Yes and the Polar Vortex has been giving extreme cold where they are suppose to get it, the far north. The Bering Sea ice extent has actually reached the 1981-2010 norm. The ice extent in the Arctic is more than it has been in years. Don't know how long it will last but at least it has put a little dent in the ice melting.
I had a peak gust of 48mph. at my house. My nearby airport, Farmingdale, had 56mph. Airports usually report high readings as they are in open spaces. Sometimes folks post that the wind is this or that where they are but they really don't know unless they have their own weather station. I am listening to the wind outside my house right now and at times it sounds real strong but it is only gusting now to about 30mph as being recorded by the anemometer above my roof.
Trenton just reported wind gust to 64mph as storms move thru. Now gusting to 32mph here out of the south. Temperature up to 53 degrees and barometric pressure down to 28.88
I think the warm front has just moved thru my area. Temperature has spiked to 50 degrees and wind has suddenly picked up out of the south gusting to 21.
Also the models have been pretty consistent with this for a few runs now. The NWS seems to be hesitant to ramp up the winds on Friday, although I noticed they are finally calling for some gusts in the 30s and 40s.
If you want to know where the cold air is try Alaska. Fairbanks in January averaged -21 degrees some 13 degrees below normal. McGrath Alaska averaged -24 degrees, about 18 degrees below normal.
Actually there is some evidence that the Miami sea level rise is not the sea rising but the ground sinking. I am not saying the ocean is or isn't rising, just referring to certain parts of the Miami area that have some flooding issues.
Lack of snowfall last winter and this winter so far, is simply over due for our area, especially the coast. We had some string of above average snow seasons, now we are paying the price. That is how we get averages.