Bottom drops out on temperatures in U.S.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Temperatures dropped to breathtaking levels, well below zero, in extreme northern sections of Maine early Monday.

Thermometers registered 34 degrees Fahrenheit below zero at Van Buren, 27 below at Presque Isle and 26 below at Allagash, the National Weather Service reported.

In the northern Rockies, Butte, Mont., registered 32 below at 8 a.m. — with a wind chill of minus 47, the weather service said.

Another of the nation's usual cold spots, International Falls, Minn., managed only 16.1 below zero, but even after the sun came up its temperature of 14 below combined with 6 mph wind for a wind chill of 29 below zero, according to a weather service Web site.