polar vortex

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10th Polar Vortex of the Season Hits US

Wind chill drops to minus 60 in parts of North Dakota

(Newser) - Harsh cold descended on the nation's midsection Monday as a polar vortex gripped the Rockies and Northern Plains on the heels of weekend storms that pummeled the Eastern US with floods, killing at least 14 people. The National Weather Service warned of "life-threatening cold" as wind chills dropped...

The Icy Temps Cometh
The Icy Temps Cometh
Jan 20, 2025 12:03 PM CST

The Icy Temps Cometh

About half the country is just sitting around with their teeth chattering under various weather alerts

(Newser) - Weather cold enough to drive a presidential inauguration inside is far from the exclusive realm of Washington, DC. As the Washington Post reports, nearly half the population of these United States are bundling up in their finest six layers of whatever they can lay hands on, with 150 million of...

It's About to Get Very Cold in Much of America

Unusually frigid weather expected across wide swath of US throughout January

(Newser) - Generally speaking, December has been a pretty warm month in the US, notes Newsweek . That's about to change in a big way in January. Forecasters say a wide swath of the country is expected to see record-breaking cold temperatures, along with potentially severe snowstorms, before the month is out....

Polar Vortex to Blame for US Deep Freeze

'Compound extreme weather events' are becoming more common

(Newser) - Meteorologists blame the historic chilly weather on a large disruption of the polar vortex with Arctic weather that’s normally kept penned near the North Pole, but has now escaped and sent cold temperatures south. Experts say this polar vortex is stronger and longer than usual, and these events are...

Thought We Avoided the Polar Vortex? Not So Fast

Parts of Northeast US may experience rare May snow, record low temps

(Newser) - The northeastern US is about to get a cold spring farewell from the polar vortex, which could bring rare May snowfall and record-low temperatures to some areas over the Mother's Day weekend. Usually the polar vortex is a batch of cold air that stays trapped in the Arctic all...

A Furor Grows in Brooklyn Over Jail With Little Heat

Federal Bureau of Prisons in hot water over 'disturbing living conditions'

(Newser) - The misery of last week's polar vortex continues to drag on, now with outrage in Brooklyn, where some 1,600 inmates at a federal jail have been shivering amid a partial power outage that's resulted in limited heat in week in which temperatures plunged, reports NBC News . The...

Indiana Marshal Has to Cut Horse Out of Tree

In -20 degrees. 'I couldn't feel a thing, it was so cold'

(Newser) - An Indiana town marshal wielding a chain saw rescued a horse that became wedged between two branches of a tree trunk amid subzero cold, reports the AP . Winfield Town Marshal Dan Ball says the horse somehow became stuck in the multi-trunked tree Wednesday morning in the town of Winfield, about...

First, the Crazy Cold. Now Comes a Crazy Thaw

Rockford, Illinois, was minus 31, but temperature will rise about 80 degrees by Monday

(Newser) - In Illinois, temperatures could rise by 80 degrees within days. In Michigan, melting snow and rain and a 17-mile ice jam could lead to flooding. Across the Midwest, the sudden warmth was sure to bring more broken roads and busted water mains, per the AP . The polar vortex that brought...

Here's How Cold Weather Can Kill You

An explanation of hypothermia, and the not quite as dangerous but still pretty bad frostbite

(Newser) - With at least eight deaths linked to the polar vortex currently gripping much of the US, LiveScience offers an answer to the question many likely have on their minds: How does a person freeze to death? As the site explains, the two main health problems that are a danger in...

Iowa Student Among 8 Deaths Linked to Polar Vortex

Brutal cold should start to lift Thursday

(Newser) - The bitterly cold weather gripping much of the US has been linked to at least eight deaths, including that of an 18-year-old University of Iowa student. Campus police found pre-medicine major Gerard Belz unresponsive behind a building around 3am Wednesday, when the wind chill was -51 Fahrenheit; he died in...

