By Natalie Armstrong TORONTO, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Large sections of southern Canada and the United States continued to shiver in unusually severe winter temperatures on Tuesday, with even homeless people in Toronto forsaking the streets for indoor warmth. Toronto extended its "extreme cold weather alert" for a fourth consecutive day as temperatures dropped to minus 11 Celsius (12.2 Fahrenheit). During such alerts, the city opens emergency beds for the homeless and relaxes homeless shelter rules. "Even some of those who are usually reluctant to go inside, will go inside when it's this cold," said Iain De Jong, manager of the City of Toronto's Streets to Home project. One holdout on downtown streets that were unusually empty of panhandlers and homeless people on Tuesday was Mark, 44, who said he has spent every night this winter sleeping outside a coffee shop in Toronto's financial district. "If I can survive the last two nights, I can survive tonight's frost," he said. The Arctic cold blowing into southern Canada was also hitting the United States. "It's over a large portion of the country where records where challenged, or tied," said Kerry Schwindenhammer, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather.com. "Records were broken or tied anywhere from the Ohio valley, even down toward the Carolinas." Schools were closed for a second day in some parts of the northern United States. House fires in Kentucky and Tennessee on Tuesday killed 14 people, 10 of them children, officials said. Temperatures were below freezing in both locations and officials were investigating whether heating problems caused by bitter cold played a role. In Canada, the south shivered while some places in the Far North were relatively mild. "The world seems upside down," said David Phillips, of Environment Canada, the government weather agency. Phillips said Iqaluit, the capital of one of Canada's Arctic territories, was warmer than the country's southerly tip at Windsor, Ontario, which borders Detroit. The temperature in Windsor was minus 11 Celsius (12.2 Fahrenheit), while Iqaluit was minus 6 Celsius (21.2 Fahrenheit) Winnipeg, Manitoba, on the Canadian Prairies, nicknamed Winterpeg for its traditionally chilly temperatures, has broken daily records for the past three days but warmed a little on Tuesday to minus 31 Celsius (minus 23.8 Fahrenheit). Flin Flon, Manitoba, northwest of Winnipeg, broke a daily record with a low of minus 40 Celsius (minus 40 Fahrenheit). "I hardly think that's muscle shirts and halter top weather," Phillips said. "But today's nice compared to a couple of days ago. Balmy." Back in Toronto, Mark, the homeless man, was providing cold weather tips. "I bundle up warm," he said, while wearing a woolen hat, a hooded jacket, mitts and a thin blanket. "I'm used to it. I've got lots of blankets. As long as you're out of the wind, you're OK." A street outreach worker had just given him a hat, scarf and a sandwich and Mark accepted an offer to be checked on in the evening. He said patrons to the nearby coffee shop have been generous. (Additional reporting by Mike Conlon in Chicago)
