Freak weather in 2011
Cars sit in the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive after accidents and drifting snow stranded the drivers during a blizzard February 2, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. Massive blizzards bombarded the Midwest and Northeast during the winter of 2011.
Although the US was relatively spared during 2010's epic surge of natural disasters, it has been plagued by record temperatures, storms and even a couple of earthquakes in unlikely places. The year started off with snowstorms across the Midwest and Northeast and transitioned into a spring and summer filled with natural catastrophies and record heat. Not wanting to be left behind, the fall has also had it share of the fun with a Halloween snowstorm in the Northeast and a hurricane-like snowstorm of "epic proportions" hitting the western coast of Alaska.