Arctic Blast: Record Cold in Georgia

By now, everyone in the Atlanta area has experienced how cold it has been this past week. The “Arctic Blast” that has been ripping through the country is causing colder than usual temperatures and storms in the west, affecting states on either coast. Sources say that January 17th, 2024 has been the coldest morning since December 24th, 2022. Not only did it reach a low of 12℉, but in other cities such as Jasper, Canton, and Alpharetta, temperatures dipped as low as 8℉. 

As many people hope for snow, the forecast has unfortunately seen to show rain when temperatures just aren’t cold enough. But we have seen lots of icy roads and chilly winds ranging from -5℉ to 10℉, and frozen windshields during morning commutes.  

This spurt of cold seems to only be hitting the U.S. because climate change is “disrupting the polar vortex,” Scientific American also says that “...this winter’s melting sea ice near Scandinavia coupled with high snowfall near Siberia to set up a thermal contrast, which [Cohen] says drove the polar jet stream into waves.” The melting of ice in Scandinavia is paired with higher snowfall in Siberia and climate scientist Judah Cohen recognizes the irony that global warming is the cause for these extreme temperatures all over the country. He also mentioned that it is likely that these trends could continue for the rest of this month as well into February.

Things people can do to combat the cold are: keep faucets dripping to prevent frozen pipes, insulate your home accordingly, check that the carbon monoxide detector is properly functioning, and keep blankets, sleeping bags, heaters, and anything else handy to keep warm.

By Peyton Louie