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The brutal, unrelenting cold that lasted for several days over the Christmas holiday froze off a sizable portion of Appalachia’s ample gas production, cutting off supply to power plants when they needed it most. Gas transmission pipelines said the gas they were promised simply didn’t show up. On the electric grid that connects Pennsylvania to 12 other states, at one point almost 25% of the capacity on the system either didn’t start up or broke while operating, leaving coal and petroleum-fired units to pick up the slack. PJM, a Valley Forge-based grid operator, is still analyzing what happened during the...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the world to pressure Russia into “genuine peace negotiations” with Ukraine in an address to the nation on Monday, insisting his administration had “repeatedly proposed” talks but received only “insane” responses. Russia first invaded Ukraine nearly a decade ago, in 2014, and has been waging a proxy war in the eastern Donbas region since the invasion and colonization of Ukraine’s Crimea region in March of that year. Russian leader Vladimir Putin escalated the conflict into a full-scale invasion this February, formally introducing Russian troops into the battle theater and bombing major urban centers, including the...

With power demand recovering from the pandemic, European utilities are using more coal as natural gas inventories are unusually low for this time of the year due to a cold snap in late winter and early spring. This year, despite the record-high carbon price in Europe, the use of coal for power generation has jumped by up to 15 percent, ... Gas storage is so low now that Europe cannot afford to run extra power generation with the fuel ... Natural gas stockpiles are some 25 percent below the five-year average, and with such a right gas market, utilities run...

Much of Alaska had been frigid this holiday week as temperatures across the state dipped as low as minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s in stark contrast to a year with record high temperatures and major disruptions of traditionally solid sea ice across the Arctic. Temperatures in the Northwest Arctic villages of Ambler and Buckland reached 42 degrees below zero on the morning of Dec. 26. The Interior village of Allakaket had the coldest temperature in the state on Dec. 26 at minus 56 degrees. Friday, Dec. 27, saw a low of minus 65 degrees in Manley Hot Springs near Eureka,...

A spring blizzard that brought heavy snow and whiteout conditions to much of western and central Nebraska has shifted to northeast Nebraska. And if you think the Omaha area has avoided the snow, just wait a little bit. It's still coming, but it shouldn't cause nearly as much trouble as it has elsewhere. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for east-central and southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa until 10 p.m. Additional snow accumulations of up to 2 inches and minor ice accumulations of are expected, the weather service said. Drivers should expect to encounter slippery roads.

Police in Hartford, Conn., charged a woman Thursday with animal cruelty in connection with a grim scene reported by a neighbor on New Year’s Day: a dog chained to a small shelter outside a home — and frozen solid. The incident was one of several similar deaths reported in recent days as bitter cold grips the eastern United States, prompting animal rescue organizations and local authorities to issue warnings about giving pets shelter. Several of the deaths occurred in Ohio. In Toledo, a dog was found frozen to death on a front porch last week. Three other frozen dogs were...

A suburban Chicago man has been told to stop the “slumber parties” he hosts in a basement for freezing homeless people — or the home will be condemned. “I would stay up all night with them and give them coffee and stuff and feed them,” Greg Schiller, of Elgin, told NBC Chicago of the events in his girlfriend’s basement. Schiller said his reading of city code allows for “slumber parties,” but city officials claim that code applies to children’s parties, not adults. According to the city, the “parties” Schiller hosts a few times a week actually make the home a...

The North-Eastern U.S. is experiencing record-breaking cold. Even the very sharks are dying as they swim. Happily the New York Times is here to put it all in context. It’s all further evidence of global warming, of course! All is ‘explained’ in a story headed “Why so cold? Climate Change May Be Part of the Answer” As bitter cold continues to grip much of North America and helps spawn the fierce storm along the East Coast, the question arises: What’s the influence of climate change? Some scientists studying the connection between climate change and cold spells, which occur when cold...

An unusually powerful storm is threatening the East Coast of the U.S. this week with heavy snow, high winds, and record-shattering cold not seen in some places since the early 20th Century — if at all. The storm will be the result of a combination of three strong pieces of atmospheric energy, known to meteorologists as shortwaves. Think of these shortwaves as protein bars for storm formation. This particular storm, which is already beginning to form off the coast of Florida, will devour enough of them to allow it to become so powerful that it will contain hurricane force winds...

