In a CNN story headlined “It’s about to get dangerously cold, even for winter” the “most trusted name” in mainstream media news warned Thursday that outdoor temperatures will plummet across wide swaths of the United States in a way that somehow exceeds people’s previous expectations or experiences during the season typically associated with frigid weather conditions.
The framing seems to imply that the coming temperature drop is beyond the pale of winter’s prior restraint so this time it means business, that you all fucked around so now you’re going to find out the wrath of Boreas or some other antediluvian ice deity. Which is to say it’s stupid, even for CNN.
“Some of the most significant below average temperatures will occur from the central US to the Southeast. Overnight lows could dip below freezing along the Gulf Coast at times next week. New Orleans doesn’t frequently hit or fall below the freezing mark, but it could reach that threshold next week for the first time since last January,” says the actual useful-ish parts of the text of the report.