((AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)) BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A splash of beet juice, a dollop of molasses, a squeeze of cheese brine. In the coldest weather, the recipe for safer roads often goes beyond the usual sprinkling of salt. Across the nation's snow belt, transportation officials are in the market for cheap and environmentally friendly ways to make rock salt work better by keeping it on the roads longer and melting ice at lower temperatures. Plain salt is largely ineffective below...

The Chicago skyline and a freezing Lake Michigan are seen from the Museum Campus in Chicago on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) BUFFALO, N.Y. — Roads and schools were closed and flights canceled across upstate New York on Tuesday as a blizzard slammed the western part of the state while dangerously cold temperatures gripped eastern areas from the Adirondacks to New York City. The storm had dumped an estimated 15 to 18 inches of snow in some...

MINNEAPOLIS -- Fountains froze over, a 200-foot Ferris wheel in Atlanta shut down, and Southerners had to dig out winter coats, hats and gloves they almost never have to use. The brutal polar air that has made the Midwest shiver over the past few days spread to the East and the Deep South on Tuesday, shattering records that in some cases had stood for more than a century. The mercury plunged into the single digits and teens from Boston and...

Dangerous polar temperatures are breaking records across the eastern half of the United States for a second day. The frigid air comes after Winter Storm Ion dumped snow on the Midwest and Northeast. At least 21 deaths are blamed on the frigid temperatures and winter weather, but that number could rise dramatically as coroners in several states complete autopsies to confirm more weather-related deaths. With the bitter cold slowing baggage handling and aircraft refueling, airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights...

St. Louis Snow and ice are seen covering up Mississippi River and downtown St. Louis Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato) The polar plunge that grippedmillions of Americans this week is starting to loosen its grip, allowing a January thaw to settle in. (MORE: ) Single-digit temperatures reached as far south as Florida, while breathtaking wind chills well below zero closed schools and businesses in cities that are generallyused to the cold, like Milwaukee and Madison. The gallery above...

St. Louis Snow and ice are seen covering up Mississippi River and downtown St. Louis Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato) The deep freeze finally startedto relent Wednesday afternoon, but problems still lingered across the eastern half of the nation. (PHOTOS:) As travel advisories lifted, drivers headed back to work. But some found stubborn, cold cars wouldn't start. AAA Mid-Atlantic reported Wednesday that calls for assistance reached unprecedented levels on Tuesday, when the deep freeze was at its worst....

Rapid Weather Changes to Start 2014 For many cities in the East, rapidly changing temperatures have been a common theme during the start of 2014. The latest temperature swing will arrive this weekend with many cities climbing 10 to 20 degrees above average. (MORE: ) Starting with Boston below, let's take a look at a few of the rapid changes some cities have dealt with since Jan. 1. Boston Beantown has seen it all from heavy snow and frigid temperatures...

Daily snow cover analysis from Nov. 20, 2013 to Jan. 16, 2014. Dates can be seen at the top of the animation. Theanimation above illustrates the evolving snow cover across the United States from Nov. 20, 2013 to Jan. 16, 2014.Each of the daily analysis maps were obtained from the(NOHRSC). Winter Storm NameDatesOct. 3-5, 2013Nov. 21-26, 2013Dec. 1-7, 2013Dec. 6-10, 2013Dec. 11-15, 2013Dec. 16-17, 2013Dec. 19-22, 2013Jan. 1-3, 2014Jan. 5-6, 2014 During this span of 59 days, the percentage of...

Wintry weather produced treacherous driving situations in Lafayette, Ind. Thirteen vehicles, including nine semitrailers, crashed in heavy snow Saturday on Interstate 65 near Lafayette and multiple smaller wrecks followed, Indiana State Police said. Weather observations within Lafayette,Ind. at the time of the crash indicate as much as four inches of snowfall. Winds were blowing out of the southeast at nine miles per hour. Due to the snowfall and fog in the area, visibility was reduced to three-quarters of a mile....

A snowman made with cookies and a red plastic cup sits in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) Snow from Winter Storm Janus has been falling since early Tuesday and it's starting to pile up for some parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. With the bulk of the snow occurring late Tuesday and into early Wednesday. These numbers are expected to go up in the coming hours. (MORE: ) Below is a...

The Chicago skyline and a freezing Lake Michigan are seen from the Museum Campus in Chicago on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) Winter Storm Ion delivered a one-two punch of snow and brutal Arctic air to parts of the central U.S. on Jan. 5-6, 2014. The worst impacts were in Indiana, where heavy snow and high winds led to severe travel difficulties and even closures on several major highways in central and northern parts of the state....

Typical Polar Vortex Position The Northern Hemisphere polar vortex frequently, but not always, has centers in two main areas: one near Canada's Baffin Island, and the other over northeast Siberia. No doubt you've heard the phrase "polar vortex" pinging around the news media. One of the coldest Arctic outbreaks in two decades hasplunged into country, bringingbitterly cold temperatures to the Midwest, South and East. (MORE: ) But is this polar vortex really behind this outbreak? What is a polar vortex...

The worst of the latest blast of bitterly cold air was at its strongest Monday night into Tuesday morning, and residents are begging for spring. And thanks to widespread school cancelations, parents were forced to bring their kids to work or leave them at home alone. "Dangerously cold temperatures will continue in the Midwest for the start of the work week with wind chills in the-20s,-30sand-40s," said weather.com meteorologist. "In Chicago, the low temperature Tuesday morning will rival the coldest...