Parts of US hit by extremely cold weather

Wind chills were wreacking havoc in the northern and central parts of the US while it snowed heavily from the Eastern Plain to Great Lakes Sunday, Xinhua reported.

A new round of heavy snow started to fall in Chicago, the US state of Illinois from Saturday. The city's O'Hare International Airport was forced to cancel 1,200 flights as the snowing weather continued Sunday, coupled with gusty winds.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for Chicago Saturday, which will be in effect until 6 p.m. Sunday. Officials are expecting 10-12 inches of snow to cover the Chicago area by Sunday evening.

John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, which had heavy snowfall Thursday night, also announced to temporarily suspend operations for domestic and international flights due to icing conditions early Sunday morning. It reopened for arriving and departing flights later Sunday, but warning residual delays.

The National Weather Service also warned at its website that the northern and central parts of the US will expect the coldest temperatures in about two decades because of the impact of an arctic cold front. Combined with gusty winds, the temperatures will result in "life-threatening wind chill values" as low as 16 degrees Celsius below zero in those areas.