Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE BITTER COLD that has gripped the US midwest has begun moving out to sea, easing its grip on about a dozen states that have endured days of record-breaking snow.
Just days after the arctic conditions, the region will seemingly swing into another season, with temperatures climbing by as much as 26 degrees Celsius, according to forecasters. Experts say the rapid thaw is unprecedented, and it could create problems of its own: bursting pipes, flooding rivers and crumbling roads.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a case where we’ve seen (such a big) shift in temperatures” in the winter, said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the Weather Underground firm. “Past record-cold waves have not dissipated this quickly … Here we are going right into spring-like temperatures.”
The temperature finally crept above -17.8 degrees in Minneapolis and Chicago early today.
“Over the past week or so, we’ve had strong northerly winds bringing cold arctic air out of Canada — but that has all changed today,” National Weather Service meteorologist Adam Jones said. “We’ve got westerly winds bringing in more mild Pacific air.”
The warmer air continues to move east, though many places in the northeast remained painfully cold today. The wind chill in some parts of New York was expected to be as low as minus -28.9 degrees.
Schools remained closed in Buffalo, New York, but students headed back to school in other parts of the midwest.
Educators in Fargo, North Dakota, were busy yesterday after two days of cancelled classes.
For Superintendent Rupak Gandhi, who came to Fargo last summer from Colorado, this week has been “a personal new”.
“I’ve had experience with cold and snow days, but negative 50? Absolutely not,” he said.
Deaths
The dangerously cold and snowy weather is suspected in at least 18 deaths, including a man found frozen in his backyard yesterday in suburban Milwaukee and a man who died today after rear-ending a salt truck in Indiana.
But relief from the bitter midwestern cold is as close as the weekend.
Rockford, Illinois, was at a record-breaking -35 degrees yesterday morning but should be around 10 degrees on Monday. Other previously frozen areas could see temperatures of -13 degrees or higher.
The dramatic warm-up will offer a respite from the bone-chilling cold that cancelled school, closed businesses and halted trains. But potholes will appear on roads and bridges weakened by the freeze-thaw cycle. The same cycle can crack water mains and homeowners’ pipes. Scores of vehicles will be left with flat tires and bent rims.
Joe Buck, who manages Schmit Towing in Minneapolis, said he’s already taking calls for Monday to deal with a backlog of hundreds of stalled vehicles.
In Detroit, where some water mains are almost 150 years old, city workers were dealing with dozens of breaks, said Palencia Mobley, deputy director of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. Sprinkler lines burst in two buildings at Wayne State University due to the cold.
The thawing of pipes can sometimes inflict greater damage than the initial freeze. Bursts can occur when ice inside starts to melt and water rushes through the pipe, or when water in the pipe is pushed to a closed faucet by expanding ice.
Elsewhere, a bridge in the western Michigan community of Newaygo, 64 kilometres north of Grand Rapids was closed as the ice-jammed Muskegon River rose above flood stage. Officials in Buffalo, New York, watched for flooding on the Upper Niagara River because of ice.
In other signs that the worst of the deep freeze was ending, Xcel Energy yesterday lifted a request to its Minnesota natural gas customers to temporarily lower their thermostats to ease concerns about the fuel supply.
Masters, from Weather Underground, said the polar vortex was “rotating up into Canada” and not expected to return in the next couple of weeks. If it does return in late February, “it won’t be as intense.”
Still, memories of the dangerous cold were bound to linger.
In Illinois, at least 144 people visited hospital emergency rooms for cold-related injuries over two days. Most of the injuries were hypothermia or frostbite, according to a spokesman for the state Department of Public Health.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Heading out to sea.. On its way to Ireland no doubt.
@Hank Schrader: Nope actually. It will be mellowed by the Atlantic and just bring us ‘normal’ cold.
What’s Global warming called now to suit the agenda?
@Niall Power: Its been called Climate Change for quite a while now. Try to keep up.
As with our snow last year the disruption in normal West-East weather system caused a weakness which allowed the polar weather to push further south than usual.
