Arctic chill brings record low temperatures to the Northeast

Arctic sea smoke rises from the the Atlantic Ocean as a passenger ferry passes Spring Point Ledge Light, on Saturday, off the coast of South Portland, Maine. The morning temperature was about minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

Robert F. Bukaty / Robert F. Bukaty

An Arctic chill is sweeping the northeastern U.S., with wind gusts powering frigid temperatures not seen in decades.

In New Hampshire, the peak of Mount Washington on Friday night hit minus 46 degrees Fahrenheit, the lowest temperature ever recorded at the station atop the state’s highest mountain — known for its extreme weather — since 1934, a year after recordings began, according to the National Weather Service.

The Mount Washington summit’s windchill — how cold the temperature feels — recorded an all-time record low of minus 108 degrees, said the NWS. The reading was so extreme, the agency said, that it created errors in its software.