Polar Vortex in my backyard

The Polar vortex swept through most of the US this week, and like everyone else in the US, I suffered. I suppose I should feel lucky that I was not, for instance, stuck in a snowbound Amtrak train or wasn’t a passenger in one the thousands of cancelled flights.  I shouldn’t be complaining about the weather.

But I still need to say this somewhere (to someone who is not a fellow sufferer) – it was cold.  Still is cold today, but not the frostbite-and-amputation-in-5-minutes-of-exposed-skin cold, so that’s a definite improvement.

How cold was it?  Well, pictures are supposed to say thousands of words, so here goes – here are the temperatures on the night of Sunday, Jan. 5th (focus on the “Real Feel” ones, which account for wind chill) :

The temperature in Fairbanks, Alaska (as far North as most people will go) :

The temperature in Prudhoe Bay (on the banks of the Arctic Ocean) :

The temperature in my Midwestern city:

When you are much colder than even Prudhoe Bay, well, how much worse can it get?

But it can, it can.. The next morning, still under the grip of the Arctic air, I looked at the temperatures in Barrow, AK. Barrow is the northernmost point of Alaska and is also on the banks of the Arctic Circle. Here is a Google maps screenshot of Barrow (A) and Prudhoe Bay (B) :

Well, this was the temperature in Barrow :

And the temperature in my city:

You know how one feels when you are colder than Barrow, AK ?  That’s right, I am disgusted.