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump Following Following @realDonaldTrump More In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up! 4:01 PM - 28 Dec 2017

For many parts of the nation, a prolonged period of punishing cold is just getting started. The cold snap that descended on much of the nation from the Rockies eastward on Christmas Eve is predicted to become further entrenched and even more biting in the coming days. The worst of the cold may grip the central United States from Saturday through New Year’s Day, when temperatures may fall more than 30 degrees below normal. Then it may spill eastward. As the Arctic air poured over the Great Lakes, it produced astronomical snowfall amounts. An incredible 53 inches of snow piled...

A mild winter followed by a spate of cold weather in Washington, made its mark on the city’s cherry blossoms, but the annual festival delighted first-time visitors on Sunday. The cherry blossom trees were a gift from Japan to the United States in 1912. The cherry blossom trees currently grow in three National Park Service locations, including the Tidal Basin, Hains Point and on the Washington Monument grounds. The cold weather killed half of the blossoms on the Yoshino cherry trees just as they were reaching their peak. The National Park Service says on its website that peak bloom was...

A high pressure system sitting in the eastern Atlantic has caused one of the coldest nights in recent history, driving temperatures down to just above zero on Wednesday night, the German Weather Service (DWD) reports. In Carlsfeld, Saxony, the mercury dropped to 1.3°C (34.3°F), thereby setting a record for the coldest August temperature ever recorded in the town since first being measured in 1990. Meanwhile, in Bad Königshofen in Bavaria, a temperature of 1.5°C (34.7°F) was also just one decimal place above a record set in 1987. In several mountainous regions of the country, frost also covered the grass on...

Call it the ghost of the polar vortex, the polar vortex sequel, or the polar vortex’s revenge. Meteorological purists may tell you it’s not a polar vortex at all. However you choose to refer to the looming weather pattern, unseasonably chilly air is headed for parts of the northern and northeastern U.S at the height of summer early next week.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - The weather warnings are dire: Life threatening wind chills. Historic cold outbreak.

Photo: Telegraph  REUTERS/Marian StriltsivSpare a thought for people in Russia. Its the coldest winter since 1938. Temperatures may hit -25 in Moscow this weekend. They have already hit -50C in Siberia. Twenty-one people froze to death in one day. (See the Telegraph photo gallery) Down to -50C: Russians freeze to death as strongest-in-decades winter hits Russian TimesRussia is enduring its harshest winter in over 70 years, with temperatures plunging as low as -50 degrees Celsius. Dozens of people have already died, and almost 150 have been hospitalized.­The country has not witnessed such a long cold spell since 1938, meteorologists said,...

Korea Saw Longest Cold Snap in 28 Years Korea experienced the longest cold snap in 28 years this winter, the Korea Meteorological Administration said Tuesday. Temperatures lower than those of average years affected the nation for 38 days over the three-month period. Temperatures from December to February averaged -0.4 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees colder than in average years. The average high and low temperatures stood at 5.1 degrees and -5.3 degrees, 1.2 degrees and 1.4 degrees lower than normal. The number of days with a morning low of -10 degrees or colder was 18.6, while for 17.8 days the mercury...

A spell of unusually cold weather in northern Mexico has severely damaged the maize crop in the state of Sinaloa. Officials estimate the losses could amount to four million tonnes of corn - 16% of Mexico's annual harvest. President Felipe Calderon said everything possible must be done to re-sow the fields over the next two weeks. There are fears the losses could force up the price of the corn tortillas that most Mexicans eat with every meal. Officials say up to 600,000 hectares (1.5m acres) of maize have been lost to frost in Sinaloa, which is home to some of...

CHICAGO (AFP) – There is a brutally frigid point on the thermometer -- minus 40 degrees -- where Celsius and Fahrenheit meet, and it was even colder than that in parts of the US Midwest as an Arctic blast struck over the weekend. Americans were bundling up Saturday as the coldest weather of the season was forecast to sock cities from Chicago to New York and Boston, with temperatures that have already prompted weather service warnings. The coldest weather in two years slammed Minnesota, where International Falls -- which proudly proclaims itself the "Icebox of the Nation" -- recorded a...

At least 60 people have died across Europe during the current cold snap, as snow plagued transport in Britain on Friday and serious flooding prompted mass evacuations in the Balkans. Seventeen people died in Central Europe in the last 24 hours from the cold, bringing the total this week to 45. A further 11 died in Russia, plus three in France and one in Germany, according to local authorities. At least 30 people, mainly homeless men, have died in Poland in the past week, and temperatures dropped to minus 15 degrees Celsius (five degrees Fahrenheit) overnight. Temperatures plunged to minus...