It got really cold early in January. Beginning New Year’s Eve, it was record lows all over the Northeast and Midwest to the point where Florida was colder than Alaska and Russia, for once, had nothing on us. Niagara Falls particularly froze over while ice, wind, and snow hit everywhere and leaving coastal Maine with whole towns powerless for over a week. And in Texas temperatures dropped into the teens and it was generally no fun to be outside in those winds.