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talkpoliticsThis must have been a hell of a week for many Americans throughout the Midwest and New England, I imagine. A freezing hell, that is. Is the cold loosening its grip already out there? How is life under such severe frost? Do share your experience.
I saw the Niagara Falls in their solid state. As beautiful as it looks, it can't help but create a fright. Such deep freeze is always a very serious thing. Almost incomprehensible, especially for someone from Africa (albeit from its southernmost tip, where the climate resembles Spain).
Still, as the following photos show, life still goes on despite the cold, however anonymously under many layers of clothing and frost. I just hope this disaster ends soon...
A person walks past a snow covered bus shelter in downtown Chicago, Jan. 6.
The Chicago skyline is seen beyond the arctic sea smoke rising off Lake Michigan in Chicago, Jan. 6.
A woman walks through a gust of blowing snow in downtown Chicago, Jan. 6.
Commuters make a sub-zero trek to offices in Chicago's Loop, Jan. 6.
A man is silhouetted against the frigid fog rising off Lake Michigan in Chicago, Jan. 6.
A worker spreads sand near an exterior waterfall that froze overnight at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., Jan. 7.
Arctic sea smoke rising off Lake Michigan in Chicago, Jan. 6.
Commuters make their way across the Chicago River, Jan. 6.
Mist rises from Lake Michigan as temperatures in Chicago dipped to the lowest temperatures in two decades on Jan. 6.
Ice crystals form on the inside of a window in Minneapolis, Jan. 6.
Left: Taxis wait outside at Kennedy International Airport in New York, Jan. 6. More than 3,000 flights within, into, or out of the United States were canceled on Monday. Right: Passengers wait on an 'L' platform for the train to arrive in below zero temperatures on January 7, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. Many trains were delayed on the system because doors on the trains kept freezing open.
A pedestrian braves the cold on Jan. 7 in New York City.
I saw the Niagara Falls in their solid state. As beautiful as it looks, it can't help but create a fright. Such deep freeze is always a very serious thing. Almost incomprehensible, especially for someone from Africa (albeit from its southernmost tip, where the climate resembles Spain).
Still, as the following photos show, life still goes on despite the cold, however anonymously under many layers of clothing and frost. I just hope this disaster ends soon...
A person walks past a snow covered bus shelter in downtown Chicago, Jan. 6.
The Chicago skyline is seen beyond the arctic sea smoke rising off Lake Michigan in Chicago, Jan. 6.
A woman walks through a gust of blowing snow in downtown Chicago, Jan. 6.
Commuters make a sub-zero trek to offices in Chicago's Loop, Jan. 6.
A man is silhouetted against the frigid fog rising off Lake Michigan in Chicago, Jan. 6.
A worker spreads sand near an exterior waterfall that froze overnight at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., Jan. 7.
Arctic sea smoke rising off Lake Michigan in Chicago, Jan. 6.
Commuters make their way across the Chicago River, Jan. 6.
Mist rises from Lake Michigan as temperatures in Chicago dipped to the lowest temperatures in two decades on Jan. 6.
Ice crystals form on the inside of a window in Minneapolis, Jan. 6.
Left: Taxis wait outside at Kennedy International Airport in New York, Jan. 6. More than 3,000 flights within, into, or out of the United States were canceled on Monday. Right: Passengers wait on an 'L' platform for the train to arrive in below zero temperatures on January 7, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. Many trains were delayed on the system because doors on the trains kept freezing open.
A pedestrian braves the cold on Jan. 7 in New York City.
(no subject)
Date: 10/1/14 21:28 (UTC)I took the vortex in stride by cooking a lot -- nothing beats a polar vortex like the sweet, sweet Maillard reaction leading to Golden Brown Deliciousness.
Of, course, too many people tried to make "snow" by throwing pots of boiling water into the nasty air...and got badly burned in the process. (http://www.buzzfeed.com/adriancarrasquillo/a-whole-bunch-of-people-threw-boiling-water-in-the-air-to-wa)
(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 02:14 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 03:05 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 10/1/14 21:47 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 10/1/14 21:51 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 00:24 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 00:38 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 01:20 (UTC)My slow cooker has been getting a work out this winter. When it gets into single and negative digits I just want soup.
OTOH, it's going to be in the 40s tomorrow. Practically ice cream weather.
(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 01:54 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 10/1/14 22:19 (UTC)Winter generally dips into the negatives for a couple days here and there. However the wind chill usually isn't much below -15 or so. We had wind chills of -40F. It was impressively cold. I've never experienced anything like it before. Things stayed more or less closed until Wednesday when it warmed up a little (5F had never been so good to see!) and the worst of the snow was off the roads.
Vehicles? My gas truck coughed a couple times and fired right up on Tuesday, which was the second very cold day for us. It sat outside and I didn't do anything special for it. My boyfriend's diesel truck had problems despite having had the engine heater all night and a second heater going in the cab. My Mini Cooper didn't blink when I fired it up Tuesday. Wasn't about to try driving it until the roads were better, but I wanted to make sure it didn't die.
Today we're looking at 40F and it's starting to rain. So in the next fun little hurdle will be flooding from the rain plus melting snow. And the ground is good and frozen so not much, if any will sink into the ground.
