As Washington greets the coming of winter amid gusts of frigid wind, it appears the political climate has turned similarly hostile for military contractors.

FORBES: The Defense Industry's Winter Of Discontent

The trend will affect next season, too: Many of the one-and-done free agents will wind up right back on the market next winter, pumping up supply and depressing salaries.

FORBES: Deals

This time, down through Normal, Illinois, from high up in white Minnesota, dead of winter, icy roads, wind blowing sideways across the empty cornfields.

NEWYORKER: Indianapolis (Highway 74)

"Following a winter of wind and heavy snow disrupting sporting fixtures and with spring in the air, we thought all our troubles were over, " says BBC Wales' head of sport, Geoff Williams.

BBC: Scrum V team beat the ash cloud for Leinster v Ospreys

Changes in the winter wind field broke up floating sea ice to create cracks that suggest the "opening of a Venetian blind, " said Dr Serreze.

BBC: Record ice loss in Arctic