A major snowstorm that lashed parts of the Midwest on Monday will give way to record-smashing cold this week as a powerful polar vortex drives a deep freeze across the eastern half of the nation, forecasters said.
A snowstorm will wreak havoc across the Deep South on Tuesday.
The bitter cold will bring below-zero temperatures to a quarter of the continental USA. The National Weather Service in Des Moines, Iowa, warned that "this is the coldest air many of us will have ever experienced." The service said that if people go outside, they should "avoid taking deep breaths, and minimize talking."
Schools could be closed in Iowa as buses may struggle to start, the weather service said.
Wednesday could be the coldest day ever recorded in Chicago – a forecast high of 14 below zero, the weather service said. There's a chance the Windy City will break its all-time coldest temperature record of 27 degrees below zero. Chicago's famous Brookfield Zoo will be closed Wednesday and Thursday for only the fourth time in its 85-year history.
"Some locations in the Midwest will be below zero continuously for 48-72 hours," according to AccuWeather meteorologist Mike Doll.
It could be warmer above the Arctic Circle than in Chicago by Wednesday, with temperatures forecast to fall in the Windy City to 20-to-25 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus-29 to minus-32 Celsius).
New York and Washington will be warmer, with a bit of snow.
Chicago is expected to approach an all-time record low of minus 27, set in 1985, according to Brian Hurley, a senior branch forecaster at the U.S. Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. Wind chill, meanwhile, could feel closer to minus-40 to minus-45.
"That is pretty amazing," Hurley said by telephone on Monday. But there's hope ahead for the weekend, when the cold is forecast to retreat across the U.S., with temperatures returning to seasonal levels or warmer, Hurley added.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 29 2019, @09:57PM (2 children)
Says the guy who worked in politics. I think y'all passed your expiration date, too bad the Puritans didn't appropriate the "walk into the wilderness when no longer useful" part of the native culture.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday January 30 2019, @03:17AM (1 child)
Is that "y'all" in the singular, or plural sense? I can't tell if you're intending an ad hominem jab, a racist insult, or some flavor of ageism. If the latter two, you best report to remedial sensitivity training before your Chief Diversity Officer gets wind of your bigotry.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 30 2019, @05:33AM
Your mistakes are your own old man! I say the true path is follow through!!
Ok, since you're more articulate than most of the trolls here I'll bother.
y'all is plural and was referring to old people who stop using their brains, but to be fair there are plenty of young people making little use of theirs. The difference is the young people stand a chance of learning while the old people tend to get cranky and stubborn insisting that surviving a few more decades makes them the wisest sages. So ageism it is, but obliquely. Sorry for profiling you, you should be considered as a unique individual.
My Chief Diversity Officer just laughed upon reading your quip. I report all possible transgressions for review, I have absolute faith in the system and anything that appears otherwise is part of the Greater Plan.