Polar vortex brings more historic cold in eastern U.S.
Last edited Fri Feb 20, 2015, 01:06 PM - Edit history (2)
Source: Washington Post
Capital Weather Gang
By Angela Fritz February 20 at 8:59 AM
@angelafritz
Friday arrived with an icy slap as Arctic air surged into the eastern United States. The cold snap is taking aim at long-standing records from Boston to Miami.
Flint, Mich., has tied its all-time record low for any month when the temperature dropped to a brutal minus 25 degrees on Friday morning. The last time it was so cold in Flint was on Jan. 18, 1976.
Cleveland broke its all-time record low for the month of February when the thermometer bottomed out at 17 degrees below zero on Friday morning. The new record surpassed the previous by one degree, set more than a century ago on Feb. 10, 1899.
Many record lows for the date have been set in major cities along the Eastern Seaboard, including New York, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Miami.
A plume of frigid, Arctic air is pushing south into the eastern U.S. this week. Shown above is an analysis of pressure over North America this week, illustrating a strong ridge of high pressure over the western U.S. and Alaska, and a deep trough in the east, which is allowing polar air to dive south. (weatherbell.com)
Friday morning low temperatures will be running 20 to as much as 50 degrees below average for this time of year across most of the eastern U.S. (tropicaltidbits.com)
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/02/19/arctic-outbreak-shatters-records-in-eastern-u-s-coldest-yet-to-come/
South of the border, so to speak, I'm wearing board shorts and a ski bib under a pair of BDU camouflage pants. Two thumbs up for the BDUs, by the way. You can wear them over sweatpants or ski bibs, or sweatpants and ski bibs.
Up top, I had on a t-shirt, turtleneck shirt, Pendleton wool shirt, ski parka with a collar that can be turned up to shield the neck, and a windbreaker with hoody. That was to go from the commuter bus to my building. I brought along an Under Armour fleece jacket to put on if I needed to. I did not need it on the way in.
My feet were cold, but I was wearing running shoes by choice. The sidewalks are coated with lots of uneven ice. If I wear warm boots, I give up traction. If I go for the traction, I give up warmth. Since my walk from the bus to the building takes only a few minutes, I'd rather go for the traction and sacrifice the warmth. I figure that beats a broken hip.
True fact: I crossed through Canadian territory on the way from the bus to work. Yes, the grounds of the Canadian embassy. It didn't seem any colder than its surroundings. Also, I did not see any moose.
= new reply since forum marked as read
