It’s Been How Cold Lately?

If you haven’t been out of the country on vacation, in a coma, or under a rock the past few weeks, you already know how cold it’s been around here.

To illustrate just how cold it's been in South Dakota and other parts of the Midwest recently, take a look at the following comparisons and then join me in starting to cross off the days on the calendar until the first day of spring arrives.

Now you've undoubtedly heard about the Polar Vortex right? It's the reason why these record cold temps have plagued the Sioux Empire and other parts of the country. Well, because of the Polar Vortex, it has been so cold around here that you could actually go to Siberia to warm up. Not all of Siberia, but some parts of it are warmer than the temperatures we’ve been seeing around here lately.

For example, the low temps in some parts of the U.S. have dipped to minus -40 degrees plus. Those frigid temps have been lower than the temperatures in Tobolsk, Russia, in Siberia the past few months.

It's been so cold around here; the surface of Mars would be warmer. Get this, Mars is 78 million miles further from the sun than the Earth, but parts of that planet have been warmer than say, the negative -42 wind chill temps that we have been experiencing.

It has been so cold that the one and only polar bear at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago has been hiding in her 40-degree habitat rather than staying outside. Since she was born in captivity, she doesn't have a thick enough layer of fat to handle this extreme level of cold!

To show you just how bad the temps in Fargo have been, there's a guy up there who's spending his work days in a walk-in freezer in his store. Why? Because it's only minus-10 in the freezer, compared to the minus-40 it has been outside!

Finally, it has been so cold lately, that antifreeze could actually freeze! At negative-34 degrees, Prestone freezes.

You can add me to the list of people who cannot wait to start complaining about the heat and humidity again!

Just remember, the first day of spring this year is Thursday, March 20th, and it gets a little bit closer with every passing day!

Source: CNN, Smithsonian, National Journal, Time