The Big Freeze

Record freeze settles into eastern United States, affects 200 million people

A deadly blast of arctic air has shattered decades-old temperature records as it enveloped the US, creating chaos with freezing conditions that have affected almost 200 million people.

ABC,

8 January, 2014

The below-freezing conditions are being carried from the arctic by a phenomenon known as a polar vortex, which has created weather that has paralysed transport, overwhelmed homeless shelters and closed schools and businesses.

Authorities have put about half of the United States under a wind chill warning or cold weather advisory, the icy conditions snarling air, road and rail travel.

New York's Central Park hit a record low temperature for the date of minus 16 degrees Celsius - but with winds gusting to 32 kilometres per hour conditions felt far colder, the National Weather Service said.

The National Weather Service said temperatures were expected to be 14C to 19C below normal from the Midwest to the Southeast.

Six deaths have been reported across the country since a polar air mass swept over North America at the weekend, producing the coldest temperatures in two decades.

Major US cities were in the grip of temperatures well below freezing, with Chicago seeing temperatures of -20C, Detroit -21C, Pittsburgh -17C and Boston -9C.

In the normally mild south, Atlanta recorded its coldest weather on this date in 44 years, when the temperature dropped to -14C, while temperatures in northern Florida also briefly dropped below freezing, though the state's citrus crop was unharmed, according to a major growers' group.

Among the deaths reported was a 51-year-old homeless man in Columbus, Georgia, whose body was found in an empty lot after spending the night outdoors.

Four cold and storm-related deaths were reported around Chicago, and an elderly woman was found dead outside her Indianapolis home early on Monday.

Transport brought to a halt, commuters face long delays

After running into impassable snow and ice, three Chicago-bound Amtrak trains came to a halt on Monday afternoon (local time), stranding more than 500 passengers overnight. They had heat, water, lights and toilet facilities, according to Amtrak

As of Tuesday morning, passengers on two trains, which spent the night on the tracks in Bureau County, Illinois, were being transported to Chicago by chartered bus, an Amtrak spokesman said.

The deep freeze disrupted many Americans' morning commutes on Tuesday with icy or closed roads and flight delays.

In New York and Washington DC, homeless shelters and other public buildings took in people who were freezing outside.

At New York's Bowery Mission homeless shelter, the 80-bed dormitory was at full capacity on Monday night and 179 other people slept in the chapel and cafeteria, officials said.

"We had our staff go out to walk the neighbourhood to make sure everyone was aware they could come in for the night," said James Winan, a chief development officer at the shelter.

Washington officials opened libraries, recreation centres and other public spaces for people to warm themselves from temperatures that fell to -14C.

"My hands were frozen like ice picks. I came in here to get my hands warm; I put them under the hot water here," said Mike Smith, a 48-year-old homeless man who had been dozing in the lobby of Washington's Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Library.

Weather too cold for zoo polar bear; escaped prisoner begs to be let back into jail

The cold snap proved to be too much for a polar bear at Chicago's zoo.

The animal, named Anana, was kept inside because keepers feared her zoo diet had not equipped her with the layer of fat which wild bears would use to survive the cold.

Wild bears eat seals and whale carcasses which allow them to build up fat reserves to survive low temperatures in the icy arctic.

Further south in Kentucky, police said an escaped prisoner turned himself him because he was unable to bear the brutally cold weather outside.

Robert Vick escaped from the Blackburn jail on Sunday but turned up at a Lexington motel the next day asking for the police to be called.

A police spokeswoman said Vick wanted to go back to prison because he was so cold, adding that temperatures in the central-eastern state were -20C.

Energy providers, tourists caught short

Meanwhile, wholesale electricity prices in the central and eastern US spiked far above their normal seasonal level as homes and businesses needed to use more energy to warm buildings. Power demand in Texas hit a new winter record.

Minneapolis public schools were to be closed for a second day on Tuesday "due to extremely cold temperatures", after governor Mark Dayton declared a state of emergency.

The cold took some visitors to New York by surprise.

"It is unbearable. We arrived yesterday and came out just to shop for more clothes," said Daniel Bounomie, a 25-year-old Brazilian tourist who was walking through Times Square arm in arm with his shivering sister, wearing the same thin hooded jumper he arrived in.

Outside Boston, the cold had 27-year-old plumber's assistant Paul Tonnessen scrambling from job to job, repairing pipes that had burst due to freezing.

"Pipes will freeze, heat goes out. You've got to go. You can't leave people without heat on days like today," he said.

Hundreds stranded overnight on freezing Amtrak trains as 'Polar vortex' moves in

Hundreds of passengers found themselves stranded overnight on Chicago-bound Amtrak trains as a major winter storm plunged much of the American Midwest into dangerously cold subzero temperatures.

