sleeping volcano, which erupted at least 16 hours ago.
Kopar councillor Tom Kelly told this newsroom that the boats were sent out as soon as they noticed that something was wrong. However, the boats are yet to return.
Kopar is the nearest island - at least a thirty-minute boat ride to Kadovar.
Kelly said at the moment, thick clouds can be seen from the island, and the clouds are darker and increasing at an alarming rate.
He said they are yet to receive a response from the disaster office or government.
Comment: See also this report update about 7 hours later: Kadovar situation has worsened:
Wewak District Administrator Ricky Wobar says the situation on Kadovar Island has worsened.
He made the statement after flying to assess the situation on the island with the Samaritan Aviation, where they observed lava coming out of the once dormant volcano.
There was no evidence of inhabitants where it was hoped that they have all been moved to the nearby islands.
Wobar said they are planning another gathering around 7pm tonight to come up with strategies to address this catastrophe.
Relevant authorities, including the police and defence force, have also been notified.
According to locals, the volcano on Kadovar Island, believed to be dormant for decades, started billowing smoke yesterday at around midday.
We are not ready for any of this mentally or in any other way thanks to people like former president Obama, the Pope, and let's never forget Al Gore. Some of the most unscrupulous people have been championing the cause of manmade global warming even though the science and actual conditions on the ground have been showing for ten years that there is no such thing as manmade warming.
It has been a big snow job, pure propaganda and now the gig is up as it starts snowing in Florida of all places. Now we have temperatures crashing, almost the entire continental United States frozen over, snow accumulating in record amounts and ice forming in the great lakes at breathtaking speed. It is not just record breaking cold but record breaking snow fall that is showing us just how difficult global cooling will be compared to global warming.
At least 22 people have died as a result of the extreme conditions, CBS News reports. The casualties include a girl who was hit with a pickup truck whilst sledding in Richmond, Virginia, and a man who was killed by a snow plow, also in Virginia.
The National Weather Service said the "arctic airmass [is] to remain entrenched over the eastern US this weekend."
"Bitterly cold temperatures and dangerous wind chills are likely over the eastern third of the country this weekend," it warned.
Comment: Chicago hasn't seen a cold snap this long (12 days) since 1936 and 1895 before that, with areas reaching 21 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. There's a wind chill warning for the rest of the weekend in the northeast, where temps may drop as low as 45 below with the wind chill:
Daily record lows within reach Sunday morning include (record to beat is shown): Boston (2 degrees below zero); Providence (1 degree below zero); New York City (4 degrees); Philadelphia (4 degrees).The past 2 weeks have seen daily record lows in the area.
If Philadelphia slips below zero on Sunday morning it would be the first subzero low temperature in the city since 1994.
New York City could record just its second subzero low temperature since 1994 on Sunday morning. The last time the Big Apple was below zero was on Valentine's Day in 2016
Some relief from the cold will arrive in the Midwest on Sunday as temperatures rise to near or above average in most locations. This return to near-average temperatures will sweep into the Northeast by early next week.
According to Iranian state television, there have been no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
The quake struck 21 kilometers from Sarpol-e Zahab in western Iran at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the USGS. A 4.7 magnitude aftershock was recorded in the area shortly after the quake, according to Iranian news outlet Khabar.















Comment: See also: Heavy snowfall in Alpine regions leaves 30,000 skiers stranded