Dec. 16, 2008

Frigid Weather Blankets U.S.

Temperatures Plummet In The Plains; Thousands Of New Englanders Still Without Power

    • Elana Pheros of Crested Butte, Colo. shovels a path through the snow bank to Elk Avenue on Tuesday, Dec., 15, 2008. More then a foot of snow fell throughout the night in the area as a winter snow warning advisory for southwestern Colorado- Rocky Mountains was posted by the National Weather Service. Photo

      Elana Pheros of Crested Butte, Colo. shovels a path through the snow bank to Elk Avenue on Tuesday, Dec., 15, 2008. More then a foot of snow fell throughout the night in the area as a winter snow warning advisory for southwestern Colorado- Rocky Mountains was posted by the National Weather Service.  (AP Photo/Nathan Bilow)

    • Nampa officer Cpl. Don Peck investigates an accident involving a Dodge 4x4 flipped on its side on Interstate 84 near Nampa, Idaho as driver Gerhard Schurig and wife Hedy of Caldwell, Idaho watch Monday, Dec. 15, 2008. According to the driver, a gust of wind forced him into the next lane before losing control of his vehicle. Photo

      Nampa officer Cpl. Don Peck investigates an accident involving a Dodge 4x4 flipped on its side on Interstate 84 near Nampa, Idaho as driver Gerhard Schurig and wife Hedy of Caldwell, Idaho watch Monday, Dec. 15, 2008. According to the driver, a gust of wind forced him into the next lane before losing control of his vehicle.  (AP/Mike Vogt, Idaho Press-Tribune)

    • Aberdeen, S.D. residents who braved the elements found near-whiteout conditions and plenty of snow drifts as a blizzard hit the area Sunday. Photo

      Aberdeen, S.D. residents who braved the elements found near-whiteout conditions and plenty of snow drifts as a blizzard hit the area Sunday.  (AP/Will Kincaid, Bismarck Tribune)

    • A California Highway Patrol vehicle drives up a road in the Angeles Crest area of La Canada, Calif., Dec. 15, 2008. A powerful pre-winter storm slammed the state with rain and snow on Monday, snarling roads, triggering two traffic fatalities, collapsing the roof of a school and forcing hundreds to flee homes at risk of mudslides. Photo

      A California Highway Patrol vehicle drives up a road in the Angeles Crest area of La Canada, Calif., Dec. 15, 2008. A powerful pre-winter storm slammed the state with rain and snow on Monday, snarling roads, triggering two traffic fatalities, collapsing the roof of a school and forcing hundreds to flee homes at risk of mudslides.  (AP Photo)

    • Victor Lopez calls for help early Monday, Dec. 15, 2008, after his car stalled while trying to cross a flooded intersection in Ontario, Calif. Photo

      Victor Lopez calls for help early Monday, Dec. 15, 2008, after his car stalled while trying to cross a flooded intersection in Ontario, Calif.  (AP Photo/Walter Weiss)

    Previous slide Next slide
  • Play CBS Video Video Winter Arrives Early

    With ice in the Northeast, a blizzard in the Midwest and snow along the West Coast, winter has come early to much of the U.S. Bianca Solorzano reports.

  • Video Ice Storm From N.Y.To Maine

    Although the winter season has not yet officially begun, a severe ice storm has already hit many states in the Northeast. As WBZ's Peg Rusconi reports, millions of homes have lost power.

  • Video Ice Storm Unplugs New England

    It will be a long and cold weekend for more than one million New England homes waiting for power to be restored following an ice storm, reports Kelly Wallace.

  • Photo Essay Ice Coats Northeast

    Ice storm makes mess of region, leaving 1.25 million homes, businesses in 7 states without power.

(AP)  Freezing air blanketed much of the nation Tuesday, making roads hazardous in Texas and slowing recovery from ice storm blackouts in New England, in the second day of a bitter cold wave.

Temperatures were 20 below zero and lower across the northern Plains, and a band of snow, freezing rain and sleet stretched from Kansas and Nebraska along the Ohio Valley to Maine.

Dozens of schools closed in Kentucky and Tennessee because of slippery roads and salt truck crews started working before dawn. Up to a half-foot of snow had fallen in parts of Kentucky.

