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Friday 1 February 2019
Long johns to short sleeves: Rapid thaw follows polar blast

By TAMMY WEBBER and JEFF minus 30 degrees (minus 34
KAROUB Celsius).
Associated Press Chicago's temperature
CHICAGO (AP) — In Illinois, dropped to a low of around
temperatures could rise by minus 21 degrees (minus 30
80 degrees within days. In Celsius) on Thursday, slightly
Michigan, melting snow above the city's lowest-ev-
and rain and a 17-mile ice er reading of minus 27 de-
jam could lead to flooding. grees (minus 32 Celsius) in
Across the Midwest, the January 1985.
sudden warmth was sure Milwaukee's low was minus
to bring more broken roads 25 degrees (minus 31 Cel-
and busted water mains. sius), and Minneapolis re-
The polar vortex that corded minus 24 degrees
brought many cities to a (minus 31 Celsius). Wind
standstill was expected to chills were lower still.
end with a rapid thaw that In Michigan, efforts to con-
experts say could be un- serve heat during the ex-
precedented. But the sud- treme cold reduced usage
den swing from long johns by 10 percent following a
to light jackets and short Ice covers the observation deck at the base of Horseshoe falls in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada fire at a major natural gas
sleeves could create prob- Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019. facility, officials said. Con-
lems of its own. Associated Press sumers Energy, the state's
"I don't think there's ever largest supplier of natural
been a case where we've arctic conditions over an that could be blamed on breaks, said Palencia Mob- gas, asked its 1.7 million
seen (such a big) shift in area from Buffalo to Brook- the cold climbed to at least ley, deputy director of the customers and others to set
temperatures," in the win- lyn. In western New York, a 15. Detroit Water and Sewer- their thermostats at 65 de-
ter, said Jeff Masters, me- storm that dumped up to For the nation's midsection, age Department. grees (18 degrees Celsius)
teorology director of the 20 inches of snow (51 centi- relief was as close as the "We'll have all hands on or lower until late Thursday.
Weather Underground firm. meters) gave way to subze- weekend. deck. Hopefully, we'll be "In our 130 years, we've
"Past record-cold waves ro temperatures and face- Rockford, Illinois, was at a able to address as many of never experienced this kind
have not dissipated this stinging wind chills. In New record-breaking minus 31 the issues as possible over of demand or these kinds
quickly. ... Here we are York City, about 200 fire- (minus 35 Celsius) on Thurs- the next week," Mobley of temperatures," CEO Patti
going right into spring-like fighters battling a blaze in a day morning but should be said. Poppe said.
temperatures." commercial building took around 50 (10 Celsius) on The thawing of pipes can Masters, from Weather Un-
On Thursday, the system turns getting warm on bus- Monday. Other previously sometimes inflict greater derground, said the po-
marched east, spreading es. The number of deaths frozen areas could see damage than the ini- lar vortex was "rotating up
temperatures of 55 (13 Cel- tial freeze. Bursts can oc- into Canada" and not ex-
sius) or higher. cur when ice inside starts pected to return in the next
The dramatic warm-up to melt and water rushes couple of weeks. If it does
will offer a respite from the through the pipe, or when return in late February, "it
bone-chilling cold that can- water in the pipe is pushed won't be as intense."
celed school, closed busi- to a closed faucet by ex- Still, memories of the dan-
nesses and halted trains. panding ice. gerous cold were bound to
But potholes will appear on Elsewhere, a bridge in the linger.
roads and bridges weak- western Michigan commu- In Illinois, at least 144 people
ened by the freeze-thaw nity of Newaygo, 40 miles visited hospital emergency
cycle. The same cycle can (64 kilometers) north of rooms for cold-related inju-
crack water mains and ho- Grand Rapids was closed ries over two days. Most of
meowners' pipes. Scores of as the ice-jammed Mus- the injuries were hypother-
vehicles will be left with flat kegon River rose above mia or frostbite, accord-
tires and bent rims. flood stage. Officials in Buf- ing to a spokesman for the
Joe Buck, who manages falo, New York, watched state Department of Public
Schmit Towing in Minne- for flooding on the Upper Health.
apolis and spent about Niagara River because of The effect on the overall
20 hours a day outdoors ice. economy was not expect-
this week responding to In other signs that the worst ed to be that great.
stranded vehicle calls, said of the deep freeze was "It only shows up margin-
he's already taking calls over, Xcel Energy on Thurs- ally in the economic data,"
for Monday to deal with day lifted a request to its said Diane Swonk, chief
a backlog of hundreds of Minnesota natural gas cus- economist at Grant Thorn-
stalled vehicles. tomers to temporarily lower ton, who ended up working
"Sunday is going to be 39 their thermostats to ease from home because her of-
degrees ABOVE zero," said concerns about the fuel fices in Chicago were shut
Buck, who has had 18 trucks supply. because of weather.
running around the clock in Earlier in the day, several Mark Zandi, chief econo-
wind chills that dropped to cities set new record lows. mist at Moody's Analytics,
minus 50. Rockford saw a record low said one reason the severe
In Detroit, where some wa- temperature of minus 31 cold weather will have less
ter mains are almost 150 (minus 35 Celsius), on Thurs- impact is that, unlike a hur-
years old, city workers were day. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, ricane, people did not lose
dealing with dozens of set a daily record low of electric power.q