Freezing weather hits the US and parts of Canada

by amyjudd | January 14, 2009 at 04:01 pm

810 views | 23 Recommendations | 12 comments

A blast of arctic air has hit the parts of the United States and Canada, causing temperatures to drop below zero for areas from Montana to New England and part of Canada. Even skiers are staying home as ski hills in Vermont are empty.

Some areas reached temperatures of 38 below zero, with a wind chill of 50 below.

The temperature at Bolton, Vt., was 10 below zero and operators of the Bolton Valley ski resort feared that skiers could freeze if a lift malfunctioned, said spokesman Josh Arneson. "Getting people off a lift can take time," he said.

Schools from Iowa to Pennsylvania opened late so kids would not have to be out in the coldest part of the morning. Some schools closed.

Central Canada has also been hit with an icy blast, as temperatures there fell to below 30 to 50 degrees Celcisus, with parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba being hit the hardest.

The sun brought a little warmth to Winnipeg, making it feel like –40 C with the wind chill by mid-afternoon, an improvement on the –50 C the wind chill made it feel like when residents woke up. Regina warmed only a few degrees above the –45 C it felt like with the wind chill at the start of the day.

Parts of Northern Quebec however are colder at the moment than the North Pole, and the weather has delayed some tranist systems and some planes.

In Ottawa, where a weeks-long transit strike is forcing many commuters to walk, residents were bracing for nighttime temperatures through to Friday to plunge as low as –31 C, and feel like –37 C to –39 C with the wind chill.

The cold caused at least three water mains to break in Montreal as the mercury dipped to –23 C in the morning. At least one home flooded.

However, Vancouver's temperature is rising and part of St. John's is rising also. Warmer weather for all of Canada does seem to be on the way.

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Paschen

at 16:58 on January 14th, 2009

I like the conclusion, "Warmer weather seems to be on it's way." Good.

Tomitheos

at 16:59 on January 14th, 2009

well conveyed amy, well done!

Barry Artiste

at 17:07 on January 14th, 2009

And people in Vangroovy complained about our weather? Count your Latte Blessings.

158

at 18:55 on January 14th, 2009

Thanks for the new news.

I quit updating my story on this because it was getting too long.

amyjudd

at 18:56 on January 14th, 2009

Yes and I get tired of writing 'it's still cold!' :)

Baqir Ali

at 19:02 on January 14th, 2009

Christmas Eve in Markham, ON
December 24, 2008

Baqir Ali has contributed a photo to this story.

lostintravise

at 19:13 on January 14th, 2009

This is in New York -- Central Park, to be exact. I believe the wind-chill that day was, at it's highest, 15 degrees. I believe the night before I took this the windchill was one of the coldest recorded in a while on New Years Eve. I remember a few of my friends from New York told me that it hadn't snowed on Christmas in a while and here it was unbearably cold on New Years Eve. If it wasn't for the fact that it was 60 degrees 3 days after this I might not be able to believe that Global Warming existed. Maybe.

lostintravise has contributed a photo to this story.

vyusseem

at 19:31 on January 14th, 2009

vyusseem has contributed a photo to this story.

Theolfa

at 05:33 on January 15th, 2009

Taken in Regina, Saskatchewan, January 13, 2009, temperature equivalent to minus 46. Media warning of the danger of frostbite to exposed flesh. Visibility so bad that driving outside the city was not recommended.

Theolfa has contributed a photo to this story.