Extreme Temperatures
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Ice Cube

Polar vortex puts millions across the U.S. at risk from brutally cold weather - Includes Global Warming dunnit nonsense

Ed Pilkington
The Guardian
Mon, 06 Jan 2014 00:00 UTC
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© John Dixon/APA wrecked semi truck sits in a ditch in Illinois as sub-zero temperatures hit driving conditions.
- Twenty six states under federal warnings for severe wind chills

- Montana recording a record-making wind chill of -52C (-61F)

- Live blog: life-threatening cold hits North America

Millions of Americans from Montana down to as far south as Alabama are being warned that their lives are at risk if they venture out for any length of time into brutally cold conditions that are driving temperatures to their lowest in 20 years.

Severe weather warnings from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for Minnesota and Wisconsin said that wind chills caused by gusts of up to 30 mph were causing temperatures to plummet to between -37C (-35F) and -46C (-50F). "Exposed flesh will freeze and cause frost bite in only five minutes," the warning observed, adding that such dangerous conditions were likely to last until at least Tuesday afternoon.

Twenty six states continue to be under federal warnings for severe wind chills as bitterly cold air is swept down from the Arctic, with Montana recording a wind chill of -52C (-61F). The severe weather has already caused havoc in the Northern Plains and is expected to reach the north-east on Tuesday, extending disruption to airports and travellers. More than 3,000 flights were cancelled on Monday and Chicago's O'Hare International airport has been particularly badly affected.
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Chalkboard

Obama in Nov.: 'Excessively high temperatures' are 'already' harming public health - Issues Executive order against climate

Craig Bannister
CNS News
Wed, 06 Nov 2013 00:00 UTC
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© Scott Olson/Getty ImagesIce builds up along Lake Michigan at North Avenue Beach as temperatures dipped well below zero on Jan. 6, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.
"Excessively high temperatures" are "already" harming public health nationwide, Pres. Obama declared on Nov. 1, 2013, two months before today's assault by record low temperatures.

In his executive order on climate change, Obama warned that too much rain - and not enough rain - also dictated that executive action against climate fluctuations:

"The impacts of climate change -- including an increase in prolonged periods of excessively high temperatures, more heavy downpours, an increase in wildfires, more severe droughts, permafrost thawing, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise -- are already affecting communities, natural resources, ecosystems, economies, and public health across the Nation. These impacts are often most significant for communities that already face economic or health-related challenges, and for species and habitats that are already facing other pressures."
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Ice Cube

"The day after tomorrow" in Chicago: What the windy city looks like under ice


Huffington Post
Wed, 08 Jan 2014 08:30 UTC
With temperatures in Chicago hobbling above zero for the first time in 37 hours Tuesday afternoon, it appears some relief is finally within sight for the Windy City.
frozen chicago
© Hank CainWeather Channel producer Shawn Reynolds tweeted this incredible photo taken by pilot Hank Cain of a tundra-like Chicago, from above.
But while "ChiBeria" will soon be a thing of the past, we'll still have some incredibly remarkable photos to show for the bitterly cold, icy, undeniably unpleasant series of days.

frozen chicago
© Scott Olson/Getty Images
Thanks for the memories, polar vortex.
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Snowflake Cold

Has the Ice Age arrived? Temperatures drop below freezing in all 50 U.S. states

Joanna Walters
The Guardian
Wed, 08 Jan 2014 08:01 UTC
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How Chicago currently looks from the air. Is the 'Day After Tomorrow' ... today?
Temperatures in all 50 US states dipped below freezing on Tuesday in a rare nationwide chill that will keep a grip on much of the country for at least another day, with cutting winds and blizzards posing the most danger.

Florida, a state that normally basks in its reputation as a warm winter escape, experienced unusually low temperatures. In the midwest, northeast and eastern Canada, it was dangerous to venture outside. At some point on Tuesday, at least one location in each of the 50 US states recorded temperatures below freezing, with the highest point on Hawaii, Mauna Kea, recording a temperature of 21F (-6C).

The so-called polar vortex that funnelled an Arctic low pressure system into the upper US this week swung south and east on Tuesday. Polar conditions settled over two-thirds of the US.

It was colder in the southern state of Georgia than Alaska as Atlanta plunged to 6F (-14C) - the lowest temperature since 1966 - while Anchorage, Alaska, recorded 27F (-3C) . Wind chills were recorded around -60F in parts of Michigan, Minnesota, Montana and New Hampshire.
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Bulb

Protecting your home from extreme cold


CBS News - New York
Mon, 06 Jan 2014 11:02 UTC
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© CBS 2Experts say you should keep a trickle of water running in extreme cold to keep pipes from freezing.
Temperatures in the single digits were set to arrive early Tuesday, and they can really do a number on your home.

CBS 2's Dave Carlin went in search of some tips on how to protect your house for the bitter blast.

Phyllis Dalton of Levittown was standing right under the spot Monday where several years ago, a water pipe snapped during a cold snap.

She promised herself it would never happen again, and started winterizing.

"You pay attention and you do those little things," Levittown said.

Levittown learned just like people need layers of clothing in the extreme cold, houses also need layers of protection. The advice is particularly important in preventing freezing pipes.

