For the past few weeks, while wildfires have been raging in Los Angeles, winter blizzards have ravaged the east coast. This is typically the time of year when the east coast receives lots of snow.
This year, the storms have been severe. It seems like many people will have upcoming travel problems, according to AccuWeather.
“My grandparents and cousins have been affected by the East Coast blizzard, as well as my sister,” freshman Áine Ruddy said. “Because my sister’s water system was contaminated by leaks caused by the blizzard, she has to boil all her drinking, bathing, and her cat’s water before use,”
The presidential inauguration on Jan. 20 has also been disrupted by immensely cold weather conditions. The ceremony will now take place in the Rotunda, like Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in 1985, instead of the west front of the Capitol building. The temperature is predicted to be below the 20s with wind up to 30 miles per hour, according to US Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart. This weather may even prevent people from coming to see the Inauguration parade.
This weather is so extreme, it could even snow in Florida and Texas according to NOAA. These southern states very rarely receive snow and when they do it tends to happen around the Texas panhandle. It takes just the right temperatures, wind and rain to allow this to happen. The lowest it has ever gotten was -2 degrees Fahrenheit, according to The Florida Climate Center.
“I never would have thought that it would snow in Florida,” freshman Sofia Hill said. “When I hear about storms in Florida I think of hurricanes, not snow storms,”
As with a hurricane, snowstorms make it difficult to get to jobs, school, even to the grocery store. During these storms roads can be really icy which, according to the US Department of Transportation, causes around 1,300 deaths per year. Nearly 116,800 people are also injured from crashes caused by icy roads.
“I would think the hardest part of the blizzard is to be isolated from the outside world without seeing other people,” Ruddy said. “Getting around will also be hard.”
