Tag Archives: Mars

Mars Warmer Than 14 States

The current weather front in the northern part of the U.S. may have many residents signing up for a mission to Mars.

The high temperature on the red planet on Thursday was 17.6 degrees, warmer than the high temperatures in 14 northern U.S. states.

Residents of northern states have been fighting bitter cold and wind chills that have caused major outbreaks of frostbite.  Hospitals have been reporting people coming in for treatment who didn’t realize how bad the bitter cold would impact their bodies.

Winter Storm Gorgon is moving off the U.S. east coast this weekend and warmer temperatures are expected to cover the northern states.  However, the resulting front could bring massive amounts of snow to the Great Lakes  region with some models showing up to three feet of snow in some areas.

Wind chill readings of below zero were reported as far south as Alabama, Mississippi and North Carolina.

Many school districts around the nation cancelled their classes Thursday because of the dangerous cold.  Detroit reported a high of 3 degrees.  Green Bay, Wisconsin, where the Packers are to play a playoff football game this weekend, had a high of 6 degrees.  International Falls, historically one of the coldest spots in the continental U.S., reached a high of -1.

Parts of Earth As Cold As Mars

An epic winter blast has brought temperatures in parts of Canada below temperatures on an uninhabited planet.

The Mars Curiosity Rover reported a high temperature on Mars Tuesday of -20 degrees. The city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada did not reach a high of -20 degrees until after 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

The temperature in the city was so cold throughout most of the day that exposed skin can freeze in less than five minutes.

Meteorologists in the province said that wind chills in the northern parts of the province made it feel around -50 degrees throughout the day Tuesday.

Surprisingly, the Mars-matching temperature was not the record for coldest day in Canadian history. The historical mark for December 30th is -36 degrees.

Comet Might Strike Mars

In the midst of tracking two comets that will come close to earth in 2014, scientists have discovered a new comet whose trajectory could put it in line to smash into Mars.

The comet, C/2013 A1, is believed to have originated from the Oort Cloud, a region hypothesized from by scientists to be around our solar system containing the nuclei necessary to create comets. The trajectory of the C/2013 A1 is expected to bring it into Mars’ orbit on October 19, 2014. Continue reading →