-50 in Maine, not much warmer across north

[Sequoia]

CHICAGO - A bone-numbing Arctic blast drove temperatures down Friday to 30, 40 and 50 below in parts of the Midwest and Northeast, closing schools to spare children from freezing at bus stops and prompting police to keep a watchful eye out for the homeless.

Forecasters said temperatures in the upper Midwest could turn into the coldest in years as frigid air keeps spilling south from Canada. The cold snap has claimed at least five lives and contributed to dozens of traffic accidents as vehicles slipped and slid on icy roads.

Scores of schools in Michigan, Iowa, Ohio, Illinois and upstate New York canceled classes for Friday as officials feared it would be dangerous for students to walk to school or wait for buses.

By Friday morning, cities and towns in 13 states reported temperatures well below zero, among them:

-50 in Big Black River, Maine, in what could be a new state record
-46 in Embarrass, Minn.
-42 in Island Pont, Vt.
-42 in Necedah, Wis.
-39 in Berlin, N.H.
-38 in Monticello, Iowa
-36 in Sterling, Ill., possibly tying a state record
-35 in Paradox, N.Y.
-26 in Stambaugh, Mich.
-20 in Valparaiso, Ind.
-19 in Lawton, Pa.
-16 in Snowshoe Mountain, W.Va.
-14 in Dayton, Ohio

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28673142/

Check out the slide show cartoons.

[ogneopasno]

1. It was -25 here this morning, and they didn't cancel school. We breed 'em tough here.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Why would anybody close the schols at -25?

When I was a kid in northern WI, they would close schools at -40 if there was a lot of wind. (I think that was before the notion of wind chill got popular.) We got a couple of weeks off every year & used the time for rabbit hunting.

[Renew Deal]

7. You should go to the supermarket if you want to catch frozen rabbits.

It's easier. :D

[Jackpine Radical]

17. Nah. They're frozen so hard that you can knock them over

with your shotgun & the pellets bounce off so you don't ruin any meat.

[ogneopasno]

9. Actually, that was my question.

Every other district in the area -- including those in Northern Wisconsin -- called off classes today. Ours didn't.

[emmadoggy]

16. Well, ours was closed both yesterday and today.

Besides the safety issue, so many districts now use diesel buses and my understanding is that they become extremely difficult to impossible to run once it gets colder than -10 or so.

When I was in school, I don't remember them ever calling off school due to extreme cold or wind chills, but the diesel bus situation changes that, I guess. Plus, a lot of parents are not at all good about properly dressing their children for the weather and you can't have kids standing out waiting for the bus in those temps. Personally, if it's colder than about 10 degrees, I usually drive my kids up to wait for the bus, but a lot of parents can't/don't/won't.

Our school week went like this - Monday, early dismissal at 12:15 (weather) - Tuesday, 2 hr. late start - Wednesday, 2 hr. late start - Thursday, No School - Friday, No school.

They are going to have a LOT of catching up to do and a handful of days added to the end of the year already.

:-(

[Jackpine Radical]

18. Buses? They got buses now?

We useta walk to school 4 or 5 miles each way. When we got there we had to take our snow shoes off outside and stand them up in the snow banks because they were too big to put in our lockers. A couple of the rich kids got driven to school in dogsleds. Wimpy little punks.

[emmadoggy]

19. ROFL!!

Uphill both ways, right??!!

[slampoet]

12. Wimps in Rhode Island closed the schools and the temp was +10

But RI is SOOOOOOOO stupid that there are NO government-owned plow vehicles in the entire state!!

Every single snow storm gets plowed late and it costs money and lives all because the politicos have decided to hire everybody's cousin PRIVATELY with public tax dollars paying them rather than buying plow vehicles with a bond 50 years ago and have professional plow drivers who don't have to wait to get out of work at the end of the day to then go plow after rush hour has started already.

Our system here is so shitty that 100's of school children were trapped on unheated buses until after midnight last year. All this in less than 5 inches of snow.

The fact is there is so much corruption in Rhode Island's snow removal system, that they have to cancel school even when it doesn't snow and when the temps are ABOVE zero.

Any other area would be ashamed.

[Sequoia]

15. You don't say !!!

I never knew that about your stae. Roger Williams wouldn't like that.

[helderheid]

2. My sister just arrived in Maine today. BRRRRRRRRR

[Robb]

3. Meanwhile it edged toward 65 in Denver.

What a planet.

[NOW tense]

6. Yes it was nice here today.

I once did the walk of shame in college at -45. My car wouldn't start.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. Guess we are among the warmer areas here in Brklyn. The temp on my porch right now

is 12..but that does not include the wind chill which is very significant right now.
It is supposed to go to -2 tonight....but we are still warmer than those listed cities.
I cannot even imagine what it would be like to walk out into temps like that...to have to conduct
my everyday tasks in it.

You are right..it certainly takes a certain breed of person to be able to live in places like Minn, and N. Dak.
It is impossible to imagine what the people in those areas did 200-300 years ago. It must have been beyond description. The Native
Americans from those areas must have been very strong people.

[riverdeep]

11. Native peoples had all kinds of tricks to live in cold climates.

They've had the opportunity to refine their skills and knowledge over hundreds of years. It was the more recent arrivals, the pioneers, who didn't have that benefit, that suffered.

Nova had a great episode on the attempt at an arctic passage of two explorers. One made it, and the other didn't. The one that did, studied the ways of the Inuit and how they survived:

"The Inuit elders, amused at Amundsen's disastrous journey, let him in on the secret of the Inuit's ability to glide over snow in all conditions. Coat the runners of the sled with frozen moss and water—then with water warmed in the mouth apply fine new layers of ice using a bearskin mitt creating a surface that could run across any snow in the world."

(Nova: transcripts, Arctic Passage)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3307_arctic.html

[BrklynLiberal]

13. Thanks. I hope they repeat that show.

[Renew Deal]

8. It's supposed to be around 9 tonight on LI.

Not even close to a record. Hopefully our northern neighbors will stay warm.

[Renew Deal]

10. Hey Vermonters...This is good for maple right?

:bounce:

[byrok]

14. Man, I was complaining

today that it was only 67 in central Florida. Guess I'm a long way from my upstate NY days. Turned me into a pussyass.

[Dover]

20. Our nightly news/weather report featured a clip of a guy throwing nearly boiling water in the air

which crystalized before it hit the ground! Now THAT'S cccccccccccccccccold!

Sitting here in comfortably chilly Texas, expecting a sunny week ahead with temps in the mid-60's.
Maybe they should have the inauguration here! I'm sure that would make Bush's day...hehehe.