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| Icy Hell come to life: This is not Photoshop, or a scene from a disaster, sci fi movie nor is this an artistic concept of a new Ice Age to come. Or a world without people. This is Chicago in 2014. |
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| Icy Hell continuation: Chicago on January 30, 2019. Icy hell is used in its original concept from Dante Alighieri's Inferno from the Divine Comedy. Dante imagined hell as a frozen place not as the now popular hot inferno it is known as today especially in the U.S. It's not hot as hell, its cold as hell. Photo compliments of Newsweek. |
For the second year in a row, a deep freeze has engulf the United States. Oddly enough it follows another breathtaking celestial event, a blood red moon. Since Monday, a bitter cold air has been covering the Midwest, parts of the East Coast and has even dropped snow on Atlanta, Georgia which hosts America's favorite, commercialized past time the Super Bowl this Sunday February 3rd. Frost has also been seen in the Carolinas. Keep in mind that snow in the Deep South or the Southeast United States is extremely rare. Snow fell on Atlanta in 2010 and startled many Atlanteans. Right now, Mt Everest, Siberia, Arctic Circle, Antarctica, Mars, daytime temperatures are higher than Central US. At night of course, Mt Everest's weather goes back to Chicago's or lower temperatures. The bone chilling cold affects the following states: Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, lesser extent New York State and New England. Homeless people have been kept warm thanks to good Samaritans and heating centers.
Cold as F: Photos from Chiberia
Frigid snow in the Midwest and East Coast of course is not new. Mother Nature in her cruel sense of humor (the Earth's various heat streams from the warm climes) has cleared out the Polar Vortex from the Arctic Circle and North Pole pushed it down to the continental United States. It's not only the snow that has killed 8 people so far. It is the biting and sub zero wind chills that has lasted for two days so far. Thanks to the added wind chill the temperature has broken records for the coldest week ever. The cities are experiencing -50 degree weather. Chicago, New York City, Detroit, Mi, Fargo, ND (Famed for the movie Fargo), Minneapolis, capital of Minnesota and its Northern counterparts International Falls and Niagara Falls (shared border waterfall between Canada/US) are experiencing Antarctic conditions. Chicago has literally frozen over. It has earned it a new nickname Chiberia. Even Lake Michigan that Chicago's Lake shore neighborhood faces has frozen solid along with its wave crests. Being the largest city in the Midwest, many residents, journalists and people have been terrified of the impending consequences of Chicago people stepping outdoors.Mayor Rahm Emmanuel had already given an in person announcement on Tuesday pleading with city residents to use common sense and stay warm and indoors. Schools have been canceled and so has work. Going outside for even five minutes will kill a person. Some residents twitted and said they had to open their freezers for warmth and use it as heater. Using a regular heater in -30 degrees would actually permanently damage the machine. It's also too cold to speak outdoor. Railroad tracks had to be lit on fire (controlled) to keep it from breaking and to allow the Chicago metro trains to continue running on a modified schedule. This is why Penguins migrate North when Antarctic becomes too cold for even their senses. Also why many snowbirds from New York and Midwest have vacation and regular homes and live in Florida and the Carolinas six months out of the year.
Frost quakes are not a joke
Now city residents are hearing loud booms essentially another new type of freezing occurrence frost quakes (scientific term cryoseism) in some of part of the city mostly likely caused by water and ice expanding and cracking. It also happens to pipes and wood under extreme cold conditions. It is normal under extreme circumstances such as the weather. But are still unheard of in a large city as of now.Author's Note: It was just last year January when frozen pipes at JFK Airport in New York City bursts and flooded the International terminal of all places. While pipes haven't exploded in Chicago yet, it is a reminder that infrastructure can only take so much extreme weather before it too reaches a breaking point. No pun intended.
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