@Jonathan Morgan: Think the have moved on to Climate Crisis now….We have 11 years to irreversible climate change…If globally we dont reduce CO2 by 50%…..When that does not happen in 2030 don’t think we will get an apology…For all the Carbon taxes to stop it….All because of a trace gas CO2 going from 350 to 405 ppm in 40 years….The fact that CO2 went up and down over millions of years is just ignored….
@Niall Power: they had to change the name from ‘gobal warming’ to ‘climate change’. Cause thickos kept thinking it meant it not being cold in winter.
@iComment: unfortunately if that’s true & I’m certainly not saying it isn’t, but if true then we’re definitely ducked! & we can firmly point the finger at the major corporations & ourselves for allowing this to happen. The world is been controlled by greedy lunatics & no one is standing up to them & if they do their “ bought “ Everyone should watch a 15 year old Swedish girl called Greta Thunberg & listen to what she has to say ( probably on YouTube)
@Niall Power: global warming is still global warming. Climate change is still climate change. They are not the same thing. Global warming refers specifically to the ever-increasing average global temperature. Climate change refers to the changes in climate resultant from global warming. The polar vortex is a direct result of increased global and local (Arctic) average temperatures. We see the likes of the polar vortex on media (because, well, it’s Canada and the US) and then certain illiterates use that to try dismiss climate change. Meanwhile, in 78% of the world on Wednesday (during the polar vortex) average temperatures were above normal. The entire world, on Wednesday, was 0.3 C above average temperatures for that day.
@Bilbo Baggins: nothing to do with the fact the globe stopped warming for around 15 years, meaning a rebrand was essential then, no?
@iComment: Actually the fact that CO2 caused global warming in the past is not ignored. You just made that up or are parroting someone else who is wrong. CO2 levels did fluctuate between 180 to 280 ppm over millions of years. There is a big difference between millions of years and 40 years I think that you will agree. Why leave out the facts that past fluctuations correspond to periods of global warming and cooling. The most recent being the last ice age when CO2 levels caused atmospheric warming and the melting of the ice sheets. These processes happened over a very long time period and were natural. The difference between the past and today is in the shorter time period and the large man made unnatural levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. So what is your argument?
@Winston Smith: no. Because the globe did not stop warming. That claim was put out there by the oil companies who deliberately misread incomplete data. That claim has been debunked. You’re about 5 years behind in your information. The term “Climate change” has been around for decades, as has the term “Global warming”. Both predate your 15 year stopped warming claim by many decades.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: no, it hasn’t been debunked. And no, it was not big oil companies manipulating data. They’re the two standard responses to anyone who questions these dogmatic beliefs, but they’re generally nonsense. Below is US govt sourced data, who to the best of my knowledge don’t moonlight as oil barons.
@Winston Smith: That article literally proves me right. You said in your initial comment that global warming stopped for 15 years. That article says it continued, albeit at a slower pace than previous or since. You spoke of global warming, while that article spoke of a slowing down in increasing global surface temperatures. Global surface temperatures are 1 part of 3 parts of global warming. So, do you still stand over your claim that global warming stopped (as supported by big oil) or do you stand over your comment with your link (which is already known but directly contradicts your initial comment) that says global warming continue, just at a slower rate?
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: is that what I said in my original comment? Would you like to try reading again slowly, perhaps with an adult present to help with the longer words?
@Winston Smith: “Nothing to do with the fact the globe STOPPED WARMING for around 15 years, meaning a rebrand was essential then, no?” They are your words, albeit my upper case emphasis. You literally said the world stopped warming for 15 years (your link, however, said it continued, albeit at a slower rate than before or since that 15 year period). You said the world stopped warming, whereas your link only spoke of a slowdown in the warming rates of only some indicators. You said a rebrand was essential, despite the fact that both terms refer to different things and have been around since before the 1960s, well before the 15 year period you spoke of, so therefore couldn’t possibly be related.
Lots of flooding to come no doubt.
Global warming.
@Quiet Goer: ….no doubt
Leo can blame it on Brexit
Ahhhh here why would you go out jogging in that ?
Flipping do do .
Next week the floods.
have your say