On Wednesday morning, CNN’s “New Day” co-host Alisyn Camerota reported that Chicago will be colder than Antarctica this week, as icy winds descend on the United States.
“We begin with this polar plunge that’s gripping most of America,” Camerota said, warning of “life-threatening temperatures and dangerous wind chills. Look at your screen. This is what’s invading much of the country today and tomorrow.”
“Some parts of the Midwest will see the coldest weather they’ve had in decades,” she added. “This deep freeze will be so brutal that it will be colder in Chicago than it is in Antarctica, Alaska or the North Pole…”
Her co-host John Berman finished her sentence: “Combined.”
According to AccuWeather, it is indeed colder in Chicago than in Antarctica. It is summer down in the Southern Hemisphere, so parts of Antarctica will be as warm as 36 degrees Fahrenheit, while the South Pole will be -4 degrees. The coldest part of the southern continent is to be -27 degrees Fahrenheit.
Meanwhile, the AccuWeather report for Chicago is -21 degrees Fahrenheit, but with the wind chill the temperature drops to -54 degrees.
As for Berman’s comment that Chicago will be colder than Antarctica, Alaska, or the North Pole combined, temperatures are not easy to “combine.” The best way to “combine” measures of cold would be to measure how much colder each temperature is than room temperature and then add the difference, but using this method, Berman’s statement is entirely false.
It is entirely correct, however, to say that Chicago will feel colder than Antarctica and that the city is colder than most of the southern continent right now.
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