4 Attachment(s)
Extreme temperatures colder than Antarctica grip parts of the US
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=26981&stc=1
Temperatures in Buffalo dipped down to -19C
A deadly deep freeze has swept across the US Midwest, plunging temperatures to lower than those in Antarctica and prompting authorities to warn of almost instant frostbite.
Key points:
- The mercury in parts of the Midwest dipped below -31.7C, the temperature recorded at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station
- In northern Illinois, wind chill made the air feel like -49.4C
- At least six deaths have been linked so far to the weather system
As of Wednesday morning local time, more than seven in 10 Americans were experiencing below-freezing conditions, and the icy weather triggered widespread closures of schools and businesses and the cancelling of more than 1,600 flights from Chicago.
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=26983&stc=1
Whiteout conditions kept many indoors.
At least six deaths have been linked so far to the weather system, and authorities urged people to stay inside during what experts have described as "the coldest air in a generation".
The bitter cold is the result of a split in the polar vortex that allowed temperatures to drop much farther south than normal.
That meant temperatures in parts of the Midwest were lower than in Antarctica, where the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station hit -31.7 degrees Celsius — balmy compared to Fargo, North Dakota's -35C and Minneapolis' -32C, according to the National Weather Service.
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=26982&stc=1
Morning commuters battle through cold weather in Chicago.
Snowploughs were idled overnight because of the cold in south-western Minnesota, where temperatures dropped to -34C. In Chicago, temperatures were still dropping after plunging early on Wednesday to -28C, breaking the day's previous record low set in 1966 — and colder than the weather in Barrow, Alaska, the most northern town in the US.
And that does not include wind chill, which in northern Illinois made the air feel as cold as -49.4C.
The National Weather Service warned a wind chill of -45C "can lead to frostbite on exposed skin in as little as five minutes".
Officials throughout the region were focused on protecting vulnerable people from the cold, including the homeless, seniors and those living in substandard housing. Some buses were turned into mobile warming shelters to help the homeless in Chicago.
"These [conditions] are actually a public health risk and you need to treat it appropriately," Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.
"They are life-threatening conditions and temperatures."
https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?a...id=26984&stc=1
(where is DJPat ... he would would have liked this one)
Authorities in Chicago used gas-fired switch heaters on train tracks to stop them freezing over.
(But the worst thing) ...
The cold weather was even affecting beer deliveries, with a pair of western Wisconsin distributors saying they would delay or suspend shipments for fear beer would freeze in their trucks.
