And why should we be surprised?

Arctic chill stretches coast to coast - CNN.com
So...what is so surprising that Montana, Illinios, and Colorado is cold?? If the story was about Georgia, Florida, California, or Texas--yes THAT would be news.
But...oooooo.....it gets cold where it's normally cold for the winter.
Our local forecaster put it this way---if it didn't set a record then its no big deal, weather wise.
The "normal' temperature is simply the average temp taken by a mathmatical equation using all the records they have for a certain date (over 100 temps at this point)...which means that chances are great that its been colder or hotter on any given day unless it breaks the record.
Does this mean we should feel sorry for these people and wonder how they survive it? No. But it does mean "WHY IS THIS A STORY?"
Sometimes I think half the news stories are because people from warmer parts don't know about stuff like snow.
Every winter we have terrible car accidents because we will get some yahoo who just moved here from so sunny place and had never driven in snow...so they go about 15mph on the freeway trying to keep control of the car. Now I don't drive--because I'm afraid of yahoo's--but even I know that going that slow is a very very bad thing on the freeway.
So inevitably someone who is used to the snow and knows that its easier to control the car at 50 mph will ride up their ass--CRASH!--instant grid lock (now in delicious cocoa flavor! Ask your mom for some).
OR you will run into the person who hears 'just drive like you normally would' so they try to take the freeway at 80mph and end up in the ditch or flipped....idiots!
These are the same people you see walking around in high heels & flimsy coats because it looks good.
Hearty snow people know that functionality trumps fashion in the winter...
But this story???
Imagine that--snow & cold in the winter. Who would have thought?