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CNN 10
U.S. CDC Mandates Masks On Public Transportation; Hyperloop Technology Speeds Up; Storm System Sweeps Across America; Groundhogs "Predict" The Weather. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired February 01, 2021 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Welcome to February and to its very first edition of CNN 10. I`m Carl Azuz. We hope you had a great weekend or that
you have a great one having up. Let`s get started. There`s a new rule in the United States for people traveling aboard planes, trains and some
automobiles.
The Centers for Disease Control will require masks to be worn on public transportation and not just in the vehicles themselves. The order applies
to airports, train and subway stations, ferry terminals and ports. Places where people want to use public transportation. The CDC says the masks can
be cloth, disposable or even homemade and passengers can only take them off for short periods of time to eat, drink or take medicine.
Many companies like airlines already had mask requirements in place but up until now it hasn`t been the law. The new CDC requirement effectively
makes it one and that means that people could face criminal charges if they refuse to wear a mask. This doesn`t apply to kids under two years old or
people who have disabilities and can`t wear a mask.
Medical officials say the United States has recorded the most positive coronavirus test in the world, more than 26 million of the 103 million
reported globally. And a CDC official says requiring masks on transportation systems will protect Americans and provide confidence in
being able to travel safely.
Last year at this time, the agency did not recommend that the public wear masks and a medical professor told CNN this was because this was only quote
"thin and questionable scientific evidence that wearing masks had any benefit".
The CDC`s new requirement takes effect Monday night and it could apply to the hyper loop concept we`ve told you about in the past if that ever gets
off the ground. It`s not yet known if hyper loop can be practical or affordable but proponents of it have a lot of enthusiasm for the magnetic
train with a lot of speed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`d love to say that you`ll be able to travel at 500 miles per hour without spilling a drop. But we are using a -- a
proprietary magnetic levitation system, you`re literally floating on a bed of air and it will be super smooth. We are able to achieve these speeds in
a way that we`ve never seen before.
One of the advantages of what we`re doing is that we control the environment. The tube is -- is -- is completely serene in the way that it
is. So if we think about air travel and turbulence, we don`t have any of that that is taking place here right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith teamed up in the 1930s` to write what hit song? White Christmas, With A Song In My
Heart, White Cliffs of Dover or Winter Wonderland. Bernard wrote the tune and Smith wrote the lyrics to Winter Wonderland.
That seasonal classic describes the upside of winter weather, but a lot of Americans are seeing it to the extreme. A cold front swept into the west
coast last week. It brought powerful winds and heavy rains into central and northern California.
Here`s a look at what that rain did to part of Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway. As the system made its way east, it put more snow in the forecast
for Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois and as it swept over Pennsylvania meteorologists said it would intensify. The result of that, a nor`easter
bringing possible blizzard conditions to New York on Monday.
Wind gusts nearing 50 miles per hour, more than a foot of snow in that region and half a foot or more possible in Washington, D.C. Residents were
warned of ice and sleet from Maryland down to North Carolina. In all more than 100 million Americans or one-third of the country`s population were
set to feel the chill of winter early this week. To explain some of the different types of that weather, here`s CNN Contributor Tyler Mauldin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYLER MAULDIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Carl, a small change in temperature can make a big difference in the type of weather you see from late fall to
early spring. The period when the U.S. gets impacted by winter storms. These systems can bring a variety of impacts rain, freezing rain, sleet and
snow.
The temperature that determines whether you receive liquid or frozen precipitation is, of course, 32 degrees Fahrenheit aka the freezing point.
But here`s the kicker, it`s not all about the temperature we can feel here on the ground. Just as important is what`s happening thousands of feet in
the air between the ground and the clouds.
When particles of ice fall from a cloud and immediately encounter warm, above freezing air all the way to the surface it will melt and you`ll need
the umbrella because all you`ll get is plain old rain. On the flipside, if those same ice particles were surrounded by cold, below freezing air all
the way down, it stays frozen and you`ll need a shovel because you`re going to see all snow.
Things get interesting when these particles fall through a mixture of above and below freezing temperatures. When there`s a deep melting layer
followed by a little sliver of sub-freezing air at the surface, you`ll get freezing rain.
The warm air completely melts the ice into rain and then doesn`t have time to refreeze back into snow. The rain becomes what we call super cool and
immediately freezes to the ground upon contact. Sleet is similar except it falls through a smaller layer of warm air and has time to refreeze just a
bit before reaching the ground. And that Carl is the science behind wintry precipitation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Staten Island Chuck, Chattanooga Chuck, Woody the Woodchuck, how much would Woody chuck? These are the names of some lesser-known
groundhogs. Animals that once played a part in ancient weather forecasting and modern forecasting, at least for entertainment value. General
Beauregard Lee and the famous Punxsutawney Phil also factor into this report by CNN`s Allison Chinchar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I`m CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar. On Tuesday, Punxsutawney Phil, the most famous groundhog in all
the land, is expected to make his prediction of what the weather is going to be like for the next several weeks. The question comes down to will he
see his shadow or not.
Usually for the last many years Phil overwhelmingly has seen his shadow, meaning more winter will be expected. Since 1887, he`s seen his shadow 104
times. He has only not seen his shadow about 20 times.
Now I will say in terms of accuracy, he has only been right about 50 percent of the time in just the last 10 years. However, year over year,
his odds have been increasing and improving in the last few. The forecast for Tuesday in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania calls for snow, a lot of it.
There will already likely be at least four to six inches of snow on the ground from the previous snowstorm that will be moving through the couple
of days before.
But additional snowfall may be coming down when he`s making his prediction, which it might be a little difficult to see his shadow. Temperatures, also
very cold likely in the mid-20s with a windchill only in the low to mid- teens. If that works out, most likely Phil will not see his shadow predicting an early spring.
The question becomes does Mother Nature agree with that prediction. Looking at NOAA`s long term forecast from March through May, it does look
like the vast majority of the country is looking at much warmer than normal temperatures.
So in theory, yes, spring is more likely to come early in terms of temperatures. We can expect wetter than normal conditions across portions
of the Great Lakes and dryer than normal conditions across portions of the southwest.
But if you don`t like Phil`s prediction whatever it may be, the good news is there`s a lot more groundhogs who also make predictions and chances are
at least one of them will give you the prediction that will make you happy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Groundhogs are also known as whistle pigs and I bet they`d really "ham" up the forecast. Maybe "bacon" it up as they go along. Now some
might call that a "pork choice". Their friends might "rib" them about it or bust their "chops" but don`t "chuck" the idea all together because
turning Groundhog Day into Whistlepig Day would leave some "pickled" pig.
I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10. Timber Lake High School is in Timber Lake, South Dakota. Why do we mention that? Because they subscribed and left a
comment on our You Tube channel. Have a great day ya`ll.
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