History We Don’t Want to Make

Life-threatening cold.  Historic low temperatures.  Monday to be one of coldest days in Cedar Rapids history.  Exciting stuff, huh?  Yeah, I don't think so either.  That 30 degrees (above zero) I woke up to yesterday was perfect for me, at least this time of the year.  However, all joking aside, this is a very serious situation over the next couple days.  Here's a little something that puts it all perspective:

Tonight's forecast low in Cedar Rapids (-22) with wind chills approaching -55, is a rarity.  It didn't used to be that way, but the the wind chill index was revised in late 2001, making wind chills much warmer.  Prior to that change, our wind chills tonight would've been in the neighborhood of -80.  What happened to the coldest nights being the result of clear skies and calm winds?  Frostbite can occur in as little as five minutes in the type of weather we'll be having over the next two days, so please be very careful.  And if you lose power or your heating equipment fails, please don't try to stay in your home and tough it out.  You literally could be risking your life and that of your family.  And finally, please do anything and everything you can to protect pets and livestock.  If you think this is tough on us, just imagine what it's like for them...

Now, for some hope for us all:  We're about to turn the the weather corner.  The coldest day of the year in Cedar Rapids (historically) is January 17th, so we're getting close to an upswing (albeit a gradual one).  Our hours of daylight have already started to increase and spring is just 73 days and odd hours away!  We'll get through this and someday we'll tell a future generation about it...and make it sound a whole lot worse of course.