"It's pretty treacherous," said Jodi Shacklette, a Kentucky State Police dispatcher in Elizabethtown. "We're working wrecks just left and right."

Authorities in Lincoln, Neb., blamed some 20 accidents on the weather.

Police in north Texas had to close some highway overpasses because they were so slippery with ice.

Some of the sharpest cold Tuesday was in northern Minnesota, where Hibbing bottomed out at 32 below zero and International Falls dropped to 28 below. In the middle of the state, St. Cloud fell to 24 below, breaking its old record of 21 below set in 1963.

The weather service posted winter storm warnings Tuesday for parts of the Southwest - where New Mexico had numerous school closings, including those in Albuquerque - and the Ohio Valley.

Winter weather advisories were in effect across eastern Nebraska and much of the Midwest and from Texas to New England, where utilities were still repairing power lines snapped by last week's devastating ice storm.

New Hampshire utilities reported roughly 113,000 homes and businesses still without power Tuesday, down from a peak of 430,000. Central Maine Power said about 10,700 customers were still in the dark and a spokesman said it expected to have power restored Wednesday. About 77,000 customers are still waiting for service in Massachusetts, state officials said.

New Hampshire residents were warned Tuesday that some of them might have to wait longer than expected for electricity.

"It's fair to say there may be some pockets of customers that would be (without power) beyond the weekend," said Tom Goetz, chairman of the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission. In places, he said, utility workers must still wait for other crews to clear fallen limbs and other debris before they can reach outages.

While the cold slammed across the West and Midwest on Monday, the Northeast had enjoyed unseasonably mild weather, with temperatures above 50 in New England and to 65 in New York City.

"Finally, everyone is walking around in the neighborhood. It is so nice," said JoAnn Trudeau, 62, who hasn't had power since Friday morning at her home in Hooksett, N.H., near Manchester.

However, the cold also was moving into the Northeast. Manchester had a 9 a.m. temperature Tuesday of 37 and readings were expected to go down during the day, not up.

Even Southern California was warned of temperatures felling into the mid-30s by late Wednesday.

On Monday, thermometers read 31 below Monday in Glasgow, Mont., and the wind chill was 45 below, the weather service said. The Texas Panhandle had lows in the single digits, and Goodland, Kan., registered a record low of minus 10.

The cold wave and storms that accompanied had been implicated in at least 14 deaths. An avalanche in Colorado killed a Ski Patrol member, and exposure probably killed an 87-year-old man found outside his Montana nursing home. Weather-related traffic accidents were blamed for three deaths in Oklahoma, one in Illinois and two each in Minnesota, Missouri and California. In Northern California, a man was washed off a jetty by large waves and a homeless woman died of exposure.

©MMVIII, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Video and Galleries from U.S.

Add a Comment See all 50 Comments
by matrixrx2003 December 16, 2008 11:44 AM EST
Its Snowing here in Kansas City this Morning. Its coming down hard and forcast to get 5+ inches today.
Reply to this comment
by easeup-2009 December 16, 2008 12:11 PM EST
God sends cold air as a punishment for sin. We need to close down the nudey bars in order for God to become pleased with us and warm up the air. Otherwise we will all soon be encased in ice.

Posted by mrs_premise at 08:47 AM : Dec 16, 2008

You can''t close down the nudey bars--how will young, hot single mom''s make a living?

"Come, follow me, Jesus said, ''and I will make you fishers of men.'' At once they left their
nets and followed him." Matthew 4:19-20
Reply to this comment
by debinok1 December 16, 2008 12:11 PM EST
The global shift is pushing the arctic into the US, in 10 -15 years 20 at the most the northern and central states will have a climat similar to alaska, time to start adjusting to it.
Reply to this comment
by themroaches December 16, 2008 12:11 PM EST
Ain''t Global Warming Beautiful!!!!
Reply to this comment
by william_lerd December 16, 2008 12:25 PM EST
The global shift is pushing the arctic into the US, in 10 -15 years 20 at the most the northern and central states will have a climat similar to alaska, time to start adjusting to it.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by DebinOK1''
========================
Nonsense. I remember after the volcano eruption back in the early 80''s we had a few winters where some days would go down to -25.
Reply to this comment
by debinok1 December 16, 2008 12:37 PM EST
If CO2 levels were rising at the rates they say they are some areas would be uninhabitable, you would drop dead from the CO2 levels. Global warming is an attempt to unify the world leaders for the enviroment, then they will unify food, then money, next thing you know we are a 1 world government, with everything being unified, even religion.
Reply to this comment
by debinok1 December 16, 2008 12:49 PM EST
WOW!!!

