Winter Grip Tightens with ‘Life-Threatening’ Cold, More Snow

The nation is still in the midst a winter grip that seems to be getting tighter instead of looser with many parts of the country experiencing life-threatening cold.

Wind chill advisories were issued Wednesday from Chicago and Detroit and extending as far east as Baltimore. In some areas, the brutally cold winds will bring temperatures of minus 9 with wind chills as low as minus 25 degrees.

Forecasters in Raleigh, North Carolina, issued warnings that Thursday will bring “life-threatening” cold. Authorities warn that “freezing winds that could cause frostbite and put lives at risk” will descend on the area.

Even Florida is set to have temperatures in the low 30s.

The national weather forecast also called for snow showers from the Great Lakes to the east coast.

Schools have closed, and the weather is wreaking havoc with travel both over the roads as well as among the nation’s airports.

Once again, authorities across the country are warning of the dangers of shoveling snow in the bitter cold. Indeed, two communities near Cincinnati, Ohio, are mourning the loss of two well-known members of their communities, both of whom who died from snow shoveling-related medical episodes.

Still, one man found that his duty of shoveling snow ended up being a lifesaver. While shoveling, former Nova Scotia lawmaker Charlie Parker thought he saw something strange in the snow.

Upon investigation, he discovered the dark spot in the snow was a 73-year-old man named Gerald Whitman who had lost his way in the storm.

The elderly man got lost driving to his dialysis treatment and then his car died. He tried to start out on foot but collapsed. At some point he thought he was going to die.

“I made peace with the Lord and said ‘If it be your will, so be it.’ And I just stopped,” Whitman said. “Apparently it wasn’t his will.”

Whitman thanked his savior saying, “If he hadn’t been as strong as he was, I think we still would be there.”

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.