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
You got me; Laz is the one that broke out negative Kelvin.
Yep ~ global warming at its finest! :)
Is that -40F or -40C?
That's -40F'nC
My husband says when it gets really cold, he has that problem too!
From an old country song 'Logger Lover':
"...at 100 degrees below zero, he buttoned up his vest;
It froze clear through to China, it froze to the stars above,
At 1000 degrees below zero, it froze my logger love."
;^)
Wash your mouth out with soap !
Nice map! I'm currently in southern Wisconsin and we're suffering as well; but we can take it! You know it's dern cold when the dogs (who normally just ramble along) are rushing their walk in the mornings, LOL!
But by about 2pm on Thursday afternoon I will be in the lower left of your map...the coast of Mexico where it's in the 80's. Toes in the sand, Corona in the hand, Baby!
Poor pups. I take it, they are staying at home.;-)
Sounds like fun, don't forget to turn over every 20 minutes.. and use sun block :-)
It will be fun, Norm. Puerto Vallarta, MX is one of my favorite places on the planet; and I've been around it a time or two already.
Highly recommended if one wants to escape sub-zero temps for a while. Cheap. Clean. And for some reason, no bugs! :)
If you happen to be outside, you keep the beer close to the fire to prevent that sort of thing.
Or you could make beercicles.
(I'm sooo glad the time lived up north was brief.)
I was originally planning to do the cross country ski tour at Boulder Lake (near Duluth) on Sunday. At 0530 I checked the Weather Channel website. Duluth was -20, -39 wind chill. So it must have been much colder at the race venue. I decided to stay in St. Paul that day.
While you're down there, have a look out your hotel window about 5:30-6 am. That's when the bug man sprays everything down so you don't see em when you hit the beach.
Now will somebody tell me why they named it Embarrass? and is it anywhere near St. Olaf?
Good grief, it is 62 in Key West? It was 62 here in Pennsylvania a week ago! In fact it was 62 at midnight. And it was GOOD :)
"What address would they use on the subpoena of a deity?"
God
777 JesusIsThe Way
c/o St. Pete
Heaven, GA 30777
Fred, I've got a home on Island Lake about 4 miles away from the Boulder Lake trail. As a matter of fact, when I cleared snow out there on Saturday, I drove over to the trail. It was in good shape but, you're correct, it was quite cold.
Single digits yesterday in eastern Iowa. I thought about grabbing a coat, decided it wasn't worth the hassle...I usually grab gloves at about 15, and a coat when it gets below 5. Fun to see people at work who didn't grow up with this weather. Many are bundled up beyond recognition, but the college students are still in shorts...
I figured that is where the Minnesota Vikings call 'home'.
In the boonies. ;-)
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