Where do you guys get this garbage?!?!?!

Posted by IamHungry68
****************
What happens when you pump enough CO2 into a house or a garage? you die. Global warming is a fraud. It was put out to create fear. that fear forces us to work with other countries and world leaders to work together to slow or stop it, the next fear tactic will be food or money, using that fear they will eventually start pushing global government, this isnt about the earth, this is about power.
Reply to this comment
by easeup-2009 December 16, 2008 12:50 PM EST
They shouldnt be single mothers to begin with. They should wait until marriage to have sexual relations and then only to procreate!

Posted by mrs_premise at 09:24 AM : Dec 16, 2008

LOL!! Either way, I''ll continue to support them!
Reply to this comment
by displeased December 16, 2008 1:05 PM EST
It was put out to create fear. that fear forces us to work with other countries and world leaders to work together to slow or stop it, the next fear tactic will be food or money, using that fear they will eventually start pushing global government, this isnt about the earth, this is about power.
Posted by DebinOK1

I guess you believe the ozone layer depletion and the use of CFCs was a fraud too? I didn''t realize world leaders working together to solve problems was so detrimental to our existence.
Reply to this comment
by easeup-2009 December 16, 2008 1:07 PM EST
*** that is one hell of a snot rocket hanging from that guy''s stache!
Reply to this comment
by debinok1 December 16, 2008 1:23 PM EST
I guess you believe the ozone layer depletion and the use of CFCs was a fraud too? I didn''''t realize world leaders working together to solve problems was so detrimental to our existence.

Posted by Displeased
**************************
Given that throughout history the masses have been proven wrong and the minority proven right, I will stick with the minority of scientist. Look at the beliefs of the masses through history, how many of their beliefs are still standing, is the world flat? do the planets revovle around the earth? Do mice come from barley seeds? Science has been proven wrong through the ages, and usually with the result of "quacks" being right.
Reply to this comment
by displeased December 16, 2008 1:25 PM EST
ms1-1-1,

Do you and DebinOK1 reside in the Middle East? Just curious...
Reply to this comment
by debinok1 December 16, 2008 1:26 PM EST
ms1-1-1,
I have heard nothing from any scientist anywhere even suggesting what you are saying. While I dont doubt we may have the technology, I have not seen anything to confirm or deny it.
Reply to this comment
by rrozsa-2009 December 16, 2008 1:27 PM EST
If Artic air is this cold.
How can NASA support Global warming?
NASA wants to cash in on the profits.
Carbon credits = money for nothing!


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Posted by republic76 at 09:17 AM : Dec 16, 2008

===============================================

NASA does not support Global Warming. Not long after Al Gore''s movie came out, NASA issued a statement that the data had been miscalculated and was in error. But of course you never hear about that in the mainstream media -- follow the money.
Reply to this comment
by debinok1 December 16, 2008 1:32 PM EST
Displeased,
I am in Oklahoma born and raised here. I have enough common sense to know that we didnt have a hole in the ozone when they started sending all this stuff into space, then we started sending things into orbit that were shooting fire out of one end, it would suggest that igniting small particles of the ozone layer had more to do with the hole than CFCs. The hole keeps getting bigger, we keep sending stuff through the ozone, yet CFCs have dropped to almost 0.
Reply to this comment
by yeswecan09 December 16, 2008 1:47 PM EST
If Artic air is this cold.
How can NASA support Global warming?
NASA wants to cash in on the profits.
Carbon credits = money for nothing!
*****
All I can say to this is wow, just plain old wow.

