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The northeastern region of the United States shivered amid heavy snowfall and far-below-average temperatures on Wednesday in a storm that grounded thousands of flights and triggered traffic chaos.

The nasty weather, with its bone-chilling gusts and heavy snow, stretched from Washington to New England. The Midwestern US was hit hard as well.

Taking into account the wind chill factor, the temperature in Chicago plummeted to -28 C, the Chicago Tribune said.

In the nation's largest city, the Tuesday-evening commute home in New York was a mess, and the city was expected to get as much as 35 cm of snow by Wednesday morning.

The city's new mayor, Bill de Blasio, urged people to stay home so road crews could clear streets.

Downtown Washington fell eerily silent after the federal government, seeing the swift-moving storm approaching, closed its doors and told civil servants - who already had the day off on Monday for the national Martin Luther King Jr holiday - to stay home on Tuesday as well.

On Wednesday, federal agencies were scheduled to open two hours late. Employees could also take unscheduled leave, and those that could were allowed to work from home.

The nation's capital is famous for cowering in the face of even a few snowflakes, but Tuesday's storm seemed to justify a shutdown.

Many offices and schools followed suit, as winds of 32 km per hour whipped through Washington's unusually quiet streets.

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