Icy Grip of the Polar Vortex
Fresh off the 2019 Polar Vortex, it's time to turn back the clock to the first time this term entered into the widespread American lexicon.
The new year of 2014 introduced most people to the term "polar vortex." Just days into the start of the new year and most of the central and eastern United States was plunged into bone-chilling sub-zero temps, with many seeing the coldest temps in 30 years, while others saw the coldest in recorded history. In the Upper Midwest, the polar vortex was accompanied by blizzards that saw heavy snow, high winds, and total white-out conditions. This extreme cold went on for a few days. It wouldn't the the last polar vortex of 2014, but it was definitely the worst.
The effects were very visible on Lake Michigan. Most of the lake was covered in ice. Large ice boulders built up on the shores. On the eastern shores on the west side of Michigan, people were walking on the ice a mile out from shore. The lighthouses were frozen tombs of encased ice.
So it was good timing when a week later I embarked on my previously-scheduled first lighthouse tour. In St. Joseph, the piers were impassable without crampons. The catwalks were encrusted with windblown ice. Despite the cold, the beach was surprisingly crowded. But after what came before, no one was complaining when the high temps hit 5 Degrees! By then it was practically shorts weather!
Icy Grip of the Polar Vortex
Fresh off the 2019 Polar Vortex, it's time to turn back the clock to the first time this term entered into the widespread American lexicon.
The new year of 2014 introduced most people to the term "polar vortex." Just days into the start of the new year and most of the central and eastern United States was plunged into bone-chilling sub-zero temps, with many seeing the coldest temps in 30 years, while others saw the coldest in recorded history. In the Upper Midwest, the polar vortex was accompanied by blizzards that saw heavy snow, high winds, and total white-out conditions. This extreme cold went on for a few days. It wouldn't the the last polar vortex of 2014, but it was definitely the worst.
The effects were very visible on Lake Michigan. Most of the lake was covered in ice. Large ice boulders built up on the shores. On the eastern shores on the west side of Michigan, people were walking on the ice a mile out from shore. The lighthouses were frozen tombs of encased ice.
So it was good timing when a week later I embarked on my previously-scheduled first lighthouse tour. In St. Joseph, the piers were impassable without crampons. The catwalks were encrusted with windblown ice. Despite the cold, the beach was surprisingly crowded. But after what came before, no one was complaining when the high temps hit 5 Degrees! By then it was practically shorts weather!