Earth Changes
In Canada, extreme cold warnings were issued for scores of communities across the country, including the heavily-populated provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
In the United States, a homeless man froze to death at a bus stop in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, local media said, quoting police and a homeless charity.
While Toronto reported temperatures of minus 15 C (5 F) and Ottawa minus 25 C, the coldest spot in Canada was minus 42.8 C in Armstrong, Ontario, according to Environment Canada.
Extreme cold warnings are issued "when very cold temperatures or wind chill creates an elevated risk to health such as frost bite and hypothermia," the government agency said.
Thanks to a blast of arctic air, we're bracing for temperatures about 20 degrees colder than normal averages over the next week. In Concord temperatures are expected to dip as low as -11.
Of course this doesn't even factor in the wind chill, which we all know provides an extra slap in the face when we walk out the door each morning.
But how does New Hampshire stack up against some of the coldest places on Earth? Should we really be complaining? The answer is yes.
Here are eight surprising places (as of 3 p.m. Wednesday) that will be warmer than New Hampshire over the next week, according to weather.com:
The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said the major eruption of Mount Sinabung, located in North Sumatra province, occurred at 3:36 p.m. and lasted for 8 minutes. It was its biggest eruption since August.
"Smoke and volcanic ash were spewed from the crater and the ash fell on several villages around Mount Sinabung," it said.
But no casualties were reported, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

Heavy snowfall has rangers digging out the headquarters at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park
More than 72 inches of snow have fallen in some areas of the park, and a groomer was headed out to pack down the cross-country trails today.
"Lower elevated areas have 36-60 inches and the higher elevations have 48-72 inches of snow," the park posted on its Facebook page today. "The National Weather Service is calling for additional snow."
The 60,000-acre park in the northwestern Upper Peninsula, along the shores of Lake Superior, is one of the last sprawling tracts of wilderness left in the Midwest.

Caroyln Yerdon, the NWS observer in Redfield, climbed atop a 15-foot pile of snow on Wednesday to celebrate Redfield's (unofficial) record for the most snow to fall in Oswego County in 48 hours.
Over the last two days, 62.2 inches of snow has accumulated in the town of 550 people, said Carolyn Yerdon, the National Weather Service observer.
The record beats the previous Oswego County record of 57 inches in Bennetts Bridge in February 2008, according to the weather service.
It's the biggest accumulation in a list of hundreds of big totals across Europe with up to 80cm of snow reported in the Pyrenees and the same in the Alps.
The snowfall at Arabba appears to be the biggest snowfall in the region for nearly four years since the village was cut off by snow in early 2014 when a state of emergency was declared when roads were blocked and power cut off.
This is the snow falling last night:
The whale has been tied to a dock until scientists arrive to investigate the cause of death and determine what type of whale it is. A port spokesperson said this is a rare occurrence and can't recall a whale ever being trapped in shipping traffic.
The whale was discovered by the Coast Guard near Nimitz Road at Pier T and Bert 140 around 6 p.m., Long Beach Fire Dept. spokesperson Brian Fisk said.
According to state records, the -36 morning in International Falls is only about halfway to the state record low temperature of -60 in Tower, Minnesota on Feb. 2, 1996. The all-time record low for International Falls is -55F, set in January 1909.
Most of the injured were trying to escape buildings and were released from hospital after treatment, Iran's Emergency Medical Services said.
The earthquake, which struck at 12.54am local time, was an aftershock of a bigger 5.2 magnitude quake on 20 December, which left two people dead.
Residents have reported seeing a storm cell that looked like a "miniature tornado" tearing through Queensland's Darling Downs region as strong winds and heavy showers wreaked havoc on Boxing Day.
Kingaroy locals described a "large wind tunnel" wreaking havoc, lifting roofs from houses and uprooting trees in the area on Tuesday afternoon.













Comment: See also: US: Christmas brings Northeast blizzard, bitter cold in Midwest