極端嚴寒天氣席捲美國 芝加哥變身“芝伯利亞”

How cold is it?

It's so cold, even polar bears and penguins were being kept indoors Monday.

Anana, the lone polar bear at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, has never grown the thick layer of fat that bears in their native Arctic develop to insulate themselves against winter temperatures that can range as low as -50 degrees F, zoo spokeswoman Sharon Dewar said. So when temperatures plunged well into the negative range in Chicago, Anana stayed in a 40ish-degree habitat, Dewar said.

"In the wild, they would seasonally eat seals and fatten themselves up with that blubber," Dewar said. But zookeepers "don't feed them seals or fatten them up," she said.

And at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, both bald eagles and African penguins "who are used to temperate climates" were taken off exhibit until the weather warms up, the facility reported.

Chicago saw a record low of minus 16 (minus 27 C) on Monday. The day's high was minus 11, with a windchill of minus 34. It's part of an Arctic blast that plunged deep into the central United States on Monday, leaving Nashville, Tennessee, 40 degrees colder than Albany, New York; Memphis 20 degrees colder than Anchorage, Alaska; and Atlanta colder than Moscow -- Russia or Idaho, take your pick.

The bitter cold that a "polar vortex" is pushing into much of the United States is not just another winter storm. It's the coldest in 20 years in many areas. The South was downright balmy compared to the Great Lakes region, where temperatures hovered in the negative 20s -- before wind chill, which dropped temps to the negative 40s and in places like Minneapolis.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton ordered the state's roughly 2,000 public schools to close on Monday, the first such order since 1997. Many of those will stay closed Tuesday, including the three major districts around Minneapolis, where blowing snow shrouded bridges over the frozen Mississippi River.

"I've only been out of school four days ever, and today and tomorrow are two of the four days," said Graham Myers, who was going to a movie with several friends and his father.

Wind chills in the 40-below range can cause frostbite in a matter of minutes, the National Weather Service warned. But there were those who reveled in it.

"I love the cold. I'm one of those crazy cold-weather Minnesotans who just enjoys this," Robert Pettit told CNN as he took a walk on a work break. If properly dressed, "It's not so bad," he said.

"You dress up, put your mukluks on, get some gloves and a hat and you're set," Pettit said.

Freeze toll 15, mostly from accidents

Authorities have blamed a total of 15 deaths on the cold so far, 11 of them from traffic accidents.

But the the death of an Indianapolis woman found in her backyard early Monday "is believed to be weather-related," police spokesman Kendale Adams told CNN. A man in Wisconsin died of hypothermia, and an elderly woman with Alzheimer's disease who wandered away from her home in New York state was found dead in the snowy woods about 100 yards away, authorities there said.

In addition, hypothermia was a contributing factor in the death of a patient at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, hospital spokesman George Stamatis told CNN.

At the Salvation Army Harbor Light Center, a Minneapolis homeless shelter, Executive Director Bill Miller said 750 people came in off the street to spend the night Sunday.

"That's a record," he said. He said Harbor Light "will take in everybody, no matter if they've been drinking or whatever their issues might be."

Further south, the chill was less brutal but still nothing to dismiss. In Fairfield, Iowa, at minus 9, CNN iReporter Deborah Roberts called Monday "a good day to stay in and use the excuse it's too darn cold."

In Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn called on state residents to stay off the roads and activated National Guard troops to help local authorities clear highways. In Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel urged residents "to keep exercising good judgment and remain indoors if at all possible."

Welcome to 'Chiberia'

The National Weather Service adopted the Twitter hashtag "#Chiberia" for Chicago. Parts of the vast Siberian region, such as Tobolsk, had Fahrenheit temps in the low teens Monday, though other parts had temperatures of 50 below zero.

Chicago opened up 12 centers for residents to seek warmth, one of which was to stay open all night through Tuesday. Libraries and some other city facilities would also be open, said Evelyn Diaz of the city's Department of Family and Support Services. Quinn said 100 warming centers were open statewide.

