Within the first week of 2014, America was frozen. Oddly enough, Antarctica was warmer than much of the United States and Canada.
During the week of January 4th, America experienced a deep freeze unlike any other. Record low temperatures were recorded everywhere from Seattle to Tallahassee. However, the hardest hit region was the Midwest, with temperatures reaching as low as -40 degrees. Over that time, many in different regions also lost power and had to suffer through the cold.
In addition to loss of power, countless flights were delayed and cancelled. All across America, people were eager to get home despite the less than satisfactory conditions both on the road and in the air. Along with delays, heavy traffic was felt in many metropolitan areas, and again made it difficult for those on the road, especially those still returning from Christmas vacation.
“It was so cold. There was ice everywhere. I was totally surprised that we didn’t get off for school,” says sophomore Jessica Ivanov. Unlike many schools across the country, Ridge and its fellow schools stayed open. Despite this, Ridge still felt the effects of the extreme weather. Almost every day that week, the attendance had to be delayed during first period due to traffic in the car line. Buses showed up late, and students who rode them were left to stand in the cold.
Despite the fact that Basking Ridge itself was not hit hard, the state of New Jersey still felt the deep cold. In many places, the transformation from oddly warm for the beginning of January to below zero was literally overnight. From Tuesday to Wednesday of that week, the temperature dropped a surprising 44 degrees in Basking Ridge alone. While Mid-Atlantic temperatures barely stayed above zero, the Midwest was hit the hardest.
“For them, it was like Hurricane Sandy was for us,” states sophomore Jillian Haggard, explaining the effects the extreme cold had on schools in states like Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, just to name a few. While these states are more prepared for heavy snowfall in the winter, there was nothing that could prepare them for the polar vortex. With record low temperatures, schools in that area were given no choice but to close, regardless of how unprecedented this weather phenomenon was.
In closer areas, New York and New Jersey both declared states of emergency, and many schools were delayed, given early dismissal, or closed. In New York City, the coldest high was recorded as being twenty degrees, while the coldest low was a whopping four degrees on that Tuesday. While that might not be as cold as many would believe, there was still an unbelievably frigid wind chill and rain on several days that week.
Before then, no one in America had ever heard of a polar vortex. According to NASA, it is “a large-scale region of air that is contained by a strong west-to-east jet stream that circles the polar region”. The irony is clearly not missed that this type of weather is meant to be in the North and South Pole. With the freezing temperatures, it is clear that climate change had to have played a part in what brought such cold temperatures still this early in winter.
With the increasingly cold weather, many Americans have already begun hoping for summer. With this intense weather, it begins to paint a picture of what the new normal may be due to climate change. If anything, they are just beginning to realize that this record-breaking cold has just begun, and might be here to stay.