How Cold Is Too Cold? - Updated

Chicago will be colder than Antarctica this week https://t.co/QEo339vkQD pic.twitter.com/0fnXn0B0f7

— CNN (@CNN) January 29, 2019

I'll add to this post as I see things that interest me. #DeepFreeze

The other side of the world: Australia's in the middle of a heat wave:

Temperatures are blasting through records in Australia's heat wave. But one little fella found an unusual place to get some relief. pic.twitter.com/IOyRZZfVKf

— Pattern (@Pattern) January 29, 2019

Update on Wednesday afternoon. A picture of Chicago and Lake Michigan, taken this morning:


photo credit: Bloomberg/Getty Images

This one's from yesterday:


photo credit: stringer/Reuters

I thought about trying the "throw water into the air" trick but I didn't want to go outside to do it.

Throwing a cup of boiling water in the air, when it’s minus 27 degrees (celsius). #chicago #PolarVortex2019 pic.twitter.com/fgRZHnwVvo

— Adam Roberts (@ARobertsjourno) January 30, 2019

 

The response made me laugh (and briefly wish I was in Florida): 

What it’s like to throw a cup of water in the air in Florida today: pic.twitter.com/uSYJ386Zdc

— Jim Hattaway (@JAHattaway) January 30, 2019

Snowpocalypse Not?

Better safe than sorry
I'd rather over-prepare than under-prepare
It was just a forecast...

All true. On the other hand, as weather website 40 North, 70 West points out, hyping a storm is good for business:  

Weather Forecasting is Big Business
The need for extremely localized weather forecasts is a growing demand. Precision weather forecasting is crucial to businesses in weather-sensitive industries such as transportation, agriculture and energy. Talented and accurate meteorologists and private meteorological firms generate sustainable revenue and in some cases big profits by providing companies in weather-sensitive industries with consulting services. However, the vast majority of meteorologists (and non meteorologists to some extent) depend on online traffic in order to generate revenue through their websites or video channels (YouTube) and that’s when things get interesting.

Fair Weather is Bad for Business
What’s your favorite sports team/player? How often do you go crazy over them during the off season? Think of snowstorms as that team/player and fair weather as the off season. 40North 70West (this website) see mind-blowing spikes in traffic (usually between 800% & 1000% increase) when there’s the potential for a significant Winter Storm. Owners or webmasters of weather based websites will tell you this is no exaggeration. This increase in traffic always translates to an increase in ad revenue for this site and I can safely bet that the results are the same for others. It’s no wonder why some weather channels and blogs start selling the possibility of monster storms 5, 7, and in some cases 10+ days in advance. Some are willing to sacrifice their integrity for revenue generated by the hype centered around a low pressure system ridding up the Eastern Seaboard in a cameo appearance.

Read more here. 

47 Degrees

Weather is relative. Right now, weather.com says it's 47 degrees here in Chicagoland, and if this were July, we'd be fussing about how it's a summertime Polar Vortex and we're so cold. Since we just lived through a real, wintertime PV, 47 feels pretty balmy. I've got all my windows open to get as much fresh air as possible into the house. Be gone, stale winter air!

And how many days until Spring???

Hunkering Down

It's still winter here in Chicago. We're currently under a Winter Storm Warning, with 4-8 inches of snow expected by Saturday afternoon. Right now it's 27 degrees with bright sunshine, and looking out the window you'd never know what's coming. Truthfully, I usually take these warnings of coming weather disasters with a grain of salt, although a "warning" is usually more substantive than an "advisory." In particular, the local TV stations like to go into hysterical "armageddon is imminent" mode at the slightest hint of a change in the weather. There have been many, many nights when I've gone to bed expecting to wake up to the blizzard of the century, then woken up to only the lightest dusting of snow.

Every now and then, however, we do get socked in by buckets of snow, so I can't ignore the weather reports completely, and I'm ready for tomorrow, just in case. I went to the library this morning and got several great books, then I stopped by the grocery store to stock up on provisions. Let the snow fall - I'm ready. I can keep myself occupied and well fed without leaving the house for days, if I have to.

While I was on weather.com I couldn't resist checking out the current weather for Santiago and Dubai. Both my niece Laura (in Chile) and my friend Lorraine and her family (in Dubai) are enjoying much nicer weather than I am right now. It's summer in Santiago and the current temperature is a balmy 84 degrees. It's winter in Dubai, (and as I'm writing this it's also the middle of the night,) but even at that, the temperature is 66 degrees, with 83% humidity. Sounds good to me!