No Vortex Here

My sympathies to anyone experiencing the immensely cold weather in the midsection of North America right now. -40°C is no fun at all. We've had this mild break with temps as high as +10°C and overnight lows just below freezing. I've been a bit grateful because I can see how many fewer firelogs we have to burn (at about $1/log) to keep the house comfortable.

I saw that Amtrak canceled almost all trains in and out of Chicago due to the bitter cold and snow. Today's eastbound California Zephyr out of Emeryville bound for Chicago was canceled. I don't know of that was related or not. I'm sure equipment will be completely out of place by the time they can restart service.