(no subject)
Date: 10/1/14 22:42 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 00:21 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 01:23 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 01:26 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 00:41 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 01:32 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 01:46 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 02:25 (UTC)Bayside benches took the brunt of the storm!
Typical tidal flooding + ice!
(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 03:26 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 04:17 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/1/14 16:58 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 13/1/14 04:48 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 04:46 (UTC)This morning there was supposed to be freezing fog - but I didn't see any. It's raining this evening.
(no subject)
Date: 11/1/14 04:48 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/1/14 09:24 (UTC)Pshaw! It's all about layers!
Date: 11/1/14 05:51 (UTC)riskguarantee of being taken for a braggart, allow me to say, from my vantage point of the Nation's Capital (Ottawa, Canada) that all this wingeing about polar vortexes and cetera is tiresome and the mark of a flacid set of moral values.Wearing layers and a good set of tires is all one needs. As evidence, I offer two photos of myself, taken early January. The first was when I began my 13.4 km journey to the Ottawa International Airport. If I recall, the temperature hovered around -20C.
The second marked my return home later that night, when the temperature was around -25C (note the frost adheering to the headscarf).
In truth, if you dress for the weather (in my case, two pairs of pants below the waist; t-shirt, shirt, sweater, leather jacked above; cotton head-scarf below the bike-helmet, secondary scarf to (sometimes) cover chin and mouth) and you keep active, it can actually be exhilarating.
(On the other hand, if your pipes have burst, or your power has gone out, that's a very different kettle of ice-cubes. Ottawa's been cold, but mostly lucky.)
(no subject)
Date: 12/1/14 01:01 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/1/14 04:18 (UTC)BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
(no subject)
Date: 12/1/14 09:23 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/1/14 22:32 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 19/1/14 05:42 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 19/1/14 07:34 (UTC)Those people who died of cold in the recent weeks would beg to differ. If they could.
As well as the households that are usually left without electricity at times of cold waves. I'm sure they wouldn't call it a matter of perspective.
A problem really becomes a problem when it hits people directly, doesn't it?
(no subject)
Date: 19/1/14 15:31 (UTC)The cold turned deadly for some: Authorities reported at least 21 cold-related deaths across the United States since Sunday, including seven in Illinois and six in Indiana. At least five people died after collapsing while shovelling snow, while several victims were identified as homeless people who either refused shelter or didn't make it to a warm haven soon enough.
In Missouri on Monday, a one-year-old boy was killed when the car he was riding in struck a snow plow, and a 20-year-old woman was killed in a separate crash after her car slid on ice and into the path of a tractor-trailer. (http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2014/01/08/polar-vortex-blamed-for-at-least-21-deaths/)
21 cold related deaths across the populous Indiana/Illinios over the weeks isn't much of a disaster. That's a shoot-out at the OK Coral. While being without power over Xmas is extremely inconvenient, that's still not a disaster.
Define disaster. At what point does something/anything become a disaster?
(no subject)
Date: 19/1/14 15:38 (UTC)Conversely, at what point does anything constitute a disaster according to your standards? If at any point at all?
(no subject)
Date: 19/1/14 17:22 (UTC)Lots of people die from shovelling snow every year. It's called over exertion. But the cold (even the amount of snow) doesn't directly cause these deaths. People not used to shovelling might not realize how strenuous it can be. Here we have a SNOW ANGELS program, which just encourages the healthy to help shovel the walks/driveways of sick/elderly not just to be nice, but because it's widely acknowledged how dangerous it can be for the sick/elderly.
Deaths due to hypothermia/exposure is obviously a concern. But there's an issue here of responsibility. Geeze, if it's cold out, dress up for it or seek shelter. If there's no warm shelter then there is a serious cultural/societal issue failing the public. When you see somebody in need of aid like that, you should offer help. This should be the job of the police and other emergency services already.
With the cold and snow comes hazardous roads and sidewalks. Traffic accidents and pedestrian falls increase dramatically every winter. More people die from not driving to the conditions (slowing down, giving plenty room) then any other reason when it's cold.
(no subject)
Date: 21/1/14 02:24 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 19/1/14 15:45 (UTC)I know, I know, now you're going to demand a definition of "profound". Some people never give up on the semantic digging, do they.
I get it. Being cold is just a matter of perspective. Right.
Next.
(no subject)
Date: 20/1/14 01:26 (UTC)The media loves a good panic though. It serves their purposes. If only they could claim Jack Frost had weapons of mass destruction they would.
There are always the unfortunate few that will have legitimate concerns during -40 weather. Furnaces (especially hi-efficiency ones (due to design flaws)) will conk out. Their fleece jacket bought at Walmart specifically for this cold snap offers inadequate protection for sub-zero winds (because Chinese fleece is polyester and toilet paper). And yeah, flights may be delayed due to weather, just like traffic is often delayed due to weather.
Yeah, part of the economy swells during cold snaps, while other parts of the economy deflates. When it's cold the tow trucks do a booming business. So do the gas companies, the plumbers, the electricians, the furnace makers and suppliers.
(no subject)
Date: 20/1/14 07:06 (UTC)