Trump inauguration moved indoors due to freezing weather
January 17, 2025
President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony is moving indoors to the Capitol Rotunda because of expected dangerous cold temperatures in the nation's capital, Washington D.C.
"There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country," Trump wrote on his social platform, Truth Social. "Therefore, I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda," he said.
Blast of Arctic air to bring freezing conditions
Much of North America is under a weather warning for extreme cold temperatures as an unusually strong polar vortex over northern Greenland is expected to make its way to the south.
The Arctic blast will bring "dangerously cold" temperatures, forecasters warn, with the National Weather Service advising people against staying out in the bitter cold.
"These wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in a few minutes," the weather service said earlier this week.
Subzero temperatures expected in Washington
Temperatures are expected near 22 degrees (minus-6 Celsius) at noon during Trump's swearing-in ceremony, which is set to be the coldest since Ronald Raegan's second inauguration saw temperatures dip to 7 degrees.
Freezing temperatures are set to affect millions this time, with the stage set for conditions to rival the bitter cold of 2014.
As many as 80 million people are set to experience subzero temperatures at some point between this weekend and next week, and another 50 million people are set to experience temperatures below -10 degrees.
rm/rc (Reuters, AFP)