The
little Village of Ada felt the brutal force of the Polar Vortex freezing across
the country over the past few days. Temperatures remained in the negatives with
windchills keeping feels like temperatures in the range of negative 10 to
40. Ohio
Northern's 342 acre campus surrounded by farm land and plains served
as a wind tunnel for the brutal winter air.
Much of
the Midwest and Northeast felt the effects of the enormous Polar Vortex,
Schools and Universities closed for much of the week. Ohio Northern included
multiple faculty and staff members told me that they hadn't remember ONU
closing due to weather in over a decade. Students across the region and at ONU
were urged to stay in doors and if they needed to go out to cover all skin as
analyst explained that exposed skin could get frostbite in under 10 minutes.
Some
Quick Facts about this week's Polar Vortex:
1.
84 million people were living in temperatures under zero degrees.
2.
Chicago became so cold that train tracks were lit on fire to keep in usable
condition.
3.
Windchills seen were the coldest recorded since the 1980s.
4. The
coldest city recorded was Cotton, Minn where it reached negative 56.
5. Around
20 major cities in the U.S. set major records for reported low
temperatures.
Thousands of flights were delayed, cancelled, and rerouted due to temperatures and winds throughout the week. Popular airport destinations faced a steady freezing along with winds that made transportation rough to navigate. Popular Midwest and Northeast destinations such down and were inaccessible. The effect a little cold air and some wind can have on the entire country cannot be underestimated as the polar vortex gave the U.S. all the winter it could handle.
One of the biggest problems with the polar vortex in the Midwest is that we're not really used to these kind of temperatures. Some people were complaining that it was blown out of proportion or that we shouldn't cancel school just because it's "a little cold out". While there are some regions that can get brutally cold in the winter, these regions are typically better prepared. The people living there have ski-masks and insulated gloves and hats that they wear outside. Here in Ohio, we aren't used to such cold temperatures. Therefore, we don't have the proper attire to go out in such weather. Some students were lucky they even had scarfs to put on or wrap around their face. Hopefully, it won't get that cold again this year.
ReplyDeleteThe polar vortex was such a crazy experience for Ohio Northern. No one really knew how to stay bundled up completely and stay totally warm. Luckily campus was closed to keep everyone safe.
ReplyDeleteBeing here to experience the polar vortex was a insane. That was the first time in my four years to have a school day cancelled. Very informative blog post by the way.
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