The United States is becoming a giant walk-in freezer — with temperatures plunging so low across the north and east that it is having an impact on everything from drinking beer to committing crimes.
This week’s polar vortex will make it feel like minus-65 degrees in some areas Wednesday, thanks to the wind chill. That’s even colder than Antarctica, where temperatures will feel like a relatively balmy minus-45.
The deep freeze will cover such a huge area that it will be felt by 212 million people — some 72 percent of the US population — from the Dakotas to Long Island.
With such wild cold comes a long list of wild and wide-spread effects, including:
- Cops in one Missouri town where the thermometer is set to dip to minus-8 degrees are begging people to stay inside — and please not rob anyone. “So …. we are asking a favor (at least for three days); can you keep the criminalling to a minimum?” the Warrensburg Police Department quipped on Facebook. “It is REALLY cold out … Do yourself (and us) a favor … stay inside. Be nice to each other.” The cops suggested people watch reruns of the TLC reality program “Say Yes to the Dress,” joking, that they “hear from the firefighters that it’s a really good show.”
- In Wisconsin — where the mercury is on track to hit minus-33 — folks won’t even have a cold brew to sip while they’re stuck inside. At least two beer distributors will delay or suspend deliveries Wednesday,- fearing their beverages might turn to ice on delivery vehicles. “Some stuff could freeze on trucks, especially rural routes,” said Rod Fisher, the general manager of General Beer Northwest in Chippewa Falls. Park Ridge Distributing, which delivers mostly Anheuser-Busch products, will also not deliver. “Sometimes, the ingredients in the beer will actually separate, because there is yeast and malt,” its manager, Ryan Modl, told the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram.
- An instructor at one Wisconsin school has turned the cold into a teachable moment. Andy Reiche of the Wausau School District conducted a science experiment on video showing a cup of boiling water thrown into the minus-5-degree air — and immediately turning to ice.
- In northern Minnesota, the wind chills overnight Wednesday will make it feel like minus 65. A wind chill of minus-25 can freeze skin within 15 minutes, according to the National Weather Service. It was so cold in Minnesota, the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” that the Star Tribune newspaper posted an article headlined “The Great Freeze Off is on: Can we catch Siberia?” The story tracked the temperatures to see whether Minneapolis could beat Baykitskiy Rayon in the notoriously frigid region, where temperatures were to go no higher than minus-46 on Wednesday.
- As some people stocked up on milk, bread and gas, others made “Star War”s jokes on Twitter, referencing the ice planet Hoth. “I’d like to go out for lunch, but not sure my Tauntaun will reach the first marker,” a user named Eric Klinker wrote, referring to “The Empire Strikes Back.”
- In Chicago — where the high is forecasted to be minus-15 degrees Wednesday — the city’s namesake river froze, with icebergs floating downtown. The iconic Chicago pizza joint Lou Malnati’s even closed at 9 p.m. Tuesday because of the frigid temperatures.
- Meanwhile, not everyone in the US will be suffering. Florida temps will sit in the mid-70s all week.
With Wires
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