"Think Antarctica Is Cold? Try America"

By Jeremy Kaplan

"Inhospitable, barren, and covered in snow and ice year round, the North and South Pole epitomize frigid conditions. Yet it's currently colder across the United States than at both poles.

The South Pole is the coldest place on Earth -- just take a look at the most recent images from the webcam at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, which captures a new picture of those freezing conditions every 15 minutes. But at present, it's merely -12 Fahrenheit.

The North Pole is normally significantly warmer than the South, but it's a chilly -17 up there right now, a temperature that must sound positively Caribbean to anyone living in, say, Bismark, North Dakota (-33 Fahrenheit at present).

Wind chills across the United States are bringing our sub-freezing temperatures as low as 50 degrees below zero, making large swaths of the country substantially colder than either pole."