Coldest Temperatures: Snow Blower, Snow Thrower Machine

A snow blower or snow thrower is a machine for removing snow from an area where it is not wanted.The term “snow thrower” is often used to encompass snow throwers and snow blowers, however, in proper a snow thrower is a machine that uses a single stage to remove or “throw” snow while a snowblower uses two stages to remove or “blow” snow. It can use either electric power, or a gasoline or diesel engine to throw snow to another location or into a truck to be hauled away. This is in contrast with the action of snow plows, which push snow to the front or side.

The Chicago Skyline sits as a backdrop as fog drifts across Monroe Harbor with temperatures well below zero and wind chills expected to reach 40 to 50 below as the whirlpool of frigid, dense air known as the ‘Polar Vortex’ descended onto much of the U.S. on Monday.

More than half of the U.S. is enduring a dangerously cold start to the week as a whirlpool of frigid, dense air known as a ‘polar vortex’ descended on Monday morning, pummeling parts of the country with a dangerous cold and adding to the brutal weather that has grounded more than 4,400 flights. Record low temperatures have already been set; at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, temperatures of minus 16 degrees were recorded at 8am on Monday, beating the previous record of minus 14 set in 1988.