The worst was still reaching down South on Monday night. In Atlanta, where Tuesday morning's low was projected to be in the single digits, Katie Fallon joked, "My shoes do not even match my outfit this morning! Had to go fuzzy socks and hiking boots for warmth." Atlanta's public schools were still closed for break Monday, and the city announced schools would remain closed Tuesday.

But by Wednesday, temperatures will start edging closer to normal, and by Thursday temperatures in most of the country will be back to normal -- or even a bit warmer, said CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller.綜合外國媒體1月7日報道，自當地時間6日起，受到極地漩渦的影響，美國本土大部分地區遭遇近20年來最低溫。目前，極端嚴寒天氣已導致全美15人死亡。

***芝加哥變身“芝伯利亞”

6日，芝加哥氣溫創下低溫紀錄，奧黑爾國際機場的氣溫降至零下27攝氏度。當天，美國國家氣象局發佈微博時爲芝加哥取了一個新名字“芝伯利亞”（Chiberia），以此說明芝加哥的寒冷程度不亞於以嚴寒著稱的俄羅斯西伯利亞地區。

那麼，“芝伯利亞”究竟有多冷呢？確實很冷，就連動物園裏的北極熊都被禁止在戶外活動。

芝加哥林肯公園動物園發言人莎倫•杜瓦爾解釋稱，野生北極熊有厚厚的脂肪層，足以抵禦零下46攝氏度的低溫，但該動物園裏的唯一一隻北極熊“阿那納”在人工飼養環境下長大，沒有厚脂肪層防寒，所以它6日只能呆在溫度爲4.5攝氏度的室內。在匹茲堡市的國家鳥類公園，由於天氣太過寒冷，禿鷹和非洲企鵝暫停展覽。

此外，芝加哥市還開放了12個公共場所供市民取暖，其中一處6日晚徹夜開放。在芝加哥所處的伊利諾伊州，共開放了100個公共取暖中心。

***明尼蘇達全州閉校

美國國家氣象局表示，“極地漩渦”是造成全美大部分地區遭遇近20年最低氣溫的“罪魁禍首”。這場降溫6日席捲美國中西部後，向東北部的華盛頓地區挺進。

在位於上中西部地區的明尼蘇州，氣溫降至零下40攝氏度，體感溫度最低爲零下49攝氏度。明尼蘇達州州長馬克•戴頓下令，該州全部2000所公立學校6日停課，這是自1997年以來首次。7日，明尼蘇達州多所學校將繼續停課。

儘管氣象部門發出警告稱，氣溫降至零下40攝氏度時，皮膚暴露在寒風中幾分鐘就會凍傷，但是仍有民衆不懼危險，走出戶外體驗難得的“極地樂園”。

“我喜歡寒冷的天氣。我是瘋狂熱愛嚴寒的明尼蘇達州人。”羅伯特•佩蒂特工歇時在雪地上散步，“其實只要穿得足夠保暖，情況也不是太糟”。

***嚴寒天氣已致15人死亡

據美國有線電視新聞網（CNN）報道，截至當地時間7日，極端嚴寒天氣已導致全美15人死亡，多數爲交通事故。其中，在紐約州西部，一名患有老年癡呆症的婦女外出時衣着單薄倒地身亡。在俄亥俄州克利夫蘭市，一名病患因體溫過低喪生。

極寒天氣也嚴重影響到美國的交通秩序。在芝加哥市奧黑爾國際機場，5日晚有1200架次航班被取消，佔到該機場當天航班總量的一半。在密蘇里州東部城市聖路易斯和印第安納州首府印第安納波利斯，5日晚也有半數進出港航班被取消。6日，情況進一步惡化，多個機場的更多航班被取消或延遲。

在華盛頓地區，6日上午氣溫仍有4攝氏度，並伴有寒風。到7日凌晨，氣溫降至零度或零下，體感溫度則驟降至零下21至零下26攝氏度。爲此，當地政府公佈了低溫熱線電話，爲民衆提供最新天氣信息及諮詢。

美國有線電視新聞網氣象學家布蘭登•米勒表示，6日至7日，美國南部地區將迎來此次降溫氣溫最低谷，不過8日將開始升溫，9日全美絕大部分地區的氣溫恢復正常，甚至略高於往年同期水平。