The Big American Freeze

The polar vortex that gave rise to ‘The Big Freeze’ and responsible for breaking temperature records gripped North America over the weekend.

This severe cold spell, according to meteorologists, is not unusual. The dip in the wave which is the jet stream – a fast flowing ribbon of meandering air stretching the circumference of the globe, miles up in the atmosphere – has allowed extremely cold air to sink in from the North Pole. This is known as a polar vortex – a word we're hearing more of.

Image credit: http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/polar-vortex-in-pictures-best-photos-of-american-big-freeze-9046052.html

 










The Chicago skyline is seen beyond the arctic sea mists rising off Lake Michigan in Chicago, Illinois. Image by Jim Young/Reuters

Image credit: http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/polar-vortex-in-pictures-best-photos-of-american-big-freeze-9046052.html

Ice from the breath of Gail Davis forming around her face as she exercises by walking outside in Minneapolis. Reuters pic, January 09, 2014.

Image credit: https://twitter.com/GoogleEarthPics/status/420299550780174337/photo/1

The US of A – all 50 states – saw freezing temperatures at some icy point on Tuesday. That included Hawaii, where it was 18 degrees atop Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano. Southerners were not spared either – they had to dig out winter coats, hats and gloves they almost never have to use.

For large swathes of the country, the weather map has begun to look like an algebra worksheet with lots of small, negative numbers. It is said that 149 million people – about half the US population – were gripped by the phenomenon!

Many cities came to a virtual standstill. New York City's Central Park broke a 118-year-old record when the temperature dropped to -15C, according to Fox News and escaped inmate Robert Vick handed himself back into custody in Kentucky when the chill became too much. Even a polar bear was forced to retreat inside in the face of weather colder than in some parts of the Antarctic.

In one small town in Michigan – that goes by the name of Hell – the snow was so deep a snow plough got stuck. The 600-plus residents had to endure temperatures of minus 20 degrees. Indeed, “Hell has literally frozen over”!

Airlines were hit hard. On Tuesday itself, more than 2,500 flights were cancelled and more than 6,000 were delayed, FlightAware.com statistics show.

In fact, the lowest temperature so far recorded was on January 07 in the town of Embarrass in Minnesota at a numbing minus 37 Celsius. It was as low as the Antarctic coast in winter and much colder than the inside of a domestic freezer.

Thankfully, a reprieve is expected soon. Anyway, the cost of the cold snap to the country's economy could be a cool $5 billion , if not more!