Ky. Gov.: Closing Schools for Cold Shows 'We're Getting Soft'

State educators don't take too kindly to his remark

(Newser) - It may not be as cold in Kentucky as it is in Minnesota , but things just got chillier for the former state's governor. A comment Matt Bevin made during a Tuesday radio interview is catching some flak. When 840 WHAS radio host Terry Meiners mentioned Bevin's kids would...

Mail Service Called Off as Polar Vortex Hits
Midwest Is Colder Than
Much of Antarctica
THE RUNDOWN
Jan 30, 2019 6:42 AM CST

Midwest Is Colder Than Much of Antarctica

Even postal service has been called off in places

(Newser) - "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," reads the unofficial motto of the US Postal Service. It doesn't say anything about wind chills as low as -65 Fahrenheit. The USPS says it will...

'Life-Threatening' Cold About to Hit Midwest
Chicago: 'If You Don't
Have to Be Outside, Don't'
THE RUNDOWN
Jan 29, 2019 6:13 AM CST

Chicago: 'If You Don't Have to Be Outside, Don't'

Much of the US faces 'life-threatening' cold

(Newser) - The wandering polar vortex is about to give the Midwest and Great Lakes regions a taste of temperatures more commonly found at the North Pole, and authorities say they can't warn people strongly enough about how dangerous the weather will be. In Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker says his administration...

The Polar Vortex Just Split Into 3. Next, a 'Wild, Wintry Ride'?
The Polar Vortex
Just Split Into 3
Jan 16, 2019 6:21 AM CST

The Polar Vortex Just Split Into 3

'Severe and punishing' weather could be headed toward eastern US by end of January

(Newser) - Folks in the eastern part of the country may have "severe and punishing" weather to look forward to in less than two weeks, with cold to chill the bones and "heightened storminess." That's per weather model forecasts cited by the Washington Post , which warns of the...

Here Comes the Polar Vortex
Here Comes the Polar Vortex
Dec 8, 2016 9:34 AM CST

Here Comes the Polar Vortex

Hopefully it won't be as bitterly cold as 2014's

(Newser) - A somewhat ominous tweet from The Weather Channel on Wednesday evening offered fair warning about a returning winter phenomenon. Showing frigid temperatures dipping into the teens, single digits, and even minuses in some parts of the country, the tweet read: "No, these are not forecast low temperatures. These are...

Record Siberia Snowfall Could Be Bad News for US

Polar vortex could be paying another visit

(Newser) - Snowfall in Siberia during October has proved to be a remarkably accurate indication of how cold winters in the US will be, according to meteorologist Judah Cohen—and it looks like this winter could be a doozy. Siberia experienced record snowfall and its worst blizzard in 10 years this October,...

You May Be Waking Up to Historic Cold

'Siberian Express' partly to blame for record-setting temps across country

(Newser) - Roofs collapsing from snow, canceled flights , power outages, miserable commutes, and piles of snow have become the norm this winter, but now officials—especially in the Southeast—are cranking up the heat again and shuttling the homeless into shelters as a cold front sweeps the country today and tomorrow,...

Polar Vortex in July? It's Coming, Sort Of

It's not truly a polar vortex, but next week's front will bring chillier temps

(Newser) - OK, to be fair, the polar vortex that’s heading our way next week isn't technically a polar vortex—but it is going to bring significantly cooler weather, according to the Washington Post . Temperatures are predicted to be 10 to 30 degrees lower than average for July in the...

Still-Icy Great Lakes Take a Big Toll

Shipping, wildlife held back by late melting

(Newser) - This winter saw the second-largest recorded ice cover on the Great Lakes, and the five lakes still haven't fully melted. As of April 10, the Atlantic Cities notes, they remained nearly half frozen over; typically, it's about 3% at this time of year, an expert tells Accuweather . All...

All Hail the Polar Vortex, Slayer of Pests

Invasive species of bugs can't survive the cold, Gwynn Guilford argues

(Newser) - If you've just about had enough of the polar vortex, consider this: The severely cold weather we've been experiencing is "decimating the populations of destructive invasive insects that cost the US government and homeowners billions each year," writes Gwynn Guilford for Quartz . Doesn't sound so...

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