Brutally cold arctic air is spreading a dangerous deep freeze over half the country. The frigid blast forcing schools and government officers to close from deep south to the northeast.

 

Temperatures that we're talking about are deadly. This is a commination that is unlikely anything we've seen in a long, long time. 

 

Nearly 140 million people were experienced wind chills temperatures of zero degrees or below by Wednesday. Temperatures the country hasn't seen in decades, in fact, Chicago, St. Louis and Atlanta are all colder than Anxx, Alaska. 

 

The conditions are very bad, roads are very slippery.

 

And it's not just the plummeting temperatures. A massive snow storm battering mid-west dumped up to 16 inches of snow in St. Louis. The iconic St. Louis Arch, barely visible under the onslaught of snow. 

 

This is a dangerous storm, driving conditions range from difficult to impossible. 

 

In XXX, the entire basketball team from Southern XX University got stranded in the snow. Returning home from a game, their bus caught in a powerful winter storm. The team was stuck on the interstate for six hours before a tow truck was able to dig them out. But there's a relief inside, the sub-zero temperatures and snow were virturally be gone by Wednesday. 

 

See if you can ID me. I'm a typle of flu virus that's spread worldwide in 2009. My symptoms are like those of typical flu, but I used to be known as swine flu, because I'm like a virus circulates in pigs. I'm H1N1 and I'm the most common strand flu that Americans are catching this year. 

 

Of course, we don't catch it from pigs, we catch it from other people. And with flu season in full swine, millions of Americans are coughing, running fevers, getting chills and body aches. And unfortunately passing it around. Just over the past week,  the number of states reporting wide spread flu activity jumped from ten states to 25. Wide spread means large chunks of states are reporting flu cases. The most common strain, the H1N1 virus is affecting a lot of young people, particularly in the South. With proper care, it's not usually life-threatening, but it's sure not fun. So how can you avoid it? Doctor says the flu vaccine is a good start, it takes about two weeks before it's effective though. Another way to protect yourself, wash your hands then exposed wash your hands. Ready to eat, wash your hands. It makes the virus less likely to hit your body. 

 

We always enjoy taking a moment to recognize some of the schools recognizing  us. It's time for the CNN Student News. "Roll Call", we are gonna start out west with the neurotic country high school mustangs. They are online in Caspar, Whileming, North Stafford High, you are on our roll. The wolvins are watching Stafford, Virginia. And leaving a legacy in Orlando, Florida, we are taking off with jets from legacy middle school.  Our friends in Minnesota know about the same paul winter carnival, called the coolest celebration on earth. They've got some competition in northern of China, and like the American event, you can't mind the cold. This celebrates it. If highs in the single digits don't keep you lock inside, the reward is carved artwork of snow and ice. Multicolored lights accent the frigid architecture. And as you might guess, it attacks tourists from all over the world, who hopefully remember their colds. China actually offers travel packages focused on this event. Well, you might be wondering, how long of this come together. 

 

If you think you are pretty handy building a snowman, you  might want to get yourself to Northeast China where most builders one of the coolest shows on earth, the annual Harbin Ice Festival. Thousands of workers have been hacking blocks of ice out of the river to carve giant sculptures and make fairy tale palaces and castles. One of the main attractions this year, a replica church set to tower 115 high. All of ice is illuminated with computer controlled displays. Of course, if you are coming, don't forget your thermal underwear. Organizers say  you can catch frostbite.