Source: http://www.breitbar
Shocking cold wave drops temps to 40 below zero
Jan 13 03:24 PM US/Eastern
By AMY FORLITI
Associated Press Writer
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Temperatures crashed to Arctic levels Tuesday as a
severe cold wave rolled across the upper Midwest on the heels of yet
another snowstorm, closing schools and making most people think twice
before going outside. Thermometers read single digits early in the day
as far south as Kansas and Missouri, where some areas warmed only into
the teens by midday.
The ice and snow that glazed pavement was blamed for numerous traffic
accidents from Minnesota to Indiana, where police said a truck
overturned and spilled 43,000 pounds of cheese, closing a busy highway
ramp during the night in the Gary area.
Still, some Minnesotans took it as just another winter day, even in the
state's extreme northwest corner where thermometers bottomed out at 38
degrees below zero at the town of Hallock and the National Weather
Service said the wind chill was a shocking 58 below.
"It's really not so bad," Robert Cameron, 75, said as he and several
friends gathered for morning coffee at the Cenex service station in
Hallock. "We've got clothing that goes with the weather. ... We're ready
and rolling, no matter what."
"It's so beautiful. There's not a cloud in the sky," said Keith
Anderson, 66. But he said that's not stopping him from skipping town at
the end of the week to spend a couple of months in Nevada and Arizona.
Outside, one of the station's gas pumps froze up at least once, and
assistant manager Terrie Franks had to go out to apply deicer spray.
"You definitely have to have gloves on because touching the cold
metal—your hands are frozen," Franks said by telephone.
The weather service warned that exposed flesh can freeze in 10 minutes
when the wind chill is 40 degrees below zero or colder.
At about 8 a.m., temperatures were minus 40 in International Falls and
minus 35 in Roseau. Farther south, Minneapolis hit 18 below zero with a
wind chill of 32 below and black ice was blamed for numerous accidents.
In neighboring North Dakota, Grand Forks dropped to a record low of 37
below zero Tuesday morning, lopping six degrees off the old record set
in 1979, the National Weather Service said.
Schools were closed because of the cold as far south as Iowa, and
authorities in Grand Rapids, Mich., went out urging the homeless to seek
shelter.
The leading edge of the cold air was expected to strike the Northeast,
mid-Atlantic and South late Tuesday and Wednesday. And meteorologists
warned that a second wave could drop temperatures into the single digits
Thursday and Friday in the mid-Atlantic region.
The storm that blew through the upper Midwest on Monday dropped 6 inches
of snow on Minot, N.D., on top of about a foot that fell late last week,
and Bismarck collected 4 inches. Bismarck, Fargo and Grand Forks all
broke snow records for December, each with more than 30 inches. They
were outdone by Madison, Wis., which accumulated a record 40 inches for
the month, the weather service said Tuesday.
Road departments have had little time to clear away the snow between
storms.
"Four-wheel drives are useless—people are just snowed in," said Rhonda
Woodhams, office manager for Williams County, N.D. "People are calling
in saying they're out of milk and diapers for their kids, or they have
doctor appointments they need to get to. We're doing our best. And we
don't need no more snow."
"It's like a sea of whiteness; people can't see the road," said Rebecca
Arndt, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Transportation in
Mankato. "When the white fluffy stuff starts to blow, it is not pretty."
What was left of that snowstorm was blowing eastward along the Great
Lakes, and the weather service posted winter storm warnings Tuesday for
parts of Michigan, northern Indiana and Ohio's northwest corner. Up to
11 inches of new snow was possible in Detroit.
Winter weather advisories were in effect from North Dakota to Ohio and
northeast into northern New England.
--
Sean Gabb
Director, The Libertarian Alliance
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