ATLANTA - Snow and blustery winds blew into the already-frigid East on Friday and a deep freeze settled into the Deep South, making highways especially hazardous in a region unaccustomed to the chilly temperatures.
Arctic air continued to blanket much of the nation a day after a tractor-trailer jackknifed on a snow-slick Ohio road and hit a van carrying disabled adults, killing four people.
In Atlanta, more accustomed to winter temperatures in the low 50s, a glaze of ice coated roads Friday after light snow overnight melted and froze.
In Alabama, packed shelters brought out extra cots and opened doors for people fearful of the deadly cold.
Multiple deaths have been blamed on this week's cold, including a 44-year-old man whose body was found face-down in the snow early Friday in Billings, Mont. Schools in at least 10 states were closed, as were many roads and government offices.
The edge of the storm reached the Philadelphia area overnight. The National Weather Service said 5 to 7 inches of snow was expected across Western Pennsylvania. In Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas, it has snowed every day since New Year's, a stretch that meteorologists say is unusual.
Some Nebraska cities were cut off because highways leading in and out of town were blocked or all but impassable.
Amtrak announced that its train between Chicago and Denver wouldn't operate on Friday because of blowing and drifting snow in Nebraska.
Snowfall was heaviest in Minnesota and parts of South Dakota, where some drifts were too big for snowplow drivers to clear.
Nowhere was it colder than in Bismarck, N.D., where wind chills hit 52 below zero Thursday and the temperature reached 14 below. Wind chills were still near 50 below in the Dakotas for a second day.