2018 STARTS WITH AN ARCTIC BLAST OF COLD
A record-setting cold air wave covered the Atlantic Coast as far south as Florida and freeze warnings all the way to Texas. The Northeastern United States will face another cold wave by the end of the week.
Temperatures were from 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit below normal across the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, with only South Florida untouched by the frigid weather.
The southern dip in the jet stream is to blame for the arctic blast, plunging temperatures in the United States Midwest to record-breaking lows. The low in Omaha, Nebraska-minus 20F, breaking a 130-year-old-record and Aberdeen, South Dakota broke a record set in 1919 with a temperature of minus 32F.
The only area of the United States to escape the cold weather is the Southwestern states and South Florida.
New Yorkers at Coney Island in the Polar Bear Plunge