The Latest: Maine man found dead; faulty heater suspected

CONCORD, N.H. – The Latest on the dangerously cold temperatures and strong winds that have moved into the Northeast U.S. (all times local):

4 p.m.

State police in Maine say a malfunctioning kerosene heater played a role in the death of a man in Turner.

Police say the body of 52-year-old Craig Gordon was discovered in a camper trailer on Thursday morning. They say the camper was being heated by two kerosene heaters.

Investigators are still looking into what kind of malfunction contributed to Gordon’s death. They say there was thick smoke and soot in the camper, and carbon monoxide poisoning is another possibility.

The state medical examiner is to determine how Gordon died.

Plunging temperatures and gusty winds have made their way into the Northeastern U.S., the next victim in the path of dangerously cold temperatures to hit the country.

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12:45 p.m.

A blizzard warning has been issued for parts of upstate New York along Lake Ontario, as dangerously cold temperatures move to the Northeast from across the Upper Midwest.

Arctic air and wind gusts approaching 70 mph threatened the New York region with dangerous cold. The National Weather Service said blizzard warnings were in effect Thursday until 1 a.m. Friday.

Forecasters said lake-effect snow was accompanied by winds of 30 mph to 50 mph, causing whiteout conditions in some places.

Storms that began Wednesday dumped a foot of snow on parts of the Buffalo area, where dozens of schools south and east of the city cancelled classes Thursday.

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1:40 a.m.

Dangerously cold temperatures gripped the Upper Midwest ahead of a storm that’s expected to bring heavy snow in coming days, while schools and officials in the Northeast braced for their own wintry blast.

Many areas from North Dakota to Pennsylvania are under a wind chill advisory Thursday.

The National Weather Service said that in western Wisconsin, Thursday morning’s wind chills could get as low as minus 30.

The cold has claimed at least one life: A 34-year-old woman died of hypothermia in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was found Monday, when temperatures dropped to 3 below zero and wind chills were minus 19.

Officials in Connecticut, Vermont and New York were also bracing for an arctic blast.