Global warming means that the average temperature of the planet is heating up. This in turn causes more severe storms and radical changes in what is considered normal weather for a region. You see things such as snow when there should not be, or in this case much more snow and cold well beyond the norms.
Reply to this comment
by easeup-2009 December 16, 2008 1:59 PM EST
This just in: "Winter is cold."

Experts are predicting a warm-up this spring. Stay tuned.
Reply to this comment
by debinok1 December 16, 2008 1:59 PM EST
well beyond the norms.

Posted by yeswecan09
*******************
How can you say norms? When centuries ago deserts were oceans, and mountains were under water. The planet is in a constant state of change, it isnt going to stop just because we want it to.
Reply to this comment
by hawksprings December 16, 2008 2:11 PM EST
"The planet is in a constant state of change, it isnt going to stop just because we want it to."
Posted by DebinOK1

No, it''s going to stop because Algore is selling carbon credits and Obama is going to raise taxes on the energy industry.
Reply to this comment
by roghil December 16, 2008 2:11 PM EST
This just in: "Winter is cold."

Experts are predicting a warm-up this spring. Stay tuned.


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Posted by easeup at 10:59 AM : Dec 16, 2008
+ report abuse

Can you cite your sources? I''m not sure about this. Do you think this is possible? How warm is it going to be? Will the phantom CO2 spewing satellites melt too much snow in the spring? Will God melt another path for oil tanker? And just where can I find some of these single mother strippers to support?
Reply to this comment
by impeach_o December 16, 2008 2:13 PM EST
AL Gore and Obama will show the world that we can fix everything with BULLSh8T...

with the help of the liberal media..everything will be all fine
Reply to this comment
by displeased December 16, 2008 2:14 PM EST
The planet is in a constant state of change, it isnt going to stop just because we want it to.
Posted by DebinOK1

Yes, but our inefficient habits may be accelerating this change and that may increase the drastic methods the earth will use to recover.
Reply to this comment
by easeup-2009 December 16, 2008 2:18 PM EST
Can you cite your sources? I''''m not sure about this. Do you think this is possible? How warm is it going to be? Will the phantom CO2 spewing satellites melt too much snow in the spring? Will God melt another path for oil tanker? And just where can I find some of these single mother strippers to support?

Posted by roghil at 11:11 AM : Dec 16, 2008

I''m afraid this news source cannot reveal its source, but I can tell you that in July it will be in the 80''s, maybe even the 90''s.

The hard-working single mothers can easily be found in establishments near GM plants. Make sure you have plenty of $1 bills.


Next: "What Mother Nature doesn''t want you to know."
Reply to this comment
by roghil December 16, 2008 2:21 PM EST
Thanks for the information easeup. I''ll be looking for the closest GM plant. Can''t wait for Mother Nature to reveal her secrets to me.
Reply to this comment
by roghil December 16, 2008 2:28 PM EST
I thought this was a news site.
Reply to this comment
by hawksprings December 16, 2008 2:29 PM EST
OMG, It''s 18 below in North Dakota in December!!!!!
ALGORE SAVE US!!!!!!!!!
Reply to this comment
by rangerdahl December 16, 2008 2:35 PM EST
when asked about the cold weather, Al Gore said, "***, I think I believed in global warming because I was a big fat guy who sweat gravy and bled butter...I just don''t get cold with all this blubber and liberal chicken little hot air floating around...are you going to eat that?" I just report it.
Reply to this comment
by yeswecan09 December 16, 2008 2:37 PM EST
How can you say norms? When centuries ago deserts were oceans, and mountains were under water. The planet is in a constant state of change, it isnt going to stop just because we want it to.
********

I am sure there is a offical description of what is considered normal weather for a given region; I tend to use my own personal 50 year rule -- if the weather changes radically within the past 50 years then that is considered outside the norms.

Can we stop change? No. However, if we are causing the problem and have the ability to solve the problem, then I say lets fix it.
Reply to this comment
by debinok1 December 16, 2008 2:38 PM EST
Yes, but our inefficient habits may be accelerating this change and that may increase the drastic methods the earth will use to recover.

