Posted on 01/17/2005 11:01:41 AM PST by 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.
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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
My family (Dad's side) is from Nipigon, Ontario, northeast of Thunder Bay - northern tip of Lake Superior. That question has been answered experimentally - yes it does freeze before hitting the ground. I went visitng family in christmas of 1991 with a similar cold snap. Nobody cared up there. It was cold, but it was no excuse. Salt wouldn't melt ice. Computer chips in cars all cracked from the cold. I rented a New Yorker and the climate control died it was so cold. Cousin in law worked maintenance for the local ski lodge. Had to fix, with his bare hand, chair lifts in that cold weather. Humans, with adequate clothing can live and function in such a climate. It also explains all the heavy drinking and reproductive activities - to cold to have fun any other way.
And here I was complaining about starting my car this morning at a balmy -11.
Gee - I wonder how cold it would be without global warming?
Guess we're all lucky that the planet is melting.
LOL
It was so cold in Minneapolis that I had to wear gloves. Below -40 requires a hat too.
Not quite. -40 F = -40 C.
That temperature happens to be about the same...your daily science minutia...
Whoo-eeee!
That's cold!
It's God's punishment for going Kerry...
lol...
That pic must be from Hell, Michigan.
Remind me not to move to Minnesota. Brrr...
When entering Embarrass, the road sign should read "thermal underwear required."
OK! You round up Gustaffson and Goldman, and I'll get Sophia and Ann. You guys can start without me if need be.
FMCDH(BITS)
clever...very clever
I just talked to a guy from Saskatoon last week. He mentioned it was 68 below zero where he was.
Ja, both good ideas. I even had to shut the window last night.
We called them "bumper coats."
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