Extreme cold will end abruptly in north-central United States

In Illinois, temperatures could rise 26.6 ° C in a few days. In Michigan, snowmelt, rain and a 27 km (17 mile) jam in the Muskegon River could cause flooding. And around the north-central United States, the forecast of a warmer weather will undoubtedly result in more breaks in roads and pipelines.

The polar vortex is expected to end abruptly with a rapid meltdown that experts say could be unprecedented. But the radical change of thermal clothes to shorts could cause its own problems.

"I think there has never been a case where we have experienced a (so important) change in temperatures in the winter," said Jeff Masters, director of meteorology at the firm. Weather Underground. "Previous record cold spells have not dissipated so quickly … We are here, we are going to spring temperatures."

On Thursday, the system moved to the east, causing Arctic conditions in an area extending from Buffalo to Brooklyn. In western New York, a storm that dropped 51 centimeters of snow gave way to subzero temperatures and thermal sensations that punctured the face. In New York, about 200 firefighters fighting a fire in a commercial building were alternately warming themselves in trucks. At least 15 deaths have been linked to cold weather.

The drastic change in temperature will relieve the freezing cold that has forced the suspension of clbades, the closure of businesses and the paralysis of trains. However, there will be potholes in roads and bridges weakened by the melting cycle. The same cycle can cause thunder of plumbing and pipes. Many vehicles will have air tires and the elbows of the wheels will be bent.

Joe Buck, who runs the Schmit crane service in Minneapolis and spent 20 hours abroad this week responding to broken vehicle calls, said he was already receiving calls to recover a delay from hundreds of vehicles stopped Monday.

"On Sunday we will be 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit) ABOVE zero," said Buck, who used 18 cranes day and night with thermal sensations falling to -45 degrees Celsius (-50 degrees Fahrenheit).

The impact on the economy in general should not be very strong. "This only appears marginally in the economic data," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at the accounting firm Grant Thornton, who was working from home after the closure of her Chicago office. the climate.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said that one of the reasons the cold weather has less impact on the economy is that, unlike a hurricane, the people do not lack electricity.

"People will stay at home, but they can do things like buy online," Zandi said. "Life goes on – it's a change in everyday life, but it's not a blow to the economy."