Posted by Displeased
***********************
May be? A hypothesis, a theory, no fact no proof, yet we have a history of proof saying just the opposite.
Reply to this comment
by lloydbest1 December 16, 2008 2:47 PM EST
A factoid for those who are yapping about Global Warming:

Three of the five coldest winters since 1900 have occurred during the second warmest decade in American history. During the 1930''s the winters of 1931-32, 33-34 and 35-36 stood among the coldest in the U.S.
You can not point to one frigid week or even one frigid season in one part of the world to claim warming (or cooling) on a global scale is or is not happening.
Reply to this comment
by hawksprings December 16, 2008 3:00 PM EST
"You can not point to one frigid week or even one frigid season in one part of the world to claim warming (or cooling) on a global scale is or is not happening."
Posted by LloydBest1

But if you are a Global Warming Sheep, you can point to one day of hot weather to prove it.
Reply to this comment
by vcofreason December 16, 2008 3:09 PM EST
All this global warming is making me shiver. I''d better get some extra blankets. I''d like to have 1% of all the money wasted on global warming "studies" (a.k.a "natural cyclical changes in the earth" *eyeroll*) and put it towards my heating bill since it''s so COLD!!

I like how they talk about really bad hurricanes the likes of which we''ve never seen. Look up the Galveston hurricane of 1900. It was like a Cat 5. They are not getting stronger, idiots are just moving closer to the water.
Reply to this comment
by cbs_tom December 16, 2008 3:58 PM EST
did you happen to notice the mysterious TsunamiPosted by ms1-1-1 at 10:23 AM : Dec 16, 2008
OK..Can''t take it anymore. Are you insisting that a satellite is responsible for a sunami? Do you realize how much power would be required for such an event? An atomic bomb would not cause such a thing!
Great movie though!
Reply to this comment
by laeion December 16, 2008 5:03 PM EST
Before you put Al Gore down on his Global Warming video, research Global Warming. According to the calender, the season we''re currently in is Fall, but we''re seeing all this cold weather coming in. Global Warming increases overall temperature recorded through the year, not just for one season or month. It also causes temperature, weather, climate change, to become more severe/extreme. By extreme, you''re looking at the temperature dropping passed the average level.
Reply to this comment
by louiville2 December 16, 2008 5:23 PM EST
"Proponents of human induced warming and climate change told us that an increase in CO2 precedes and causes temperature increases. They were wrong. They told us the late 20th century was the warmest on record. They were wrong. They told us, using the infamous %u201Chockey stick%u201D graph, the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) did not exist. They were wrong. They told us global temperatures would increase through 2008 as CO2 increased. They were wrong. They told us Arctic ice would continue to decrease in area through 2008. They were wrong. They told us October 2008 was the second warmest on record. They were wrong. They told us 1998 was the warmest year on record in the US. They were wrong it was 1934. They told us current atmospheric levels of CO2 are the highest on record. They are wrong. They told us pre-industrial atmospheric levels of CO2 were approximately 100 parts per million (ppm) lower than the present 385 ppm. They are wrong. This last is critical because the claim is basic to the argument that humans are causing warming and climate change by increasing the levels of atmospheric CO2 and have throughout the Industrial era. In fact, pre-industrial CO2 levels were about the same as today, but how did they conclude they were lower?" http://doctorbulldog.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/exposing-the-global-warming-myth-co2-levels/

Reply to this comment
by sly_64 December 16, 2008 5:31 PM EST

I am hanging out very happily in shorts and a T-Shirt in Miami.
Reply to this comment
by debinok1 December 16, 2008 6:32 PM EST
Oh for crying out loud, they have found fossils of sea animals in the mountains and the deserts, which tells us at one point in history those places were UNDER WATER, the planet changed NOW THEIR NOT. Good Grief.
Reply to this comment
by debinok1 December 16, 2008 6:35 PM EST
In greenland the melted ice revealed where people had lived and grown food. then it froze over and they left, now its thawing out again, THE PLANET CHANGES!!!
Reply to this comment
by bobgee_1999 December 16, 2008 6:40 PM EST
CBSisPravda1 (et. al):

You, obviously, have no idea what you''re talking about, on at least two counts.

