Page 4 - aruba-today-20161217

A4 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 17 december 2016
Dangerous wind chills puts parts of US in the deep freeze

KATHY McCORMACK weather observer Mike to 85-below at the summit starting before they even during whiteout conditions
Associated Press Carmon said in the weath- early Friday. arrive on a job site. They from the lake-effect story.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — er observatory’s blog at Utility workers were pre- are urged to make sure Authorities say the body of
Low temperatures and the highest peak in the pared for power outages they carry an emergency 50-year-old Daphne Wash-
high winds have put the Northeast. “However, over due to fallen trees. David kit with clothing and food burn, of Liverpool, was
Northeastern U.S. in a deep the last few winters, it’s Flener, field safety man- in case they get strand- found under ice in 4 feet
freeze. generally late January or ager at Eversource, New ed, and once they arrive, of water Onondaga Lake
Dangerous wind chills of 20 Park, along with her par-
to 30 below in parts of the tially submerged SUV on
region made for some crip- Thursday night.
pling conditions Friday. Elsewhere in New York,
“You are talking about parts of the Adirondack
30 degrees below nor- Northway, north of Albany,
mal highs. That is pretty were closed for more than
darn cold,” said National four hours after a crash
Weather Service meteo- involving a tractor-trailer
rologist James Brown in and a snowplow. No inju-
Maine. “This is pretty much ries were reported.
a piece of Arctic air that In western Pennsylvania,
came off the North Pole lake-effect snow bands
and came into New Eng- were blamed for slick
land.” roads and poor visibility.
Forecasters said a storm Fifty-nine vehicles crashed
will follow the frigid weath- in a snowy pileup and
er, bringing chances for three people were hurt.
snow, sleet and freezing The crash was one of three
rain across much of the that shut down different
country. stretches of Interstate 80.
Some schools closed early Park officials in one Mas-
Thursday and many others Commuters from Peaks Island arrive in Portland, Maine, Friday, Dec. 16, 2016, where the tempera- sachusetts town decided
delayed opening Friday to ture hit low of minus-2 degrees F with a wind chill of minus-25. Low temperatures and high winds it was too cold to open
avoid a bone-chilling wait have put the Northeastern U.S. in a deep freeze. an outdoor ice rink. The
at the bus stop. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) Worcester Common Oval
“We’re not strangers to February before we expe- Hampshire’s largest utility, there is a discussion about was to open Friday night
these sorts of bitter tem- rience this sort of polar air said workers are well-edu- on-the-job safety. for public skating.
peratures on Mount Wash- outbreak.” cated on how to stay warm “We’re oftentimes up in The Telegram & Gazette
ington’s summit,” senior The wind chill was down in the coldest weather, buckets, so you’re some- reports Worcester city of-
times above the trees and ficials decided that with
there’s a little more wind wind chills expected to
up there,” he said. “You’d be below zero, a decision
be surprised how much was made to keep the rink
heat you lose from the top closed for the health and
of your head.” safety of those who use it.
Sara Sankowich, who over- The rink is expected to
sees tree crews for Unitil, open Saturday.
said workers are encour- Below-normal tempera-
aged to watch out for one tures are expected this
another to see if they show weekend and into Monday
signs of hypothermia or across the entire northern
frostbite. half of the country, from
“We’ll take every step to the Pacific Northwest to
make sure they are stay- Maine and as far south as
ing safe out there and that Oklahoma, Arkansas and
they’re not overexpos- Virginia, according to the
ing themselves to the ele- Climate Prediction Center.
ments,” she said. In Oklahoma, authorities
In upstate New York, along said three people died in
the Lake Ontario shore, separate wrecks and more
wind gusts approached than 100 traffic crashes
70 mph and the National were reported after freez-
Weather Service issued a ing drizzle slickened roads
blizzard warning effective in the Oklahoma City area.
through early Friday morn- The Oklahoma Highway
ing. Lake-effect snow was Patrol reported the fatal
accompanied by winds crashes on three interstates
of up to 50 mph, caus- in the metro area Thursday
ing whiteout conditions in night. The Oklahoma City
some places. Fire Department says its
In suburban Syracuse, a crews responded to mul-
woman’s body and vehi- tiple wrecks, including an
cle were found in a creek, eight-vehicle pileup that
apparently after a crash shut down traffic.q