"(There is) a valve - a shut off valve," said Brian Bruce, who operates New York American Water.
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Life Preserver

NYC area airports packed with what amounts to Climate Change Refugees - Expect more such scenarios


CBS News
Mon, 06 Jan 2014 20:49 UTC
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© Reuters/Carlo AllegriA woman sit on the floor while her flight is delayed at La Guardia airport in New York, January 6, 2014.
Hours before a deep freeze moved in, flights in and out of the New York City area had already been disrupted.

JetBlue halted operations at all three major New York-area airports and in Boston in an effort to catch up with dozens of weather-related delays and cancellations.

The airline announced Monday that operations stopped entirely at Newark, John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports and at Boston's Logan International Airport at 5 p.m.

The plan allows 17 hours for the company to rest crew and time to service aircraft.

As CBS 2′s Tracee Carrasco reported, stranded travelers had nowhere to go and nothing to do Monday but wait and sleep in airport terminals.

JetBlue customer Julia Moron has been desperately trying to get home to Houston for days.

"I've been stuck here between JFK and now LaGuardia since Thursday," she said.
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Igloo

Welcome to the new normal - and how to prepare for it

James Smith
Prepper Podcast Radio Network
Mon, 06 Jan 2014 00:00 UTC
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© Destination TV
There is no simpler way to put it - we are entering a mini to full blown ice age, and despite the rhetoric, we all have to prepare for it.

I don't care if you are rich or poor. Your skin color matters not, nor your political leanings. We all have to prepare for the obvious and the sooner you do, the quicker your life can begin some sense of normality.

Preparing for an ice age means that you will have to alter your diet to meet available foodstuffs. Planning now is the smartest decision you can make.

The sun, the life giving big ball of gas, is not acting normal. It's acting sluggish. And when it does that, we enter into periods of global cooling. These three articles tell us that the sun is at a low: It doesn't matter what some academic aboard a research vessel says - we are getting colder.

The problem has been defined. The solution - not that difficult! It will require work and basic knowledge, but if our ancestors could survive, so can we.

First, your diet needs to change. A meatless diet simply will not work, as the body needs cholesterol in order to make the necessary hormones like adrenaline, testosterone, and estrogen. As the mercury drops to sub-normal temperature, cholesterol will be used by the body because of increased activity to stay warm. The shiver reflex helps raise the body's temperature, the testosterone will increase body hair to help stay warm, and estrogen will help thermoregulate a woman's body.
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Ice Cube

Hundreds of American travelers spend night trapped on 3 snowbound Amtrak trains in rural Illinois


Breitbart
Tue, 07 Jan 2014 16:17 UTC
Hundreds of Amtrak passengers who spent the night onboard three trains stranded in snow in northern Illinois have begun to arrive in Chicago, rail line officials said Tuesday morning.


About 300 passengers on two trains that were stuck near Mendota, about 80 miles from Chicago, boarded buses in Princeton for the final leg of their trip, said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari. They began arriving in downtown Chicago around 7 a.m. Tuesday and more were expected to arrive throughout the morning.

A third train loaded with 217 people spent the night at a BNSF rail yard in Galesburg; they were taking buses for the final 150 miles to Chicago.

The trains - The Southwest Chief from Los Angeles, the Illinois Zephyr from Quincy and the California Zephyr from the San Francisco Bay area - got stuck after 3 p.m. Monday in blowing, drifting snow and ice that Magliari said made the tracks impassable.
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Snowflake Cold

It's time to get rid of meaningless wind chill numbers

Daniel Engber
Slate
Tue, 07 Jan 2014 10:47 UTC
weatherman
© Rob Donnelly

A cold snap is setting record low temperatures across the United States. Yes, it's very cold. But wind chill is not a useful way to describe the weather, as Daniel Engber explained in 2007. The original article is below.

If the weather makes headlines only when it's horrendous out, wind chill is its PR agent. This week, when temperatures in New York City dropped to single digits, newspapers and TV meteorologists breathlessly reported that the wind chill had hit minus 11. In Ohio, they told us, the thermometers read close to zero, but gusts of cold air made it feel like 25 below. Banner stories proclaimed a wind chill of 35 below in Chicago.

The weathermen trot out these arctic, pumped-down numbers to put an exclamation point on the banality of winter. Wind chill readings make excitement out of mere inconvenience; they imbue a miserable day with the air of epic calamity. A temperature of 5 degrees is unpleasant. A wind chill of 20 below - well, that's something to talk about.
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Snowflake Cold

New York City breaks 118-year old chill record


My Fox NY
Tue, 07 Jan 2014 16:09 UTC
New York Chill map
© MyFox NYCold Weather: Wind Chills that were recorded across the region on Tuesday morning at 8 a.m.
The coldest, most dangerous blast of polar air in decades gripped the country on Tuesday, Jan. 7, closing schools and day care centers, grounding flights and forcing people to pull their hoods and scarves tight to protect exposed skin from nearly instant frostbite.

On this record breaking cold day, New Yorkers described the weather as "brutal." Dr. Jeffrey Rabrich at St. Luke's Hospital told Fox 5 that he has seen patients come in with frost bite. He said if you're not wearing gloves or a hat, frostbite can set in within minutes.

Central Park broke a 118-year-old record for Jan. 7 when the temperature dropped to 4 degrees. Strong winds pushed the wind chill well below zero. Central Park had a record low temp of 6° since 1896. The Tuesday temperature was 50 degrees lower than was recorded on Monday.
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