Posted on 01/04/2014 7:33:23 PM PST by Windflier
Experts have warned that Friday's freezing temperatures were simply a warm-up and that this weekend will bring a big chill for 140 million people - almost half the nation - that could prove fatal for the unprepared - and will continue through the winter.
With the Northeast still reeling from the huge storm that dumped as much as two-feet of snow across the region and was responsible for the deaths of 16 people, a new weather system is threatening to bring record low temperatures to the Midwest as a polar vortex barrels over the United States.
'It's the mother lode of cold air,' said Weather Channel coordinating meteorologist Tom Moore. 'On the heels of what will be the coldest air of the season, will be dangerous, life-threatening winds.'
Because of the winds, 'It may feel as cold as negative 50 to negative 60 on Sunday night over sections of the north-central states,' the National Weather Service said to NBC News. 'In those conditions, frost bite sets in on exposed skin within five minutes.'
Moore said that as the freakishly cold weather hits the region, authorities need to act fast to avoid a human catastrophe because of the chill.
'Anybody living out on the streets needs to be rounded up and put into a shelter,' said Moore to MSNBC News.
'The repercussions ... could be deadly, and I'm afraid we're going to see cases like that.'
The temperature predictions are startling: 25 below zero in Fargo, North Dakota, minus 31 in International Falls, Minnesota, and 15 below in Indianapolis and Chicago.
The so-called 'polar vortex' will send cold air piled up at the North Pole down to the U.S., funneling it as far south as the Gulf Coast.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
74 degrees here!
You gotta understand that I work outdoors with my bare hands. Can't do my sort of work any other way. When it gets around 35, your fingers go numb, working with sheet metal. We always manage to wind up doing a few jobs when it's that cold anyway, but it's a pain the you-know-what.
Don't get me wrong. We do all sorts of other stuff outside when it's in the mid thirties, but those temps make our work really painful.
If we did indoor construction work, the cold would probably never stop us, but we're outside on ladders all day. A lot of folks think nothing of 20 or 30 degree weather, but if you're working bare-handed in it for four or more hours, you're gonna hurt.
Sometimes it's all we can do to finish a job if we get caught in a rapid temperature drop like that.
It's two different things.
If it's cloudy out and 50 degrees, you'll probably be OK in a just a light jacket. But if you hop on your Harley and go 70 MPH for 20 minutes...
(it's still 60 degrees)
We're living in an age marked by mass insanity. A culture can't endure with so much widespread stupidity and ignorance. We're either going to reset it ourselves, or the laws of nature are going to do it for us.
Good thing we're on the outskirts of it, eh?
I'm sorry, but I'm a southwest boy. I'm afraid the dog would have to go pee by himself .. LOL
We hate you, Bunny! LOL
We have gnats, ticks, mosquitoes, black flies, wasps, hornets, Asian Lady Beetles.....but not now. However, when it warms up to 30 above, the ticks become active again.
The rural problem in these low temps is the voles. They are so small, they can squeeze in under the house and will come inside through the smallest space available. Traps take care of them. They must smell bad, because the cat and the dog just watch them and don’t even bother.
Oh stop it.
We'd kill for 37 degrees.
It’s often warmer up there than down here in Wisconsin.
Back in the 70s, I had an apprentice one year from Chitna, Alaska. Not only was she complaining about the cold, she could not get a fire started in her woodstove with our hardwood. She was used to burning pine.
No doubt!
We've got most all of the same bugs down here. It's nice that they go to sleep over the winter. It's the only time of year we get a respite from fighting with them.
Many scientists believe we are entering another little ice age as we experienced in the 1700-1800’s. Global temps really have nothing to do with c02 levels undeniably verified by the last 63 years. Sun spot activity is the real deal and it is really slowing down.
If you see posts of interest to Pennsylvanians, please ping me.
Thanks!
Thanks lightman for the heads up
The hyperbole of the weather industries notwithstanding (wind chill only applies to exposed skin), stay safe out there.
Believe me, I understand, but do what I do all day in that weather, and you'll be ready for a thermal blanket, a nice warm fire, and a cozy bed.
You can easily keep your body warm when it's near freezing, but exposing your hands for hours in it is another thing. Not saying we can't do it, but it hurts like hell.
My husband has a 45 mile commute each way 3x/week. He keeps a complete winter survival Get Home Bag in the car. In summer, he switches it out for one prepared for hot & flooding weather.
You just need to think ahead. Our plows have been known to not go out for 24 hours if it is really bad in winter and right now, the Planning Commissions are dealing with earthen dams that may not survive another few years. FEMA is making plans to buy out homes in some low-lying areas. We have some road areas that routinely flood every Spring and Summer.
Yep. I read somewhere that the latest solar maximum had the fewest number of sunspots ever recorded. People who understand the implications are justly alarmed by that.
Might be a good time to start promoting real estate in cold country to global warmists. You know.....so they can survive the coming heat wave. /s
Smart guy. That's got to be one less thing for a wife to worry about :-)
Ok. I can see the problem.
Last cold spell, it was very windy and we have a 100-year-old house with no central heat. I was wearing texting gloves and the computer room was 60 degrees. It was still hard to type without gloves. Tonight, it is just fine, since the wind isn’t that strong.
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