Many Israelis staying around the United States report extreme weather that they have never experienced in the great country. Many of them, spread across the eastern states to the western states, and from the northern states to the southern, warmer states, tell of bone-chilling cold and snowstorms that plague them. According to the US Weather Forecast Center, the weather warning map is one of the largest it has published.
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“It’s almost impossible to walk outside because of the cold,” says Tal Dar, 26, who is currently on a trip to New York. “I’m not in the heart of the storm but the weather is very noticeable here. Outside the degrees are around minus 10 but it feels like minus 19. The winds were very strong yesterday which made it even more freezing.”
According to her, the residents were told that it is better to stay inside the houses and not go outside. “They spread salt on the roads because there was ice on them,” she said. “Yesterday I walked outside for three minutes to look for a taxi and it took me more than half an hour until my toes recovered, and I was wearing boots. The cold here is crazy. They picked up the homeless from the streets because there was already a risk of death to stay outside.”
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The bulk of the storm is concentrated in the northern states of the east-central United States. “I am in the ‘snow belt’ on the east coast,” said Or Kaufman. “The peak of the weather was two days ago, minus 20 degrees on paper, but with the wind it felt like minus 35. Despite everything, it didn’t really disable the holiday atmosphere here,” she added.
Dikla Timur from Michigan said the storm lasted all weekend. “The temperatures reached minus 17, and it felt like minus 30, with serious winds and a lot of snow. Today is a little better – it went up to minus ten. The roads were not really cleared, but it is very dangerous to drive. On Friday, the frames for the children were cancelled.”
Idan Ovadia, also from Michigan, said that no special instructions have been received, but most people are staying at home. “Because it was the weekend before Christmas, there were huge lines in the supermarkets because they wanted to prepare for the storm and also for the holidays when they don’t work.” Ruth Aviv from Cleveland, Ohio, said: “It’s bitterly cold here that hasn’t been here for years, minus 20 degrees, strong winds and everyone is holed up in their houses. Other than that, it’s quiet here.”
Sagit Adler, a heavy industry worker who has been living in Chicago for 23 years, said: “On Thursday, within a few hours, the storm came and arrived a day before the expected time, just for a very busy weekend in which many Americans are on the road and on flights to celebrate Christmas with their families.
“Now the snow is behind us and it hasn’t even fallen that much, but it’s still cold, and the cold here that set in between Thursday night and Friday morning is extreme,” she continued. “After so many years in the US we are already used to it. Know that we have three winter months and are passing them. But I admit that sometimes I miss the Israeli weather. There is no doubt that it disrupts the routine of life because during this period people are usually outside a lot, shopping for the holidays, visiting friends and families. Lucky that at least the schools are closed during this holiday season.”
The “Cyclone Bomb” in Chicago (Photo: REUTERS/Matt Marton)Manny Mizrahi, who has lived in the USA for 16 years, and now lives in the center of Chicago, summed up the situation in one word: “cool.” “Most of the time it’s not bad, but there are open places where suddenly a gust of wind comes and freezes your brain. It was both cold and snowing, which melted and slid on the eyelashes and immediately froze, and this is definitely not a pleasant feeling at all. You don’t ‘just’ leave the house, and it’s hard to take children outside in this kind of weather, but we did that too and the kids actually enjoyed it.”
“The city is always ready for snow, graders open axes around the clock. But most Israelis in the area live in the suburbs and there it’s a different story,” adds Mizrahi. “A real winter of three months in Chicago is a common thing, with snow, ice and the like. But most of the time the cold is not extreme but tolerable, because it is also dry. Everything that is covered with clothing is not cold. In our subjective assessment, the current storm is also, at least for the time being, It is not at such an extreme level as it is described because every winter there is a system or two like that.”
“This is a storm that has never been seen before, a horrific cold that penetrates the bones,” said Yuval Nisim, 26, who lives in Atlanta, in the southern US. “There is no snow here, only cold. We had minus 15 degrees. We were instructed to turn on the water taps every few hours so that the water does not freeze in the pipes. At the moment there is no ban on leaving the houses or anything similar.”