Temperatures reach record lows as polar vortex hits the U.S. and Canada

Elliot Adams

Those Americans wishing for a white Christmas this winter got what they wished for as the United States experienced record low temperatures that brought snow, ice and countless problems.

The arctic chill that swept across the United States and Canada this winter season brought below freezing temperatures that broke records across the country.

New York reached a low it had not seen since 1994 and New York’s Central Park broke a 118-year record when the temperature dropped to 4 degrees.

This weather, which at some point brought the temperatures of all 50 states to less than 32 degrees, is caused by a ‘polar vortex.’

Both ominous and intriguing, ‘polar vortex’ is the term used for the weather pattern creating these winter record-breakers.

Though seemingly threatening and unfamiliar, a ‘polar vortex’ is actually a normal process, according to Erinanne Saffell, a geography professor at Mesa Community College.

“A jet stream basically separates the cold air to the north from the warmer air to the south. When that jet stream shifts south, it brings the cold arctic air with it,” Saffell said.

This means that the winds that usually sit in places like the North Pole have traveled downwards towards the United States and Canada, bringing freezing temperatures along with them.

This arctic weather even caused “Hell to freeze over.”

That is, Hell, the small town in Michigan, whose temperatures dropped to a low of minus 13 degrees.

Though this weather provided genuine winter scenery for the holidays, it also created severe problems for winter travelers.

JetBlue airlines even had to suspend operations in Newark, John F. Kennedy International, and La Guardia airports in order to service aircraft affected by the weather, leaving passengers stranded in the terminals.

Macy Hanson, an 18-year-old Mesa native, was one of those affected by the nationwide flight delays after her flight home from Newark Liberty International airport was delayed for more than an hour due to the cold weather.

Hanson, who traveled to New York City to experience its New Year’s festivities, said she was one of the lucky passengers whose returning flight was only slightly delayed.

“In the airport people’s flights were being delayed and canceled from every airline,” Hanson said. “My mom said if we hadn’t gotten on that flight home through Chicago we wouldn’t have been able to get home for days after that.”

According to NBC, the flight delays and closed businesses could cost the U.S. economy around $5 billion due to the significant population of Americans affected by the freeze. 

Though the polar vortex has become a national issue, the Phoenix area seems to have gotten off lightly with just a few low temperatures that haven’t really broken any records.

“We can get freezing conditions in Phoenix but the urban heat island moderates our climate and keeps temperatures a bit warmer at night,” Saffell said. “It takes a strong system to bring freezing conditions to the Phoenix metropolitan area.”

However, though the polar vortex provided a memorable winter, the climate phenomenon is on its way out as the weather is gradually warming and expected to return to normal in the coming weeks. 

  • Mesa Legend Staff

    These are archived stories from Mesa Legend editions before Fall 2018. See article for corresponding author.

Welcome to the Mesa Legend! Subscribe to know more about what goes on at Mesa Community College!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *