Massive U.S. freeze breaks weather records

 

 

CNN.com - Top Stories

CNN.com delivers up-to-the-minute news and information on the latest top stories, weather, entertainment, politics and more.

Massive U.S. freeze breaks weather records
1/7/2014 6:59:36 PM

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: One person died in Chicago area due to hypothermia, authorities said
• NEW: More than 2,500 flights are canceled Tuesday
• A Coast Guard ship had to break through ice
• 500 passengers were stranded on three Amtrak trains in Illinois

(CNN) -- The polar vortex swirling its way across the United States is breaking records, leaving travelers stranded on trains and in airports, and forcing the Coast Guard to cut through ice.

And unfortunately, it is also being blamed Tuesday for one new death from hypothermia, authorities said.

Even polar bears and penguins have had to take shelter indoors.

New York City saw a record low for the date Tuesday. It was just four degrees in Central Park, breaking a record of six set in 1896.

That's not quite as bad as the all-time low of 15 below zero in 1934. But with the wind chill, temperatures still felt well below zero Tuesday -- a 69-degree drop from Monday, when the weather was a relatively sultry 50 degrees with wind chill.

Temperatures plummeted below freezing somewhere in all 50 states Tuesday morning -- most, but not all, due to the arctic blast hovering like an ice chest, according to CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen. (The cold regions of California and Hawaii, for example, had nothing to do with the vortex.)

In Florida, despite the low temperatures, crops were not damaged Tuesday morning, the state's Fruit and Vegetable Association told CNN.

Hard freeze warnings were in effect from eastern Texas to the Florida Panhandle.

Authorities have blamed at least 16 deaths on the cold so far, including 11 from traffic accidents and three involving hypothermia. A spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office said Tuesday that one person had died as a result of the extreme cold.

The record cold in many areas is putting a strain on electric grids -- creating dangers that more people could lose power. "We're past our expected peak power demand for today," the Tennessee Valley Authority said on Twitter. "Thanks for conserving where you can." In Alabama, 27,000 customers were without power Tuesday morning, but that figure dropped to about 18,000 as service was restored in some areas, according to Alabama Power.

At Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, Anana -- a polar bear who never grew the thick layer of fat that bears in the Arctic do -- had to be brought inside Monday. And at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, bald eagles and African penguins, "who are used to temperate climates," were taken off exhibit until the weather warms up, the facility reported.

Travel snarled

The weather left more than 500 people stranded on three Amtrak trains overnight in western and north-central Illinois, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said.

All three Chicago-bound trains -- two coming from California, and one originating in Quincy, Illinois -- stopped Monday afternoon or evening because conditions prevented them from going farther. At least one was stopped by "heavy snow drifting in a trenchlike area," Magliari said.

"The passengers were sheltered in place overnight," Magliari said. "It wasn't safe to take people off these trains ... because there wasn't a good way to get people to and from the trains in the bad weather."

Amtrak worked to make other arrangements, putting some passengers on buses. The first buses arrived in Chicago at 7 a.m. ET; the last bus wasn't expected to reach the city until early Tuesday afternoon, Magliari said.

All the trains had heat and electricity throughout, he said.

"It certainly wasn't as comfortable as anyone would have liked, but it was not unsafe," Magliari said. "It was the best thing to do in these temperatures in these conditions at that time overnight in that part of the state."

Jeanette Floyd, who boarded one of the California trains in Kansas City, praised the crew for helping to keep passengers positive, but said her trip -- which ended up taking more than a day from start to finish -- still was "one of the worst (experiences) ever."

"I can't feel my butt because it's just not there anymore, just sitting for literally 26 hours," Floyd told CNN Tuesday after arriving in Chicago by bus.

Floyd and other passengers said the crew gave them a complimentary meal during the stranding.

A fourth Amtrak train was stuck for nine hours Monday night and early Tuesday near Kalamazoo, Michigan, about 300 passengers had to wait more than nine hours to reach their destination, CNN affiliate WXMI reported.

"It was kind of like purgatory," a passenger told CNN affiliate WLS, adding that it was "not quite hellish because there was good company." The train, which was bound for Chicago, finally arrived at the city's Union Station on Monday night, WLS reported.

More than 2,500 flights were canceled within, into or out of the United States on Tuesday morning, according to flightaware.com.

New York resident Mindy Goldberg said her family's flight back from Mexico had been diverted to Boston because of the weather.

"I just called my kids' school to tell them they wouldn't be there, and she said, 'Everyone's stuck somewhere,'" Goldberg told CNN affiliate WBZ.

Ships ran into trouble as well. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Hollyhock had to break through ice in Lake Michigan.

In Indianapolis, Los Angeles resident Jason Bentley decided to play in the snow outside the airport after learning that his flight home had been canceled Sunday. It was 15 below zero Farenheit (-26 Celsius).

JetBlue cancels Northeast flights to rest crews

"This is the wettest snow I've ever touched, the easiest snow to make a snowman and to have snowball fights," Bentley wrote in a CNN Facebook discussion. "It's also probably the worst (weather) I've ever been in because of the temperature."

"Sick as a dog. Car is dead. Roads are closed. Space heater died yesterday," Amanda Brooke of Valparaiso, Indiana, said on Facebook. "Missing doctors' appointments I've had for six months." She described herself as "cold, sick, and trying not to be miserable."

In Columbus, Ohio, Alexis Mitchell-Tremain posted that she still had to go to work. "So, it's layers of clothing, the hubby's big woolly scarf, and a lot of coffee."

Jason Coppula in Pittsburgh can relate. "I have about three layers on, two gloves, two (pairs of) socks, scarf and ski goggles," he wrote on Facebook.

Post by Josh Levs.

This is what the steam fog over the Great Lakes looked like Monday from space (via @NASA). http://t.co/dXFLRgGRKP pic.twitter.com/BaosAhB5dr

— Josh Levs (@JoshLevs) January 7, 2014

How cold is it where you are? @USCG Cutter Hollyhock had to break through ice as it transited Lake Michigan. pic.twitter.com/Vxn80MvVoo

— U.S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) January 7, 2014

Extreme wind chills mean flesh can freeze in as little as five minutes. Several major school districts are closed Tuesday, including those in Minneapolis and Atlanta, to prevent children from waiting outside at bus stops.

Chicago opened up 12 centers for residents trying to stay warm, one of which was to stay open through Tuesday. Libraries and some other city facilities would also be open, said Evelyn Diaz of the city's Department of Family and Support Services. Gov. Pat Quinn said 100 warming centers were open statewide.

When will this end?

Temperatures should start edging higher on Wednesday. By Thursday, most of the country will be back to normal, CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said. In fact, some temperatures may even be a bit higher than usual.

CNN's Carma Hassan, Kait Richmond, Deborah Doft, Matt Smith, Indra Petersons, Stephanie Elam, and Paul Vercammen contributed to this report.

 

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at feedmyinbox.com

If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions