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The next blast of brutal cold will grip most of the eastern two-thirds of the United States early this week and could yield the lowest temperatures so far this winter in many communities. While harsh cold is returning to the Midwest and Northeast this weekend, it will pale in comparison to what will follow for Monday through Wednesday. The impending polar plunge will rival the frigid days from earlier this January for the coldest daytime highs and nighttime lows so far this winter. This does not include South Florida. The arctic air first plunged into the Upper Midwest, northern Plains...

From the "free side" of Weatherbell, Joe gives his look at what is ahead into February. It looks brutal, and some of it is headed west. Even Texas gets snow!

January could end up with as many sub-zero days as Pittsburgh region had in past decade combined The mercury hasn't hit bottom yet. January ranks as one of the most bitingly cold months Western Pennsylvanians can remember, though certainly not a record. A cold snap early in the month made the temperature plummet to 9 below zero near Pittsburgh International Airport with a wind chill that felt like 30 below. State College-based AccuWeather predicts a low of 10 below zero on Tuesday as part of the latest bone-chilling cold spell, one that will extend through at least Jan. 31. “We've...

Looks like Winter is going to do what it does best, act like winter. With Super Bowl XLVIII being played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey’s Meadowlands. Being a Viking fan, I will enjoy the game in the comfort of my living room. However, for the elite that will be at the game while listening to an opera singer during half time, it could be a bit miserable. Any predictions as to who will come out on top? You would think that the weather will favor Denver, but Payton has never done very well in cold weather. So if...

This is Joe Bastardi's Saturday Summary, posted on the "free side" of Weatherbell. The worst is yet to come after the 25th of January. I truly feel sorry for the people back east.

Meteorologists are starting to see signs of an impending Polar Vortex sequel that could send the country plunging into a deep freeze.

The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation(NRK) has put up some striking photos of water off the coast of Lovund, a small island off of Norway. Though it was “only” -7.8°C (18 °F), a sharp eastern wind was enough to freeze a large quantity of fish in place. The translation tools used to understand NRK’s article don’t exactly remove all language barriers, but it seems that Aril Slotte of Havforskningsinstituttet, a marine research institute, believes that the fish might have been chased by a predator, and that’s why there were so many grouped together that closely. Ingolf Kristiansen, who happened upon the scene,...

AccuWeather Global Headquarters, January 13, 2014 - AccuWeather is pleased to announce it will launch a 24X7 weather channel, to be known as the AccuWeather Channel, in the third quarter of 2014. AccuWeather had not planned to make the announcement at this time, but decided to accelerate the announcement in light of the controversy that has developed between DIRECTV and The Weather Channel and in order to make the public aware of an additional offering that will be available to them later this year. AccuWeather is already the leading source of weather forecasts, information and data and is considered to...

When Donna McPherson of Lansing received an automated phone message alerting her that a "snow emergency" had been declared and that "non-essential" travel had been banned, she said it raised a question. McPherson said her family talked about whether Lansing police would pull over drivers and ask them why they were driving. In the midst of the winter storm this week, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero declared a snow emergency, which prohibited "non-essential" commercial, private and public travel on city roads. It raised questions about how much authority the government should have to ban travel during bad snow storms. In Indianapolis,...

The Weather Channel feed was switched to show WeatherNationTv just after midnight EST January 14th. the TWC logo is there still in the DirecTV channel lineup, but the content is WeatherNation. See the proof, this screencap off my TV at 9:02PM PST (12:02 AM EST):

“This is way overdone,” says meteorologist Joe Bastardi. “The one coming around Jan 25-31 will be much stronger.” Another Arctic blast to hit US next week, shouts the Daily Mail. A new cold-front is expected to hit the East Coast on Thursday. The upcoming front of icy temperatures is expected to bring arctic air to southern Canada and then move into the northern plains of the U.S. before moving to the Midwest and East Coast – each of which is still recovering from last week’s frigid temperatures. Forecasters expect the first stage of the new arctic blast to hit the...

The Weather Channel says it may be dropped from DirecTV’s lineup as soon as tonight when a carriage agreement between the two expires, removing the channel from some 20 million households. The network launched a campaign Saturday featuring a website and social media push encouraging viewers to contact DirecTV and members of Congress to keep the channel on the satellite provider.

The Weather Channel, in less than 12 hours, will lose 20 million viewers if it can’t reach a deal with DirecTV to continue carrying its network. It has appealed to viewers to tell DirecTV and Congress that it serves a public good, and that cutting the network will put lives at risk. “If you have ever been in a severe weather decision and you need to make a decision to protect your family, you need to get your information from a trusted source,” said Weather Channel president David Clark. ... Many viewers also realize their local weather teams can provide...

Complete Headline: Here comes polar vortex TWO: Just when you thought it was safe to go outside... another blast of Arctic air to hit US next week Experts don't expect temperatures as severe as last week's chill New cold-front is expected to hit the East Coast on Thursday Most of the country's temperatures will remain above zero degree - unlike the last Polar Vortex Cities near the Great Lakes should expect lake-effect snow If you live in the American Midwest or East Coast, you may want to hold off on putting away your winter gear. Just as temperatures are beginning...

Weather outlook to the end of January, first days of February, but saves his rant for the last three minutes, and, boy, what a rant!

We’ve become weather wimps. As the world warms, the United States is getting fewer bitter cold spells like the one that gripped much of the nation this week. So when a deep freeze strikes, scientists say, it seems more unprecedented than it really is. An Associated Press analysis of the daily national winter temperature shows that cold extremes have happened about once every four years since 1900. Until recently.

The nation may be slowly thawing from its deep freeze "polar vortex", but that is no comfort for tens of thousands of Ohians, whose water supply has literally frozen in the past day after the valves at the Avon Lake Municipal Utility plant were planted in ice, dramatically lowering the supply of water. NBC reports that "tens of thousands of customers in several counties in Ohio are facing a dramatic water shortage after the intake valves at a key plant that draws water from Lake Erie apparently froze amid the wild winter weather." As a result, the mayor of Avon...

See that white stuff floating down past the orange trees and landing on your alligators and manatees, Florida? That's global warming, that is. See that frozen white thing by the harbor that used to look a green woman with a spiky headdress, New York? That's global warming, that is. See that chilling solid yellow stream extending upwards from the snowy ground to your shrivelling blackened member after you made the very wrong call to take an al fresco leak, Chicagoans? That's global warming, that is. How do we know this? Because Bryan Walsh of Time magazine says so: But not...

How are birds in your area dealing with the cold weather? Any sightings or interesting stories worth sharing here? There are reports of Arctic birds coming down into North America, including parts of the United States during this 'polar vortex'.. Any sightings? Some birds flee the cold areas for warmer climates, and some stay and endure it by hiding in sheltered areas such as hollow or thick trees in groups. If you have the means to set food out for birds, finding food is more of a problem for them during cold temperatures than enduring the temperature is.

About 500 passengers aboard three Amtrak trains were stranded overnight in a remote part of northern Illinois because of blowing and drifting snow, Amtrak officials said today. The trains were halted late Monday near Mendota, about 80 miles west of Chicago. The passengers were aboard the Southwest Chief from Los Angeles, the Illinois Zephyr from Quincy, Ill., and the California Zephyr from the San Francisco Bay area, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari told The Associated Press. The trains became stuck around 4:15 p.m. ET Monday after they hit a 12-foot snow drift that paralyzed the engines, passenger Bryan Plummer told ABC...