Bismarck, Feb 19 (AP) More than 95 million people are facing gripping cold on Tuesday as a polar vortex sends temperatures plunging to record levels, closing schools, bursting pipes and forcing communities to set up more temporary shelters for the homeless.

"Some of the coldest temperatures of the entire winter season right now across the central US," said Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

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The harsh cold descended on the nation's midsection on Monday on the heels of weekend storms that pummelled eastern US, killing at least 17 people, Orrison said.

It is so dangerous that hundreds of public school districts cancelled classes or switched to online learning in Oklahoma, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Kansas and Missouri. And in Kansas City, Kansas, dozens of tents were set up in one building to house the homeless.

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The biggest batch of record-setting cold temperatures are likely to hit early on Thursday and Friday, Orrison said. But North Dakota already felt more like the North Pole on Tuesday as Bismarck broke the record of minus 38.3 degrees Celsius set in 1910 for the same date.

Stephanie Hatzenbuhler's family has been contending with the cold in many ways on their farm and ranch west of Mandan, North Dakota, from their calving operation, to vehicles and equipment starting, to their coal-fired furnace keeping up.

"There's always something new to learn and something new to experience. It doesn't matter how many times you've done this, so you have to adapt," said Hatzenbuhler, who called the cold spell "the Siberian experience".

Conditions were rapidly deteriorating across northeast, east and central Oklahoma as residents in these parts of the state were dealing with freezing rain, ice and snow, according to the National Weather Service.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said US Highway 75 between Tulsa and Okmulgee was shut down in both directions because of the amount of vehicles and semi-tractor trailers that were stuck on the road due to ice.

"Our troopers are working to get salt and sand trucks to the area to treat the roads but it is extremely slick in that area," the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said in post on X.

In upstate New York, a foot or more of lake-effect snow was expected to fall on Tuesday in some areas east of Lake Ontario. The blowing snow created white-out conditions and prompted travel advisories.

Snowfall across the US measured as much as three feet to 6.5 feet in southeastern Wyoming's Snowy Range, to several inches from South Dakota to Missouri.

In flood-battered Kentucky, the state was bracing for a winter storm that could dump a half-foot or more of snow in some parts of the state, starting Wednesday.

"This is a snowstorm in the middle of a natural disaster," Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said at a news conference.

The weather-related death toll in Kentucky rose to 14, the governor said, with the two latest fatalities in Jefferson County, which includes Louisville. The two, an adult male and an adult female, were apparently homeless and both appeared to die from hypothermia, he said.

"So that should tell all of us that the weather conditions are as dangerous as that water is," Beshear said.

Officials in Virginia prepared for up to a foot of snow in the state's southern region, less than a week after being pummelled with snow, freezing rain and floodwaters.

"If you are not where you want to be by midnight tonight, please don't go," Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin said in a news conference.

Youngkin said the National Guard will be deployed across the state, and officials have also stockpiled water and meals for those in need. Local governments will also keep the doors of their homeless shelters open.

In North Carolina, Governor Josh Stein declared a state of emergency on Tuesday as the National Weather Service forecast the approaching storm could bring up to 22.9 centimetres in far northeastern counties near the Atlantic coast.

The most populated areas of the state, including Charlotte, Raleigh and Greensboro, could see from 2.5 to 7.6 centimetres of snow, according to the weather service. Mountain areas still recovering from Hurricane Helene in the fall are largely expected to receive an inch or two.

Stein and state Emergency Management Director Will Ray also warned residents -- particularly in east-central counties -- about freezing rain and ice accumulation that could threaten power outages and make roads treacherous.

Ray said more than 180 North Carolina National Guard members have been activated to help any affected communities. Over 1,300 state Transportation Department employees and contractors were preparing for the storm in part by pretreating roads.

In Tennessee, Obion County Mayor Steve Carr said on social media on Monday evening that there are currently no reports of missing people or deaths after a levee failed on Saturday, flooding the small community of Rives, home to around 300 people in the western part of the state.

After assessing the destruction with the sheriff, the mayor said it is "unprecedented and has profoundly impacted the community". Rives remains under a state of emergency and more than 75 per cent of the city has had power restored, the mayor said.

In West Virginia, Governor Patrick Morrisey announced on Tuesday at least two storm-related deaths in the state's southern coalfields, as well as the death of a firefighter. (AP)

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