[Steve D]

In addition to the democrat debate, an arctic cold front hit the northeast:

(From weather.gov):

January 17-19, 2016 Snow Event
Heavy Lake Effect Snow Hits Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania

An arctic cold front moved east across the Great Lakes Region on Sunday January 17th, ushering in the coldest air of the season. Most of northern Ohio received a light coating of snow as this system moved through, with snowfall totals ranging from a trace in Toledo to several inches of snow across the snowbelt region of northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania. Heavy lake effect snow then developed on Sunday night and continued at times through Tuesday as a prolonged period of west to northwest flow set up across Lake Erie. Lake Erie is experiencing below normal ice coverage this winter due to warm temperatures in December and early January. The lake was mostly ice free east of the islands which supplied the necessary moisture to maintain a prolonged period of lake effect snow. Westerly winds of 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph accompanied the snow. Areas outside of the snowbelt may have escaped the snow but did not escape the cold as wind chill values dropped to between zero and -17 on Sunday night.


Steve