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Canadians
experience jolting 'frost quakes' as temperatures plunge
RT,
6
January, 2014
As
temperatures around Toronto and across Ontario drop to -20 Celsius
(-4 Fahrenheit), residents are reporting frost quakes that are
powerful enough to shake houses and rattle nerves.
Usually
found in extreme polar regions, the recent outbreak of frost quakes,
known to meteorologists as cryoseisms, are now affecting many
residents of Toronto, Canada’s most populous city.
The weather-related phenomenon, which can feel like an earthquake, happens when water and moisture deep underground freeze as the temperature drops.
Frost quakes typically occur between midnight and dawn, the coldest part of the night, thus many residents are being jolted awake by the booming sounds.
The weather-related phenomenon, which can feel like an earthquake, happens when water and moisture deep underground freeze as the temperature drops.
Frost quakes typically occur between midnight and dawn, the coldest part of the night, thus many residents are being jolted awake by the booming sounds.
“Nature is so awesome,” she added.
Reuters / Aaron Harris
The effects of a cryoseism, as opposed to an earthquake, “are very localized,” according to the Maine Geological Survey. Thus, residents just a few hundred yards away from the impact zone may not experience anything out of the ordinary.“The reason that the vibrations do not travel very far is that cryoseisms don't release much energy compared with a true earthquake caused by dislocation of rock within the earth,” the Maine Geological Survey says. “On the other hand, since cryoseisms occur at the ground surface they can cause significant effects right at the site, enough to jar people awake.”
In the majority of cases, frost quakes occur after heavy rain or snow when a large amount of water seeps into the ground. Toronto was hit by freezing rain followed by warmer temperatures, before the recent cold snap.
“They
are incredibly rare,” the Toronto Star reported Environment Canada
meteorologist Geoff Coulson as saying. This week was his first
experience of them in 30 years, he said.
Social
media sites over the weekend were mostly devoted to the midnight
rattling, as residents attempted to make sense of what was happening.
‘Polar
Vortex’ pushes subzero temperatures into much of U.S. Midwest
The
coldest, most dangerous blast of polar air in decades gripped the
Midwest and pushed toward the East and South on Monday, closing
schools and day care centers, grounding flights and forcing people to
pull their hoods and scarves tight to protect exposed skin from
nearly instant frostbite.
ABC,
6
January, 2014
Many
across the nation's midsection went into virtual hibernation, while
others dared to venture out in temperatures that plunged well below
zero.
"I'm
going to try to make it two blocks without turning into crying man,"
said Brooks Grace, who was bundling up to do some banking and
shopping in downtown Minneapolis, where temperatures reached 20
below, with wind chills of minus 50. "It's not cold — it's
painful."
The
mercury also dropped into negative territory in Milwaukee, St. Louis
and Chicago, which set a record for the date at minus 16. Wind chills
across the region were 40 below and colder. Records also fell in
Oklahoma and Texas.
Forecasters
said some 187 million people in all could feel the effects of the
"polar vortex" by the time it spread across the country on
Monday night and Tuesday.
Record
lows were possible in the East and South, with highs in the single
digits expected Tuesday in Georgia and Alabama. Below-zero wind
chills were forecast up and down the coast, including minus 10 in
Atlanta and minus 12 in Baltimore.
From
the Dakotas to Maryland, schools and day care centers shut down.
"You
definitely know when you are not wearing your thermal undergarments,"
said Staci Kalthoff, who raises cattle with her husband on a 260-acre
farm in Albany, Minn., where the temperature hovered around 24 below
zero and winds made it feel like minus 46. "You have to dress
really, really warm and come in more often and thaw out everything."
Even
with this nostril-freezing cold, the family still prefers winter over
summer.
"You
can always put on more layers," she said. "When it gets
hot, you can only take off so much."
For
a big swath of the Midwest, the subzero cold moved in behind another
winter wallop: more than a foot of snow and high winds that made
traveling treacherous.
Nearly
3,200 flights — one out of every 10 domestic departures — were
canceled Monday morning, following a weekend of travel disruption
across the U.S. Airline officials said de-icing fluid was freezing,
fuel was pumping sluggishly, and ramp workers were having difficulty
loading and unloading luggage.
Authorities
in Indiana and Kentucky — where temperatures dropped into the
single digits and below, with wind chills in the minus 20s and worse
— warned people not to leave their homes at all unless they needed
to go someplace safer.
Utility
crews worked to restore power to more than 40,000 Indiana customers
affected by the weekend storm and cautioned that some people could be
in the cold and dark for days.
Ronald
G. Smith Sr. took shelter at an Indianapolis Red Cross after waking
up the previous night with the power out and his cat, Sweet Pea,
agitated in the darkness.
"The
screen door blew open and woke me up, and it was cold and dark. I got
dressed and I was scared, thinking, 'What am I going to do? My cat
knew something was wrong. He was jumping all over the place,"
Smith said. "This is brutal cold. The cold is what makes this so
dangerous."
Even
after Indianapolis lifted a travel ban, officials urged residents to
stay home for their own safety and that of police and other emergency
workers.
"It's
still slick out there," said Marc Lotter, a spokesman for the
mayor. "It's just not safe for people to be out on the streets."
Many
other cities came to a virtual standstill. In St. Louis, where more
than 10 inches of snow fell, the Gateway Arch, St. Louis Art Museum
and St. Louis Zoo were closed, along with shopping malls and movie
theaters. Even Hidden Valley Ski Resort, the region's only ski area,
shut down.
Officials
in Chicago and other cities checked on the homeless and shut-ins for
fear they might freeze to death on the street or in their homes.
Between
a heater that barely works and his drafty windows, Jeffery Davis
decided he would be better off sitting in a downtown Chicago doughnut
shop for three hours Monday until it was time to go to work.
He
threw on two pairs of pants, two T-shirts, "at least three
jackets," two hats, a pair of gloves, the "thickest socks
you'd probably ever find" and boots, and trudged to the train
stop in his South Side neighborhood that took him to within a few
blocks of the library where he works.
"I
never remember it ever being this cold," said Davis, 51. "I'm
flabbergasted."
Elnur
Toktombetov, a Chicago taxi driver, hit the road with hot tea and
doughnuts, and an hour into his shift, his cab's windows were still
coated with ice on the inside.
People
are "really happy to catch the cab. And I notice they really tip
well," he said.
Only
a few hardy souls braved the cold on the Nicollet Mall in
Minneapolis, normally a busy pedestrian area. Many people downtown
used the extensive heated skyway system, where it is warm enough to
walk around in office attire. Nearly all stores on the skyway were
open as usual.
Jersey
Devil Pizza & Wings was not.
"Apologies
... We are East Coast wimps. Too cold! Stay safe, see you Tuesday,"
read a sign taped to the door.
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