UNBELIEVABLE — What is an Arctic Blast?

While a concise definition doesn’t seem to exist, the urban dictionary suggests the term is related somehow to fellatio, and then there’s the major action film from 2010 entitled "Arctic Blast". While the latter is about a brilliant physicist trying to save the world after a solar eclipse, between fellatio or saving the world, I’m really not leaning toward either possibility, and yes, I know that the Arctic is supposedly melting causing the release of vast amounts of cold air. What I’ve seen recently, however, are the effects of an Arctic Blast — which were utterly UNBELIEVABLE, and I just must know more.

Lately, I’ve been hearing about cyclone bombs and arctic blasts, and I just haven’t known what to make of it. Presumably, the media was warmongering again. However, the cold weather has been fairly intense, and even odd, lately. Warmer in Siberia than Moscow? Colder in the northeastern US than Alaska, huh? With an epic bout of the flu swirling about, maybe these terms are somehow less sensational than I first thought. But seriously?

Well, I saw a video reel the other day, and thought I was looking a still photos. The images came out of Kazakhstan, a place that is known for cold weather. However, I was shocked when I finally comprehended what the news caster was actually reporting. Apparently — or not so, the animals had been “Flash Frozen” very quickly when an Arctic Blasts occurred. What?

You see the most unbelievable part of this were the images — images of animals apparently in mid stride, or leaping, or otherwise moving normally, just frozen in time. Hence, the reason I thought I was looking at still photos. As it turns out, indeed, the animals were completely frozen in what was thought to be merely seconds.

Animals — and even 3 people — had been frozen solid after temperatures dropped to minus -62C in Kazakhstan. Animals including a dog, a cat, and a hare had been “flash frozen” under these Arctic Blast conditions.

Again, from the images, these animals appear to have been frozen to death while on the move, still walking when they were frozen. Perhaps the dog was stuck in the snow — as one commentator suggested. Yet this is still quite unbelievable, is it not?

In the past, reports have been verified of animals being “flash frozen”. One example from Siberia was a Wooly Mammoth that was frozen while still eating — as half-chewed food was confirmed to be still in its mouth. This points to a scientific finding that animals, in fact, can be frozen very quickly.

In the US, recently, frozen sharks have washed up on Cape Cod, while iguanas in Florida have been dazed and lethargic from the cold temperatures. It is worth noting that Arctic Blasts were reported to have contributed to these incidents. Yet these areas were not directly affected. So, on the outer reaches of an Arctic Blast, obviously, the cold temps can still wreak havoc. Therefore, it may well be that a direct Arctic Blasts could freeze an animal or a person almost instantly.

I’ll keep looking for a precise definition of "Arctic Blast", while you pontificate over these photos, as I have.... Till next time.