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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
#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
#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
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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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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.
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