Here in Sunny south Florida most of us are not too familiar with what the rest of the nation refers to as ‘winter’. We’ve heard plenty of stories about it, seen photos, and some of us even experienced it first hand before, but we are from comfortable with it. That’s why the recent dips in temperature have come as quite the surprise for so many of us, but a pleasant one at that. Ok… maybe not all that pleasant for the iguanas that are freezing and falling from trees, but for us humans who are used to the humid Miami heat, this windows-down kind of weather is a nice change.
Although us Floridians are experiencing much excitement while we finally get to dust off our scarves and coats, the rest of the nation is not as happy or lucky about this change of weather. The northeast this past weekend experienced what is known as a “bomb cyclone”; an extreme drop in pressure that results in rapid winds and heavy snow. In other words: it’s a massive blizzard. Heaps of snow and ice are affecting millions and several thousands of people are even without power- that means no heaters. The death toll has reached 22 people so far, who have died from either freezing or freak accidents due to the aftermath of the storm.
Chicago has gone 12 straight days having its temperature be below 20 degrees and that’s not even taking the wind chill into account. As for cities on the coast storm surges have caused icy waters to flood the streets, leaving cars submerged and people stranded. Experts believe that this could be a record breaking winter.
As of Sunday night the temperatures have started to ease, but the blizzard, Grayson, is said to be just the first of many, with another storm system already on its way. Tis the winter season…that is is only 2 weeks old!
http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/05/weather/iguana-cold-florida-bomb-cyclone-trnd/index.html
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2018/01/its_officially_a…
https://weather.com/photos/news/2018-01-03-winter-storm-grayson-photos