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Extreme weather events are becoming more and more common, with records shattered down under during Australia's recent heatwave, and now, at the opposite end of the spectrum, the 'polar vortex' turning Midwestern U.S. into a winter wonderland.
The polar vortex is a band of strong winds, high up in the atmosphere that keeps bitterly cold winter season air locked around the Arctic region. Sometimes, like this year, it can drift further south than usual and envelop highly populated areas of North America. Chigaco has been particularly hard hit, with its notoriously windy location on Lake Michigan bringing freezing temperatures down to record-breaking lows.
With much of the Midwest on lockdown and people urged to stay indoors, some people have been braving the winter landscapes to take incredible images of the effects that the extremely cold weather is having on their daily lives. From exploding toilets to icy hairstyles, this list compiled by Bored Panda will give you chills just from looking at it!
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#1
How Cold Is It In The Midwest? Bubbles Are Freezing
RELATED:
#2
My Brother Was On One Of The Few Flights Into Chicago This Morning. He Took This Photo Of Frozen Lake Michigan From The Plane
#3
After Two Days Of Freezing Rain, This Mold Came Out
#4
Meanwhile In Minnesota. The Tank Exploded
#5
My Sister Opened Her Car Door In Chicago
#6
A Firefighter After Working In The -40° Polar Vortex
#7
My God. We've Reached The Day After Tomorrow
Ashley Kirk 5 years ago
Best part? Our fearless leader tweets how this cold disproves global warming. Ughhhhhh
#8
Trying To Make The Most Of This -40 F Weather
#9
Lunch In Chicago Today. I Like Mine Al Dente
#10
“Is Iowa Really That Cold?”
#11
Current Level Of Snow In Madison: One Whole Mingo
#12
Pray For The Homeless During This Time! Give To Your Local Shelters. Most Are At Full Capacity
#13
It's So Cold In Chicago They Set Commuter Train Tracks On Fire To Warm Them
Joannie Goulet 5 years ago
I'm Canadian and this kind of weather is fairly normal for us in winter. No one here set rails on fire to warm them. Americans, we have to talk.
Spinaap 5 years ago
Because you have built in heaters on the rail switches. You are used to this level of cold and frost, I assume this doesn't happen every year in chicago.
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Laugh Fan 5 years ago (edited)
I must have a teensy bit of a pyromaniac in me as I am fascinated by fire. Not enough to set fire to anything weird or do anything dangerous mind.
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Trulee Stewart 5 years ago
I used to deliver propane to the tanks that fueled this. It's for the switcher tracks. It's the only way to keep them from freezing up and not being able to get trains where they need to go. All the times I delivered it I never actually got to see them lit. Thanks for sharing!
Eliyahu Rooff 5 years ago
The tracks have gas lines for this. They have to do it on switches so that they don't freeze in one position.
Rebecca Catherine 5 years ago
They do this all the time when it's cold. It's not that big of news.
Lucy Shupe 5 years ago
This happens quite frequently in extreme cold weather conditions. It’s not that unusual. Cool but not unusual.
Karen Mullen 5 years ago
Oathbraker, ... And why exactly would it be slow heavy metal music playing , could it be...is it so cold the music Thrasher music , is frozen too?
Becky Reus 5 years ago
Switch heaters work 24/7 every winter from the dawn of the railroad... this code snap was nothing new... it was just the news going for ratings
Patricia Jensen 5 years ago
We've seen this on the news here in Canada. It is something I'll never forget. Be safe.
#14
It's So Cold In Iowa That We Froze Antifreeze
#15
Eye Lashes On Fleek! Is That A Thing? Is This The New Winter Running Fashion Statement?
Luis Milian 5 years ago
wow, never experienced this before. It looks dangerous being out there.
#16
What Happens When You Blow Bubbles In A Freezing Weather
#17
Meanwhile In Wisconsin
#18
Freezing Our Pants Off In Minnesota
#19
When These Are The Inside Doors... You Know We Are Polar Vortexing
#20
Cadillac Michigan The Light Poles Are Shivering. Science Mannn
#21
Landlord Decided To Turn Down The Heat Today In My MN Apartment As It Reached -40°
The idiot must have forgotten he pays my electric and doesn't realize that I value my comfort over safety or energy conservation.
Tiny Dynamine 5 years ago
I don't know if you have human rights in America (not many, anyway) but you should be able to prosecute him for that.
#22
Going To Daycare When It's -30 Outside
#23
Frozen Chicken Eggs
олександра пушкар 5 years ago
Wow! That looks amazing! Imagine laying it on the frying pan and watching it melt. *went to put eggs outside*
#24
You Know It's Cold When The Toilet Paper Is Frozen In The Outhouse
#25
The Detroit River, Frozen All The Way To Canada
#26
Got So Cold Last Night That Our Vodka Froze! For Reference The Freezing Point For Vodka Is -16
#27
We Had A House Fire South Of Cameron Today. Our Chief Mitch Hansen Thought It Was A Splash Park
#28
Minnesota's Officers
#29
Letting My Car Heat Up During The Polar Vortex
#30
House Is Freezing From The Inside During The Coldest Day In A Decade
#31
The Beauty The Cold Brings To South Dakota
tuzdayschild 5 years ago
I live in southeast Virginia. I can't even wrap my mind around most of these pics.
#32
This Flash-Frozen Fire Hydrant
Freya the Wanderer 5 years ago
Let's hope the fire department didn't have to use this hydrant!
#33
This Door At Work In Minnesota
#34
A Sheet Of Ice Formed Between The Glass Panes Of This Door
#35
Polar Vortex Lesson: Don’t Try To Hang Dry Your Clothes Outside
#36
Polar Vortex (Temp. 16 F /-9 C)
Tiny Dynamine 5 years ago
Thanks for telling us a temperature that the rest of the world actually uses.
#37
My Parents Sent Me This Pic Of Our Peephole (From The Indoor Side)
#38
My Neighbor’s Furnace Exhaust Is Creating An Interesting Icicle
Freya the Wanderer 5 years ago
We are marching to Pretoria - because we won't freeze our a**es off there!
#39
One Cold Rowdy Dog On The Bulkhead. Still Looking For Leftover Canteen Snacks
#40
I Just Wanted To See How Long It Would Take For An Egg To Freeze Outside And Also What Would Become Of My Egg
#41
Cold Spell
Yes, that is ice on the inside of our house. It's not the first time that ice has formed around our door. We've talked to our landlord and hope to get a new door and door frame in spring when we don't have to worry about getting frostbite about people outside for five minutes. It would really help with our utility bill as well.
#42
It Was So Cold In Chicago That The Paint Came Off My Car
Roger Haywood 5 years ago
That's probably down to a bad paint job. I'm sure it's supposed to last even in sub zero conditions.
#43
"No, Believe Me, 'Tis Very Cold; The Wind Is Northerly"
олександра пушкар 5 years ago
Looks like these jeans are having a conversation. "Check it out, guys, I froze in such a funny position!"
#44
Ice Is Freezing As Soon As It Comes Out Of Our Faucet Because It's So Cold
#45
This Is My Buddy Jesse At The Arrowhead 135 In Mn Yesterday. Day Time Temp Was -26 °F
#46
In A Matter Of 2 Minutes Walking Across Campus, My Glasses Started To Frost/Ice Over
Everyone’s been talking about how cold Chicago is right now. The upper Midwest (I’m talking Fargo area) had windchills up to -60 below zero, ten degrees colder than Chicago. In a matter of 2 minutes walking across campus, my glasses started to frost/ice over.
Claudia Stieble 5 years ago
Last winter I drove my bicycle to work and had to stop after 10 minutes because my glasses were covered with frost patterns, they looked beautiful but I couldn't see anything at all. It was only -14°C that morning.
#47
My Wall Is Freezing In My Bedroom. There Are No Pipes Behind It. Chicago
Vlad Horobet 5 years ago
As I know, most of the houses in America are built on wooden frame, with some isolation foam between wooden planks inside and outside. At the corners either is a slim wooden pole either the isolation is not well connected. Either way, this is bad in the future, the humidity and the wood don't mix well over long periods of time.
#48
So My Soap Is Frozen In My Shower
#49
It's So Cold Here In Iowa That There Is Now Frost On The Inside Of My Door Hinges
#50
My Beard Froze While Waiting Bus. I Wish It Would Be Summer Already
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Lef 5 years ago
Living in Australia, I always thought to myself: Nah, it can't be that bad. After looking at this post, it blew my mind. Wow! How do people live with this? I guess if you grow up there, you get used to it, but I can't even imagine living like that!
Magdalina777 5 years ago
Most of these shouldn't be happening. That's what you have heating and insulation for. I assume in these places such weather isn't common so they were unprepared ( ? I thought US does get some kind of winter though?). As a Russian I can tell you you're definitely not supposed to get ice *inside*, whether it's -20 or -40 C out there ;P Also, I love winter and am jealous right now, warming up to disgusting +1 here atm, mah snow is melting D:
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Slune 5 years ago
What confuses me mostly, that in a few pictures the apartments seems to be zero isolated and the doors are made of thin materials
M O'Connell 5 years ago
History lesson, following WWII there was an enormous boom in construction in the US. There was high demand for single-family housing, and builders built down to a price, instead of up to a level of quality. At the time, insulation was rather expensive, and energy was quite cheap, so it made sense to insulate lightly. The snow coming in through corners is down to the overlapping issues that can develop at corners: Corner framing style, is it a 4x4 post, two 2x4s, three 2x4s or something else? Is there a dead space that didn't get insulated? Is the sheathing continuous or is it made of boards with spaces between, if it is, the subfloor is likely also boards with spaces between, leaving plenty of gaps for air-infiltration.
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Sivi 5 years ago
Ok as someone from West-Norway who been through a few super frosty winters and family owns a cabin up the mountains, how the f**k do you get frost indoors?
Vlad Horobet 5 years ago
With all this cold I'm expecting Trump to come with the idea of a Ice Wall.
Caridina Japonica 5 years ago
So Trump would be a white walker at the north side of the wall. Pretty accurate.
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Valentina Tosheva 5 years ago
I live in Canada, and those temperatures are normal for us in the winter (every winter), no big drama about it. Our houses are well-insulated and well-heated. As a Realtor, I see plenty of houses, and I've never seen bathrooms or sinks frozen. Seeing some of the photos here, I start to think that some people in the USA are seriously neglecting the insulation and the weatherproofing of their homes. On a positive note - perhaps now they will do something about it.
Joannie Goulet 5 years ago
We just had a house built and that made me realize that insulation is probably everyone's number one preoccupation here when building something.
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Magdalina777 5 years ago
So much ice inside...do they not have winters normally at all? There gotta be like no heating nor insulation for this. That's awful. Outside looks really cool though, am jealous :P
Effseven Six 5 years ago
Here in the US it can get pretty damn cold but all this ice in the house business isnt normal. This is the closest it's been here in over a decade. There is heating and insulation, but those things just cant compete with the temp outside. In fact, anywhere there is ice in the house means there was condensation from the heat in the house. They would have to keep the inside temp around 80 degrees for it to even FEEL like 60 degrees in there. Most of those people will probably have a very hefty bill energy bill when this is over.
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Noez 🇸🇪 5 years ago
America: what's wrong with your houses? I live in Sweden and despite the -19 C outside, my home does not look like that! The tank on my toilet doesn't freeze, I don't have icy frost on my walls, I don't have ice creeping in from around the door! I have +23 C inside and I can walk around barefoot. Seriously what's wrong with your houses?? Why don't you build houses that can withstand the cold?
sneakcollector 5 years ago
Too bad that Trumpster has nit even a clue that global worming means climate change... Well, but a no-brainer will not get it...
wusah 5 years ago
He has a bit? And what is global worming? Is that a new thing? A no-brainer? Jesus, you are a malaka.
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Alusair Alustriel 5 years ago
As much as I sympathize with people going through those circumstances, I hate all the staged pictures specially prepared to show "oh how cold that is". We used to have -40 winters each year, every year back in the days and noone was whining, it was normal.
Full Name 5 years ago
And yet people seem convinced that this time it's because of globalwarmingclimatechange or whatever. To say this IS because of climate change is bananas.
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Wanda Queen 5 years ago
I live in upstate NY where these temps happen at least once or twice every winter, so we are prepared for it. I can assure you all, this is not "normal" and yes, we may be an evil capitalist country with an utter douchebag for president, but that has nothing to do with the fact that most of the houses in this list just weren't built for that kind of cold......
Donald Trump 5 years ago
The Mexicans are the reason we are going through a polar vortex.
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Lizzie the Crayon 5 years ago
Where I live, it is already in the 60-85 temp range. In the morning, well, that can be a different story, but, this is DEF incomparable to this. Harsh, Mother Nature, just harsh.
Freya the Wanderer 5 years ago
How climate change contributes to crazy winter weather, explained in a simple diagram: winter-sto...2c77d4.jpg 
diane a 5 years ago
Going to be quite a number of deaths attributed to this cold spell. People with inadequate heating etc, not to mention poor homeless on the streets.
lamps 5 years ago
Mostly it's been the elderly, recently a college student who was out in the early morning for some reason.
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Cat person 5 years ago
Today at Costco as we were leaving, my mum saw some people running to the doors, not knowing Costco had just closed. She put down her window to tell them but it was so cold that the window refused to go back up and it took a whole 10 minutes for it to go back up inch by inch
Bill Hadley 5 years ago
Grew up in Central Manitoba, people just deal with it when they get it every winter. If you're not used to it, then yeah, it's pretty hard on you.
queens, bitch 5 years ago
I'm Canadian so this is pretty normal for me. All the snow, ice, frozen toilets, frost taking over the door, pretty used to it.
Joannie Goulet 5 years ago
I live fairly far up north in Canada and this is just a normal day in winter here. :P
Rob Chapman 5 years ago
It's time like this that I'm glad I live in California (about 15 miles south of San Francisco). The coldest it gets here is the upper 30's. It hasn't snowed here since 1976. Of course, it also never gets above the low 60's in the summer. Gotta love that fog.
Biana Weatherford 5 years ago
I live in Oregon...it's wet but so temperate. I am so sorry that this is happening and I'm sending warm thoughts. If you need a place to crash...and can get out of the vortex, I've got a blow up mattress. Go west!
Petra Schaap 5 years ago
these pics are fun and some are bad, but that guy sitting on a bench in a blanket breaks my heart. Doors and rooms are freezing on the inside, and we let homeless people sit outside? what a world :-( It would be very hard for me to not just pick random people up from the street ....
wusah 5 years ago
A s****y state crowded with s****y people, with s****y disgusting heat and humidity.
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THE ULTIMATE PUGTATO >_< 5 years ago
I live in Ludington by the badger that goes to Wisconsin lots of tourists come here in the summer it’s really cold rn
Gracie Mae 5 years ago
i moved out of that kind of stuff for a reason--these pics only reinforce it! snow is beautiful when it comes to landscaping, but i'll stick to seeing it on the internet!
Éva Nemes 5 years ago
Omg, -20, -30 C :D Here in the mountain too, and this is normal, people live, work, play.. not make a drama because of cold.
Éva Nemes 5 years ago
And the strong winter (with 4-5-8 m snow and so many lavine) is from middle of october-to april, not just 4-5 week, as in USA.
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TheBoredPanda 5 years ago
I think this is a whole lot of nope here. I'm glad I live in a state where it only gets cold for a week or two in the winter. I grew up in PA but promptly moved south as soon as I was old enough.
Boss Rainbow 5 years ago
good. stop bombing other countries then probably you will experience a warmer winter next year. til then, happy freezing your jiblets and hoo-haas.
Nostalgic Hyena 5 years ago
I live in the Chicago area.. they recently cancelled school for almost a whole week because it was so cold.
Heidi Matsumoto 5 years ago
These pictures make me scared and uncomfortable....It may be waaaaay past the normal thing when it's winter and that thing called polar vortex.
Chicken Yao 5 years ago
Meanwhile, Texas gets some nice 80 degree weather. We're down here playing outside while y'all are freezing yourselves to death :) (Don't get too jealous- we also get 110 degree summers- on cool days!)
Keith Mallett 5 years ago
Get used to it, wait until the next few years...as we creep into the next ice age, no sunspots, the sun is getting dark, google sun simulator.
Phoenix VW 5 years ago
Can’t believe (in reality) that extreme cold weather can happen to us! Been ages!
M. W. 5 years ago
I understand the cold like -20 something could be a big deal. But -10? It is winter for godsakes I have a feeling that because the climat is changing people are forgetting what winters are. And also America this is what you get with poor house bouilding quality and piping. I knowcthat in some regions there never was such cold winter, but the pics with -9 celsius are just like normal for winter. Aren't they?
Dont Beathief 5 years ago
How about crediting the people you stole these pics/gifs from, you low life c*nts!
Georgann Haeffner 5 years ago
I needed a WOW button! These were great. My work closed those two days, and I didn't even stick my nose outside!
Rae-Louise Hetzel 5 years ago
I am another Australian and I cannot imagine cold like you are all experiencing. Heat yes, at present Australia has one state burning with massive bush fires and another drowning in flood waters but we never experience this type of cold
Sofia Bellavista 5 years ago
But don't worry Trump voters, climate change is just a hoax right? Honestly it takes an off-the-charts level of willful ignorance to refuse to acknowledge what's before your own eyes.
The Frog 5 years ago
Ok so when I heard on the News about your weather I dunno just assumed it wasn't as bad as they were making it out to be, after looking at the pictures it's all hit home just how bad your weather is, we have cold weather too here but like on -4 to -8/9 and we suffer but like I've said before it's what 'one' is used too, there's no.. Well our weather's colder than yours ect, everyone is from different parts of the world, hats off to you guys over there! Take care, keep warm, much LOVE
Roberto Durante 5 years ago (edited)
my friend living in Saint Petersburg in Russia and she never have ice inside even with minus 40ºCelcius
Lydia Spieker 5 years ago
Where I live it's +35 C 91 F .. and I was looking at snow pictures dreaming of how nice it might be ..... probably mistaken??
Robert Rodrigues 5 years ago
I'm always complainng about the temperature during summer here in Rio de Janeiro, right now around 42Cº. But after looking at those pics, I'm glad to be in Rio...
Marcos Di Bello 5 years ago
Just to remind the ignorant people that America is a continent and not a country, in many places of America today it is very hot.
Full Name 5 years ago
NORTH America is a continent. America is a country.
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Mandy Delaforce (PC Girl) 5 years ago
Australian - It's been sitting around 40°C and i just can't imagine how cold that is.
Sasy 5 years ago
This is why as an Aussie I get NO sympathy when I saw in winter 'I am freezing' my US friends laugh at me, and remind me what freezing actually means. I used to feel all put out by it, now not so much, because OUCH.
Full Name 5 years ago
Get some Canadian friends because they can laugh at your US friends because they don't know what "I am freezing" really means either, haha.
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TheKnightOwl 5 years ago
Not surprising, considering we're well and truly overdue for an ice age. People so worried about man made climate change, and they don't stop to think the climate has been changing since the beginning of time...and the clock is ticking. We need to learn to adapt, and even have evacuation plans for this type of event in the future. I'm not being overly dramatic either; they found the remains of a woolly mammoth who was snap frozen so quickly the flowers in its stomach were preserved; you know how cold it has to be for that to happen? Too cold for humans to endure.
Iwo Sol 5 years ago
i wonder how many animals get frozen to death becuse pepole didnt let them hide inside, left them chained outside and so on...
Full Name 5 years ago
None? Yeah, none. Let's go with that assumption because it's already too late and I'd be super sad.
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Theo Groenevelt 5 years ago
Well....as An Oil and Gas Insprctor working in Alberta's Oil Sands....I think most of you have no CLUE what REAL cold is....-20 to -30F is a Normal Winter day up here....we call stuff -40C (-40F) and colder...as "Chilly"... but then I had to laugh...was in North Carolina a few years ago and it was 72F outside and there were folks wearing Down Jackets and Toques (hats in Americun), on their heads....
Magpie 5 years ago
https://scied.ucar.edu/blog/why-polar-vortex-keeps-breaking-out-arctic _________________Typically, a large difference in temperature between the air of the polar vortex and the air in the mid-latitudes drives the polar jet stream. However, the Arctic is warming faster than other areas of the planet, which makes the difference in temperature less distinct. This causes the polar jet stream to meander north and south instead of making a beeline around,,,,,,,,,,,
Beverly Heath 5 years ago
I think I remember why I moved from Northern Indiana, by Chicago, to California.
Melissa 5 years ago
I feel for those people. I am so glad I don't live in those states. Currently, where I live... I thought this current temp was cold until I saw these pictures and what it is there. I just looked and saw here in Washington State, it is 36 F/2 C. It'd probably feel like summer right there for them. I hope this weather doesn't last long. I already feel sad for the people that have died. Stay and dress warm. Don't go out unless you have no choice. <3
Ian Osmond 5 years ago
... these people do not have very good insulation. More to the point, global climate change is putting this kind of weather in places where people didn't NEED overly great insulation before this.
Elizabeth Gardner 5 years ago
As it is with your intense cold we suffer intense heat. Our area rated the highest January temps ever recorded. Some places 48.5 celcius.
Hm Mm 5 years ago
I live in a tropical country where even right now its hot af and I'm under a tree enjoying the breeze. Lol. I feel much more grateful for the sun now. I dont think could ever survive if i migrate and have to experience those temperatures
jknbt jknbt 5 years ago
my sympathies to your situation, midwesterners....I live in the land of weather extremes on the Texas Gulf Coast. Hurricane Harvey had flood water at my doorstep, so I got out of it light. Some people in Houston had muddy water six feet deep in their bedroom...on the second floor. I have had heat exhaustion in the summer several times just from walking from the air conditioned building to the car out on the far backside of a full parking lot. Yikes. We got so much rain in 1987 through 1988 that the inches rainfall were more than what certain parts of the Amazon get. I could do nothing as I watched seventy expensive hybrid roses drown (even though they were planted in a well-drained raised bed). To replace them at current online prices would be about $2000. So I am sympathetic to your situation. Please show similar concern the next time the US gulf coast goes through another weather catastrophe.
Rachelle 5 years ago
Oh 'Muricans - you're so funny! This kind of s**t happens every single winter up here in Canada... and it lasts for 6 f*****g months!
M O'Connell 5 years ago
Part of it is the 'unknown' of a temperature extreme. The last time it was this cold in my area was in 1995. That leaves everyone under the age of 25 with no experience at all with this kind of cold. Once they've experienced it a time or two, they will be prepared when it rolls around again.
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The Girl on Fire 5 years ago
This makes me nervous as in a week I'm moving to Wisconsin and have to go across South Dakota and Minnesota. Granted I'm not driving but still. :/
Magpie 5 years ago
You all understand that climate warming = increased turbulence? This is just another effect.
Full Name 5 years ago
Because it never got this cold before? Oh right, it did. Explain.
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Ryo Bakura 5 years ago
That's not climate change, is it Donald? Of course not. It's natural for ice to form INSIDE people's houses.
Full Name 5 years ago
Depends where you live. Take your secrete crush on Trump elsewhere.
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John L 5 years ago
Hey Guys, Welcome to The Grand Solar Minimum. Nothing really new here, but it looks like this one will be on par with the Maunder Minimum of the 17th century. Its called "Climate Change", but not in the direction the Satist Whackos keep telling us. Just like anything the gov-ment tells you, do the opposite and you're doing ok. 00-Yep-5c5...c38302.gif 
TheKnightOwl 5 years ago
It's unfortunate people are so quick to disregard comments like this. Government propaganda doesn't just happen in Nth Korea, folks.
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Lucy Shepard (TheLlamaPrism) 5 years ago
Well, you must live somewhere else, kid. Weather is different in different places
Load More Replies... Lef 5 years ago
Living in Australia, I always thought to myself: Nah, it can't be that bad. After looking at this post, it blew my mind. Wow! How do people live with this? I guess if you grow up there, you get used to it, but I can't even imagine living like that!
Magdalina777 5 years ago
Most of these shouldn't be happening. That's what you have heating and insulation for. I assume in these places such weather isn't common so they were unprepared ( ? I thought US does get some kind of winter though?). As a Russian I can tell you you're definitely not supposed to get ice *inside*, whether it's -20 or -40 C out there ;P Also, I love winter and am jealous right now, warming up to disgusting +1 here atm, mah snow is melting D:
Load More Replies... Slune 5 years ago
What confuses me mostly, that in a few pictures the apartments seems to be zero isolated and the doors are made of thin materials
M O'Connell 5 years ago
History lesson, following WWII there was an enormous boom in construction in the US. There was high demand for single-family housing, and builders built down to a price, instead of up to a level of quality. At the time, insulation was rather expensive, and energy was quite cheap, so it made sense to insulate lightly. The snow coming in through corners is down to the overlapping issues that can develop at corners: Corner framing style, is it a 4x4 post, two 2x4s, three 2x4s or something else? Is there a dead space that didn't get insulated? Is the sheathing continuous or is it made of boards with spaces between, if it is, the subfloor is likely also boards with spaces between, leaving plenty of gaps for air-infiltration.
Load More Replies... Sivi 5 years ago
Ok as someone from West-Norway who been through a few super frosty winters and family owns a cabin up the mountains, how the f**k do you get frost indoors?
Vlad Horobet 5 years ago
With all this cold I'm expecting Trump to come with the idea of a Ice Wall.
Caridina Japonica 5 years ago
So Trump would be a white walker at the north side of the wall. Pretty accurate.
Load More Replies... Valentina Tosheva 5 years ago
I live in Canada, and those temperatures are normal for us in the winter (every winter), no big drama about it. Our houses are well-insulated and well-heated. As a Realtor, I see plenty of houses, and I've never seen bathrooms or sinks frozen. Seeing some of the photos here, I start to think that some people in the USA are seriously neglecting the insulation and the weatherproofing of their homes. On a positive note - perhaps now they will do something about it.
Joannie Goulet 5 years ago
We just had a house built and that made me realize that insulation is probably everyone's number one preoccupation here when building something.
Load More Replies... Magdalina777 5 years ago
So much ice inside...do they not have winters normally at all? There gotta be like no heating nor insulation for this. That's awful. Outside looks really cool though, am jealous :P
Effseven Six 5 years ago
Here in the US it can get pretty damn cold but all this ice in the house business isnt normal. This is the closest it's been here in over a decade. There is heating and insulation, but those things just cant compete with the temp outside. In fact, anywhere there is ice in the house means there was condensation from the heat in the house. They would have to keep the inside temp around 80 degrees for it to even FEEL like 60 degrees in there. Most of those people will probably have a very hefty bill energy bill when this is over.
Load More Replies... Noez 🇸🇪 5 years ago
America: what's wrong with your houses? I live in Sweden and despite the -19 C outside, my home does not look like that! The tank on my toilet doesn't freeze, I don't have icy frost on my walls, I don't have ice creeping in from around the door! I have +23 C inside and I can walk around barefoot. Seriously what's wrong with your houses?? Why don't you build houses that can withstand the cold?
sneakcollector 5 years ago
Too bad that Trumpster has nit even a clue that global worming means climate change... Well, but a no-brainer will not get it...
wusah 5 years ago
He has a bit? And what is global worming? Is that a new thing? A no-brainer? Jesus, you are a malaka.
Load More Replies... Alusair Alustriel 5 years ago
As much as I sympathize with people going through those circumstances, I hate all the staged pictures specially prepared to show "oh how cold that is". We used to have -40 winters each year, every year back in the days and noone was whining, it was normal.
Full Name 5 years ago
And yet people seem convinced that this time it's because of globalwarmingclimatechange or whatever. To say this IS because of climate change is bananas.
Load More Replies... Wanda Queen 5 years ago
I live in upstate NY where these temps happen at least once or twice every winter, so we are prepared for it. I can assure you all, this is not "normal" and yes, we may be an evil capitalist country with an utter douchebag for president, but that has nothing to do with the fact that most of the houses in this list just weren't built for that kind of cold......
Donald Trump 5 years ago
The Mexicans are the reason we are going through a polar vortex.
Load More Replies... Lizzie the Crayon 5 years ago
Where I live, it is already in the 60-85 temp range. In the morning, well, that can be a different story, but, this is DEF incomparable to this. Harsh, Mother Nature, just harsh.
Freya the Wanderer 5 years ago
How climate change contributes to crazy winter weather, explained in a simple diagram: winter-sto...2c77d4.jpg
diane a 5 years ago
Going to be quite a number of deaths attributed to this cold spell. People with inadequate heating etc, not to mention poor homeless on the streets.
lamps 5 years ago
Mostly it's been the elderly, recently a college student who was out in the early morning for some reason.
Load More Replies... Cat person 5 years ago
Today at Costco as we were leaving, my mum saw some people running to the doors, not knowing Costco had just closed. She put down her window to tell them but it was so cold that the window refused to go back up and it took a whole 10 minutes for it to go back up inch by inch
Bill Hadley 5 years ago
Grew up in Central Manitoba, people just deal with it when they get it every winter. If you're not used to it, then yeah, it's pretty hard on you.
queens, bitch 5 years ago
I'm Canadian so this is pretty normal for me. All the snow, ice, frozen toilets, frost taking over the door, pretty used to it.
Joannie Goulet 5 years ago
I live fairly far up north in Canada and this is just a normal day in winter here. :P
Rob Chapman 5 years ago
It's time like this that I'm glad I live in California (about 15 miles south of San Francisco). The coldest it gets here is the upper 30's. It hasn't snowed here since 1976. Of course, it also never gets above the low 60's in the summer. Gotta love that fog.
Biana Weatherford 5 years ago
I live in Oregon...it's wet but so temperate. I am so sorry that this is happening and I'm sending warm thoughts. If you need a place to crash...and can get out of the vortex, I've got a blow up mattress. Go west!
Petra Schaap 5 years ago
these pics are fun and some are bad, but that guy sitting on a bench in a blanket breaks my heart. Doors and rooms are freezing on the inside, and we let homeless people sit outside? what a world :-( It would be very hard for me to not just pick random people up from the street ....
wusah 5 years ago
A s****y state crowded with s****y people, with s****y disgusting heat and humidity.
Load More Replies... THE ULTIMATE PUGTATO >_< 5 years ago
I live in Ludington by the badger that goes to Wisconsin lots of tourists come here in the summer it’s really cold rn
Gracie Mae 5 years ago
i moved out of that kind of stuff for a reason--these pics only reinforce it! snow is beautiful when it comes to landscaping, but i'll stick to seeing it on the internet!
Éva Nemes 5 years ago
Omg, -20, -30 C :D Here in the mountain too, and this is normal, people live, work, play.. not make a drama because of cold.
Éva Nemes 5 years ago
And the strong winter (with 4-5-8 m snow and so many lavine) is from middle of october-to april, not just 4-5 week, as in USA.
Load More Replies... TheBoredPanda 5 years ago
I think this is a whole lot of nope here. I'm glad I live in a state where it only gets cold for a week or two in the winter. I grew up in PA but promptly moved south as soon as I was old enough.
Boss Rainbow 5 years ago
good. stop bombing other countries then probably you will experience a warmer winter next year. til then, happy freezing your jiblets and hoo-haas.
Nostalgic Hyena 5 years ago
I live in the Chicago area.. they recently cancelled school for almost a whole week because it was so cold.
Heidi Matsumoto 5 years ago
These pictures make me scared and uncomfortable....It may be waaaaay past the normal thing when it's winter and that thing called polar vortex.
Chicken Yao 5 years ago
Meanwhile, Texas gets some nice 80 degree weather. We're down here playing outside while y'all are freezing yourselves to death :) (Don't get too jealous- we also get 110 degree summers- on cool days!)
Keith Mallett 5 years ago
Get used to it, wait until the next few years...as we creep into the next ice age, no sunspots, the sun is getting dark, google sun simulator.
Phoenix VW 5 years ago
Can’t believe (in reality) that extreme cold weather can happen to us! Been ages!
M. W. 5 years ago
I understand the cold like -20 something could be a big deal. But -10? It is winter for godsakes I have a feeling that because the climat is changing people are forgetting what winters are. And also America this is what you get with poor house bouilding quality and piping. I knowcthat in some regions there never was such cold winter, but the pics with -9 celsius are just like normal for winter. Aren't they?
Dont Beathief 5 years ago
How about crediting the people you stole these pics/gifs from, you low life c*nts!
Georgann Haeffner 5 years ago
I needed a WOW button! These were great. My work closed those two days, and I didn't even stick my nose outside!
Rae-Louise Hetzel 5 years ago
I am another Australian and I cannot imagine cold like you are all experiencing. Heat yes, at present Australia has one state burning with massive bush fires and another drowning in flood waters but we never experience this type of cold
Sofia Bellavista 5 years ago
But don't worry Trump voters, climate change is just a hoax right? Honestly it takes an off-the-charts level of willful ignorance to refuse to acknowledge what's before your own eyes.
The Frog 5 years ago
Ok so when I heard on the News about your weather I dunno just assumed it wasn't as bad as they were making it out to be, after looking at the pictures it's all hit home just how bad your weather is, we have cold weather too here but like on -4 to -8/9 and we suffer but like I've said before it's what 'one' is used too, there's no.. Well our weather's colder than yours ect, everyone is from different parts of the world, hats off to you guys over there! Take care, keep warm, much LOVE
Roberto Durante 5 years ago (edited)
my friend living in Saint Petersburg in Russia and she never have ice inside even with minus 40ºCelcius
Lydia Spieker 5 years ago
Where I live it's +35 C 91 F .. and I was looking at snow pictures dreaming of how nice it might be ..... probably mistaken??
Robert Rodrigues 5 years ago
I'm always complainng about the temperature during summer here in Rio de Janeiro, right now around 42Cº. But after looking at those pics, I'm glad to be in Rio...
Marcos Di Bello 5 years ago
Just to remind the ignorant people that America is a continent and not a country, in many places of America today it is very hot.
Full Name 5 years ago
NORTH America is a continent. America is a country.
Load More Replies... Mandy Delaforce (PC Girl) 5 years ago
Australian - It's been sitting around 40°C and i just can't imagine how cold that is.
Sasy 5 years ago
This is why as an Aussie I get NO sympathy when I saw in winter 'I am freezing' my US friends laugh at me, and remind me what freezing actually means. I used to feel all put out by it, now not so much, because OUCH.
Full Name 5 years ago
Get some Canadian friends because they can laugh at your US friends because they don't know what "I am freezing" really means either, haha.
Load More Replies... TheKnightOwl 5 years ago
Not surprising, considering we're well and truly overdue for an ice age. People so worried about man made climate change, and they don't stop to think the climate has been changing since the beginning of time...and the clock is ticking. We need to learn to adapt, and even have evacuation plans for this type of event in the future. I'm not being overly dramatic either; they found the remains of a woolly mammoth who was snap frozen so quickly the flowers in its stomach were preserved; you know how cold it has to be for that to happen? Too cold for humans to endure.
Iwo Sol 5 years ago
i wonder how many animals get frozen to death becuse pepole didnt let them hide inside, left them chained outside and so on...
Full Name 5 years ago
None? Yeah, none. Let's go with that assumption because it's already too late and I'd be super sad.
Load More Replies... Theo Groenevelt 5 years ago
Well....as An Oil and Gas Insprctor working in Alberta's Oil Sands....I think most of you have no CLUE what REAL cold is....-20 to -30F is a Normal Winter day up here....we call stuff -40C (-40F) and colder...as "Chilly"... but then I had to laugh...was in North Carolina a few years ago and it was 72F outside and there were folks wearing Down Jackets and Toques (hats in Americun), on their heads....
Magpie 5 years ago
https://scied.ucar.edu/blog/why-polar-vortex-keeps-breaking-out-arctic _________________Typically, a large difference in temperature between the air of the polar vortex and the air in the mid-latitudes drives the polar jet stream. However, the Arctic is warming faster than other areas of the planet, which makes the difference in temperature less distinct. This causes the polar jet stream to meander north and south instead of making a beeline around,,,,,,,,,,,
Beverly Heath 5 years ago
I think I remember why I moved from Northern Indiana, by Chicago, to California.
Melissa 5 years ago
I feel for those people. I am so glad I don't live in those states. Currently, where I live... I thought this current temp was cold until I saw these pictures and what it is there. I just looked and saw here in Washington State, it is 36 F/2 C. It'd probably feel like summer right there for them. I hope this weather doesn't last long. I already feel sad for the people that have died. Stay and dress warm. Don't go out unless you have no choice. <3
Ian Osmond 5 years ago
... these people do not have very good insulation. More to the point, global climate change is putting this kind of weather in places where people didn't NEED overly great insulation before this.
Elizabeth Gardner 5 years ago
As it is with your intense cold we suffer intense heat. Our area rated the highest January temps ever recorded. Some places 48.5 celcius.
Hm Mm 5 years ago
I live in a tropical country where even right now its hot af and I'm under a tree enjoying the breeze. Lol. I feel much more grateful for the sun now. I dont think could ever survive if i migrate and have to experience those temperatures
jknbt jknbt 5 years ago
my sympathies to your situation, midwesterners....I live in the land of weather extremes on the Texas Gulf Coast. Hurricane Harvey had flood water at my doorstep, so I got out of it light. Some people in Houston had muddy water six feet deep in their bedroom...on the second floor. I have had heat exhaustion in the summer several times just from walking from the air conditioned building to the car out on the far backside of a full parking lot. Yikes. We got so much rain in 1987 through 1988 that the inches rainfall were more than what certain parts of the Amazon get. I could do nothing as I watched seventy expensive hybrid roses drown (even though they were planted in a well-drained raised bed). To replace them at current online prices would be about $2000. So I am sympathetic to your situation. Please show similar concern the next time the US gulf coast goes through another weather catastrophe.
Rachelle 5 years ago
Oh 'Muricans - you're so funny! This kind of s**t happens every single winter up here in Canada... and it lasts for 6 f*****g months!
M O'Connell 5 years ago
Part of it is the 'unknown' of a temperature extreme. The last time it was this cold in my area was in 1995. That leaves everyone under the age of 25 with no experience at all with this kind of cold. Once they've experienced it a time or two, they will be prepared when it rolls around again.
Load More Replies... The Girl on Fire 5 years ago
This makes me nervous as in a week I'm moving to Wisconsin and have to go across South Dakota and Minnesota. Granted I'm not driving but still. :/
Magpie 5 years ago
You all understand that climate warming = increased turbulence? This is just another effect.
Full Name 5 years ago
Because it never got this cold before? Oh right, it did. Explain.
Load More Replies... Ryo Bakura 5 years ago
That's not climate change, is it Donald? Of course not. It's natural for ice to form INSIDE people's houses.
Full Name 5 years ago
Depends where you live. Take your secrete crush on Trump elsewhere.
Load More Replies... John L 5 years ago
Hey Guys, Welcome to The Grand Solar Minimum. Nothing really new here, but it looks like this one will be on par with the Maunder Minimum of the 17th century. Its called "Climate Change", but not in the direction the Satist Whackos keep telling us. Just like anything the gov-ment tells you, do the opposite and you're doing ok. 00-Yep-5c5...c38302.gif
TheKnightOwl 5 years ago
It's unfortunate people are so quick to disregard comments like this. Government propaganda doesn't just happen in Nth Korea, folks.
Load More Replies... Lucy Shepard (TheLlamaPrism) 5 years ago
Well, you must live somewhere else, kid. Weather is different in different places
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