COLD BLASTS WINTER-WEARY NORTHERN, CENTRAL STATES.

Byline: Associated Press 

Arctic cold gripped much of the northern and central states, with record low temperatures across the northern Plains and upper Midwest. Temperatures were still below zero during the afternoon from Idaho into Illinois.

"I have to say I have never been so sick of winter. I have had it," said Marvel Sjostrom at Seeley, Wis., where her home thermometer showed a temperature of 48 below zero.

Tower and Embarrass, Minn., were coldest of all, with readings of 55 below. A wind-chill reading of 74 below was reported at Hallock, Minn.

At least one death was indirectly attributed to the cold. In West Point, an 89-year-old man died Wednesday in a house fire that investigators said was started by a space heater being used to thaw frozen water lines.

It was even cold for International Falls, Minn., which celebrates itself as the nation's icebox. The city's minus-35 reading tied its record for the date, and it was the 10th straight day of temperatures of 30 below or worse.

"We were hoping for that. Our image has been bad for the last couple of years because it's been too warm," said Sonny Nesbitt, 69, a retired state trooper in International Falls.

Record lows for the date were tied or broken in Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois.