00:17 15Jan2004 RTRS-Northeast U.S. facing another Arctic freeze


NEW YORK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Northeast is bundling up against a second blast of frigid
Arctic air in less than a week, with New Yorkers warned that icy winds might make it feel like 20
degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus 29 C) by Friday.
Thursday is expected to bring a numbing wind-chill factor of minus 10 F (minus 23 C) and the
additional dread of snow. Forecasters are predicting up to six inches (15 cm) of snow will frost the
Big Apple.
Last Saturday, some 400 traffic lights in the city were paralyzed by freezing cold and a record
5,142 complaints about inadequate heating were logged as the temperature dipped to 1 degree F (minus
17 C) in Central Park.
That cold wave produced a long list of record-lows that included St. Johnsbury, Vermont, at 27
below zero (-33 degrees C), Syracuse, New York, at 16 below (-27 C) and Scranton, Pennsylvania at 7
below (-22 C).
The weather service said that by Friday, northwesterly winds of 20 to 25 miles per hour (35
km/h) in New York City could leave exposed skin frostbitten within 30 minutes.
"We are putting landlords with a history of heat problems on notice," said New York's Housing
Preservation and Development Commissioner Jerilyn Perine.
Hundreds of extra beds will be made available for the homeless, according to the Department of
Homeless Services commissioner Linda Gibbs.
"We are trying to do an aggressive push to bring in anybody who is still out there on the
streets," said Gibbs, who said volunteers patrolling all five boroughs in vans were looking out for
people in need of help.
Gibbs said 8,650 people are already using shelters with about 400 more beds available and an
additional 300 beds lined up in case of further demand.
"We don't want to be see anybody freezing to death," said Gibbs, who said one man died of
exposure on the street last weekend.


--
Rayleigh, Essex (51:34N 0:36E 30m asl)
Castle Point Astronomy Club http://www.cpac.org.uk

"Brendan DJ Murphy" wrote in message
...

Hi Brendan,

MS45 deg F (MS43 deg C) reported at Mount Washington today, webcam here -
http://www.mountwashington.org/cam/deck/index.php
The temperature was recorded along with a windspeed of 65KT gusting to 75KT.

It lies at 6288 feet high in New Hampshire, US. METARs can be found using its
ICAO indicator, KMWN

Joe