Winter Storm Ion Affecting Just About Everyone If you’ve been watching the news lately, you had to have heard about winter storm Ion hitting pretty much all of the United States – and if you haven’t been watching the news, just go walk outside, you’ll feel it. Either way, the coverage of this storm is basically panning out to be like the blockbuster hit, The Day After Tomorrow.
With the lowest temperatures in 20 years, several counties in New York have been declared a state of emergency with the cold literally being life threatening. In the state of Florida, the temperature went from 85 degrees to 50 degrees by night and into the following day. Meteorologists are calling it a “Polar Vortex” which is essentially set up like a hurricane of snowfall with an eye in the middle – the eye being the coldest air. The National Weather Service’s branch in Twin Cities Minnesota reported, “Exposed flesh can freeze in as little as five minutes with wind chills colder than 50 below.” – and it’s down to 20 below in many mid-west states. The vortex began swooping across the U.S. on January 5th, and caused over 3,000 flight cancellations, hundreds of car accidents, and 16 deaths to count. The news is advising everyone to stay indoors, but that didn’t stop the football fans from attending the Green Bay Packers game – where they handed out free hand warmers to the die-hard fans. While everyone fears that this storm will never quit, meteorologists are predicting that the temperatures will begin to rise by the end of the week. The main factor affecting everyone on a state-by-state basis is the amount of school closings, some of which have been in effect for three days. According to the National Weather Service, over 140 million are being affected by this cold front.