The fiery and icy weather of the West and East Coasts is no coincidence

Wrong in pulling out of the Paris Climate Accords, President Donald Trump criticized state and local officials’ water management policies. But experts said critics were connecting unrelated issues and spreading false information during a crisis.

The Hollywood sign stands sentinel above Los Angeles, watching as embers dance through the January night like wayward stars. Glowing debris floats on warm winds past million-dollar mansions, while emergency crews battle a blaze that shouldn’t exist — not in winter, not here, not now.

Two thousand miles east, in the heartland of America, a different sort of emergency unfolds. The mercury plummets to depths not seen in a decade. Wind chills reach 40 below. Airlines ground flights by the hundreds. Roads become treacherous ribbons of ice. People huddle in warming centers, while the polar wind howls outside like a hungry ghost.

Fire and ice. A nation split in two.