Brutal cold struck the U.S. Midwest this week, closing roads, schools and businesses and causing multiple states of emergency to be declared as people coped with subzero temperatures. In Chicago on Wednesday, Arctic air from the polar vortex caused temperatures to drop to as low as -28 F (-46 C). By the end of the day on Wednesday, as many as eight deaths had been reported. And the cold is continuing. Meteorologists at the Washington Post said that temperatures on January 31 will be likely colder than those on the North Slope of Alaska. Here are a few images – from the EarthSky Community and elsewhere – of this week’s cold.
Eleanor Imster has helped write and edit EarthSky since 1995. She was an integral part of the award-winning EarthSky radio series almost since it began until it ended in 2013. She and her husband live in Tennessee, where they enjoy guitar playing and singing. They have 2 grown sons.
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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