Minnesota Town Hits 54 Below Zero (Embarrass, MN)

AP on Yahoo ^ | 1/17/05 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

Temperatures plummeted across the eastern half of the nation Monday, approaching an all-time record in northern Minnesota and freezing the Gulf Coast as a river of Arctic air pushed southward.

Thermometers registered a low of 54 degrees below zero at Embarrass, Minn.

"You keep living, but it gets old after a while," said Christine Mackai, the town clerk for the community of about 1,400 people in northeast Minnesota.

Minnesota's record is 60 below, set on Feb. 2, 1996, in Tower, about 10 miles north of Embarrass.

The cold at Embarrass didn't stop the regular customers from getting their morning coffee at Four Corners, a cafe and gas station.

"Everybody left their cars running," waitress Trish Roggenbuck said. "It was pretty much breathtaking when you walked outside."

While below-zero readings stayed in the upper Midwest, thermometers dropped below the freezing mark all the way to the Gulf of Mexico coast.

The morning low was 28, with wind chills in the upper teens, at Mobile, Ala., Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss., and Pensacola, Fla. A hard freeze warning was in effect overnight into Tuesday morning for parts of Mississippi, the weather service said.

Mackai said Embarrass had been prepared for bitter cold as early as last Thursday. "It only got down to 28 below, and that's nothing. That's no big deal," she said.

Elsewhere in northern Minnesota on Monday, Babbitt chilled to 51 below, and International Falls — which calls itself the Nation's Icebox — dropped to 44 below, the national Weather Service said. Farther south, Minneapolis-St. Paul bottomed out at a mere 11 below.

The arctic blast followed several days of subzero temperatures. Weather service meteorologist Greg Frosig in Duluth said Monday's high would still be below zero in northern Minnesota.

___

On the Net:

National Weather Service (news - web sites): http://weather.noaa.gov/

Current Temperatures-Ohio State University: http://www.weatherimages.org/data/imag226.html

[southernnorthcarolina]

Dang, I thought the sky here looked sorta chartreuse. From your map, I see why.

[westmichman]

Are you sure that town isn't Freezurbarass, MN.?

[NormsRevenge]

Everybody knows fish don't bite when it's real cold, but.. the beer sure does stay cold.

Nothing like sitting inside a fishhouse with a roaring stove.. poker chips at the ready.. Bring IT On!!! ;-)

[cspackler]

Worst that I've been in was in Minneapolis a few years back. Real temp was -30, with the wind chill at -70. I walked outside downtown for about 4 blocks. When I got inside my building, my legs went numb. Damdest feeling I've ever felt. The cool part is the fact that to the locals, it's just another day at work.

Makes life here in Central Iowa seem balmy, it was only about -6 this morning when I came to work, an it's 10 above now. Think I'll go swimming...

[Blzbba]

This is OUTRAGEOUS!!


People should not be forced to live in such extreme weather conditions! I think these people should all file a gigantic class action lawsuit against The Weather Channel, God, and Canada for allowing such unbearable cold weather to invade our nation and disrupt these hard-working Americans' lives! It's also probably Bush's fault for not signing Kyoto!!

[/sarcasm

[Eric in the Ozarks]

That ship went down with all hands.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Two Harbors ?

[highland1]

Good question. In fact, that is the 'cross over point; that is 40C = 40 F. Very cold by anyone's standard..

[SoDak]

Anything colder than -40 and it's time to plug in the jeep and zip the liner into my jacket.

[robjna]

talk about buggar freezing weather!!!!!!

[ralph rotten]

I almost posted that comparson smiles

[TheConservator]

Global Warming Alert!

[doc30]

-42 is the same temp in 'C or 'F

[B4Ranch]

I wonder if anyone wishes they were back in Somalia during this freeze?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Brrr!

That is cold...

[Slicksadick]

Pretty nice in Newport today....

Reported from J. Wayne Arpt. 01/17/2005 1:53 PM EST

Temperature:	80°F 27°C
Conditions:	Partly Cloudy
Winds:	NE 16 MPH NE 26 KPH
Relative Humidity:	20%
Barometer:	30.14 Steady
Visibility:	10.00 Miles 16.09 Kilometers
Feels Like:	78°F n/a

[N. Theknow]

I lived in Minnesota.

My first winter there I broke my moustache in 35 below weather.

The elevators in Minneapolis hold twice as many people in the summer as in the winter. It is called the "Parka Displacement Factor."

[johniegrad]

Two Harbors?

About 6 miles this side.

[Gumdrop]

40 degrees Celsius/Centigrade is actually very warm. And it does not equal 40 degrees Faehrenheit. On the Celsius scale 40 degrees is about 102 degrees F.

[N. Theknow]

Is that -40F or -40C?

That's -40F'nC