37 degrees below zero? Blame it on the return of the 'polar vortex'
“This morning when I walked over to work it was pretty darn cold.”
So said Raymond Foss, town manager in the small town of Patten, Maine. Apparently, Foss is given to understatement. With the wind chill, the temperature in Patten on Friday plummeted to 37 degrees below zero.
The polar vortex, as it’s known, has come back and sent temperatures falling across the country. And even colder temperatures are expected in days to come. This weekend frigid temperatures are expected in a vast area — from Idaho to Maine and as far south as central Oklahoma.
But in Patten, population 1,017 with one main road and one general store, folks soldiered on. The town office was still open, as were the general store and schools in nearby Stacyville, where Patten residents send their children. The public works director, who normally has Fridays off, came in to check the heat in all the town buildings, but otherwise business was proceeding pretty much as usual.
37 degrees below zero? Blame it on the return of the 'polar vortex' - LA Times