Adam Mann of Wired Science says another cold snap this late in the season (though winter officially lasts another three weeks) is a Good Thing. It prevents the thick snowpack that's been sitting in my yard (and covering the street with bumpy ice) from melting too quickly and causing flooding.
Dude, I hate to disagree -- given that you're the science writer and I'm not -- but the possibility of flooding will be there whenever the temperatures warm up, whether it is now or a month from now. And temperatures of 25F are just as good at preventing melting as 5F. What will reduce the chance of flooding is slow warming -- days of 35F with nights of 25F. Alas, with our climate out of kilter, we're just as likely to get days of 55F or (as happened two years ago) 85F. That's when we'll get flooding.
This cool image is of the polar vortex in January created by NASA. Yes, northern Alaska was warmer than Missouri.
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