In the first place, the cold snap has no bearing whatever on the reality of Global Warming. Global Warming is simple physics, and incontrovertible. No reputable scientists doubts it; the only argument is the cause. The Global Warming model allows for extreme weather swings, including extremes of cold.
Regardless, Gore did not originate the term or the theory.

In the second, Fox is America''s version of Pravda. They are not only biased, but make, in practice, no secret of the fact (regardless of their Orwell-esque sloganeering). Actually, their justification is exactly the same as Pravda: "All other news sources, domestic and foreign are lying, only we have the truth."

Reply to this comment
by barbaram99 December 16, 2008 6:47 PM EST
I am in Seattle and it is in the 20s. Brr. I thot it is colder than normal as the wind blew yesturday and I told my friend that the wind blowing. and as a Mainer it use to get chilly in the winter and tons of snow in them small Maine towns. That was years ago. I do hate the cold as I am in my 50s. My friend asked if I needed any extra blankets nope I have blankets to keep warm.
Reply to this comment
by debinok1 December 16, 2008 6:47 PM EST
Are people so phobic of everything anymore, if the planet changes and we end up in the weather pattern of the arctic, we have to move, simple, but we cant stop it, we can plan for it, we can evacuate, but we cannot control nature.
Reply to this comment
by debinok1 December 16, 2008 7:32 PM EST
Excerpt from Science Magazine July 1997:

Despite the current relatively warm climate on Earth, regular recurring epochs of glaciation have dominated the planet for the past million years. Ten times, glaciers have advanced and then retreated with the duration of retreat (and corresponding warmth) frequently lasting not more than 10,000 years. The Earth has been in a warm period for about 10,000 years now.

Reply to this comment
by presjfk December 16, 2008 8:26 PM EST
I am hanging out very happily in shorts and a T-Shirt in Miami. Posted by sly_64 "


Why I live in NJ? I have no idea. The weather, taxes, and politics all suck.
Reply to this comment
by avigil2 December 16, 2008 10:59 PM EST
It is freaking cold here in Seattle. I''ve lived here for about 10 years and I''ve never felt it this cold before. Brrr....
Reply to this comment
by juwboy December 17, 2008 8:30 AM EST
According to United Nations data, global temperatures have remained static since 1997.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide has steadily increased since then.

So, how can anyone claim that carbon dioxide causes global warming?

If a theory doesn`t fit the facts, the theory is wrong.
Reply to this comment
by juwboy December 17, 2008 8:35 AM EST
Which of the following extreme climate situations causes more deaths?

(A) a cold winter
(B) a hot summer

The answer is (A) by a massive margin.

So, why aren`t we doing everything we possibly can to promote and accelerate global warming until the two numbers are comparable?

That`s when our planet will have its ideal, optimum temperature.
Reply to this comment
by lloydbest1 December 17, 2008 9:12 AM EST
"Which of the following extreme climate situations causes more deaths?
(A) a cold winter
(B) a hot summer
The answer is (A) by a massive margin.
So, why aren`t we doing everything we possibly can to promote and accelerate global warming until the two numbers are comparable?
That`s when our planet will have its ideal, optimum temperature." Posted by juwboy at 05:35 AM : Dec 17, 2008

Source?

Sure hope you don''t own beachfront property because if you get your wish, you''d better learn how to tread water.
Reply to this comment
by whatchange-2009 December 17, 2008 9:48 AM EST
Sure hope you don''''t own beachfront property because if you get your wish, you''''d better learn how to tread water.

Posted by LloydBest1 at 06:12 AM : Dec 17, 2008 *********************************** What happens when the ice melts in your glass of water? Nothing? That''s what I thought you''d say.
Reply to this comment
by jmagarotz December 17, 2008 11:43 AM EST
I have to go with majority of scientists on this one, as opposed to the talking heads on fascist Fox News.

Posted by mtee12 at 04:09 AM : Dec 17, 2008

Yup, My mind''s made up don''t confuse me with facts.

I say let''s have a public debate with credible professionals and study "ALL" the facts not with the "Sky is Falling" tax and spenders we have now.
Reply to this comment
by laeion December 18, 2008 4:09 AM EST
What about this?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/12/16/melting.ice/index.html?iref=24hours
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