RT,

8 January, 2014

Three Amtrak trains containing approximately 500 passengers were stopped about 80 miles west of Chicago, in Mendota, Illinois, due to severe snow and ice buildup on the tracks. The trains were halted between 3:15 and 4:15 p.m on Monday and remained stuck for the rest of the day, unable to move even through Tuesday morning.

Around 6 a.m. Tuesday, Amtrak officials began transferring passengers onto charter buses for the remainder of the trip. The first set of passengers has already arrived in Chicago, while others are expected to reach the city by the afternoon.

“We've completed unloading the first train," Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said to ABC News early Tuesday morning. "We're now moving to unload the second. And all those passengers from those trains who spent the night overnight in Bureau County will be on chartered buses coming here to Chicago this morning."

Unfortunately for some passengers, the conditions aboard the trains weren’t exactly ideal. While some passengers told local ABC 7 the heat was on and food was served, others told Good Morning America a different story.

"The conditions is cold, we're wearing coats,” said Laurette Mosley, who was stuck onboard one of the trains for 14 hours. “And my husband is a diabetic. He hasn't had any food all day. The bathrooms are flooded. The sinks are full with water and the toilets are flooded.”

While Amtrak officials sort out train delays, the East Coast and the American South are bracing for the arrival of the powerful “polar vortex” that’s wreaked havoc on the Midwest. Wind chill warnings have been issued for states as far down as Florida, while single-digit highs are expected in Alabama and Georgia.

In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo recently declared a state of emergency for the western part of the state, where up to 36 inches of snow could fall and wind chills could plunge to 40 degrees below zero.

According to the Associated Press, about 187 million Americans will have faced the effects of the polar vortex by the time it runs its course.

As with any storm involving ice and heavy snowfall, electrical outages are a major concern. In Indiana, more than 30,000 customers remain without electricity due to downed power lines, while New York has lined up close to 4,000 officials to help respond to any power outages that may occur.

Meanwhile, even countries across the Atlantic are feeling the polar vortex’s wrath. In Britain, a surge of powerful winds and swelling ocean waves were described by the Associated Press as “loosely connected to the weather system that caused the U.S winter storm.”

By Wednesday, though, weather forecasters expect temperatures to rise steadily in the Midwest, with temperatures reaching above-freezing levels by the end of the week.

NY declares state of emergency due to 'Polar vortex' winter storm

RT,

7 January, 2014

NY governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency ahead of a major winter storm triggered by the “polar vortex,” now sweeping into the eastern US. The state could see as much as 36 inches of snow and wind chills as low as 40 degrees below zero.

Road closures and a health advisory were issued by the state of New York in preparation for what are being described as “life threatening” weather conditions.

“As this new winter storm develops, bringing heavy snow and high winds, I strongly urge all citizens in these regions to exercise caution, avoid travel, and stay indoors,” Governor Cuomo said.

The state was mobilizing 300 members of the NY Army and Air National Guard to assist as the storm moved through the region, along with 3,800 field workers available to respond in the event of power failures caused by the icy conditions.

Having already produced frigid conditions in the Midwest, temperatures down the east coast were set to plunge by as much as 40 degrees. States such as Minnesota, though well acquainted with harsh winter seasons, saw wind chill reach 56 degrees below zero in Duluth, while far to the south in Huntsville, Alabama, the temperature dipped to 14 degrees.

The polar vortex effect was so powerful that it was blamed for high winds and huge ocean swells on the southwest coast of Britain, caused by an expansive, deep atmospheric depression over the Atlantic Ocean.

Britain’s high waves were “loosely connected to the weather system that caused the U.S winter storm, which dumped large amounts of snow in the Northeast and delayed thousands of flights,” reported the AP.

Residents of Indiana and Kentucky were warned not to leave their homes as temperatures dropped into the single digits, and wind chill in the minus 20s and below.

Customers were advised to try and conserve power as the power grid serving 61 million Americans in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and portions of the South prepared to cope with the high demand.

In Indiana 40,000 customers meanwhile waited for utility crews to restore power knocked out by the storm, reported the AP.

The record-breaking freeze is being caused by a wavy and elongated jet stream, which is carrying Arctic air far more to the south than normal.

“It’s basically the jet stream on a drunken path going around the Northern Hemisphere,” said Rutgers University climate scientist Jennifer Francis to Grist.

The large weather phenomenon has also renewed the discussion on the impact of anthropomorphic, or human-induced, climate change.

According to research conducted by Francis, the warming of the Arctic has produced the errant behavior of the polar vortex, which is present each year but usually does not plunge the southern portion of the US into such a freeze. That warming also seems to be producing greater instances of this wavy jet stream phenomenon.

Photo taken not long ago after the storm last week on January 4th from Long Beach Island in New Jersey. Incredible. (Photo by Andrew Warren via Ann Sorbara)..