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Facing an icy polar vortex, the newly elected president of the United States Donald Trump announced plans to move its upcoming inauguration ceremony indoors.
Traditionally, the ceremony is held outdoors, most often on the marble steps of the Capitol in Washington.
But with meteorologists predicting one of the coldest inauguration days in recent history, Trump decided Friday that safety warranted a slight change of venue.
“There is an arctic blast sweeping the country. I don't want to see people hurt or hurt in any way,” Trump said wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“These are dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of law enforcement officers, first responders, police K9s and even horses, as well as hundreds of thousands of supporters who will be out for many hours.”
Trump's ceremony, scheduled for Monday, will now take place under the Capitol rotunda, whose curved sandstone walls are covered with paintings from American history.
Only one other president has been sworn in under the Capitol dome in the rotunda: Trump's fellow Republican, Ronald Reagan.
Reagan's second inauguration in 1985. was also one of the coldest, even surpassing the sub-zero temperatures forecast for Monday. The weather hovered around -14 degrees Celsius, or just 7 degrees Fahrenheit, with the wind chill making the air even colder.
For Monday, the National Weather Service predicts temperatures will top out at a frigid -6 degrees Celsius, or 22 degrees Fahrenheit.
Trump compared his situation to Reagan's in a Friday social media post. He also touched on the issue of capacity in such a closed space as the rotunda.
An estimated 250,000 guests had tickets to watch the inauguration near and around the Capitol steps, according to the original plan.
Trump confirmed that “various dignitaries and guests” will still join him in the rotunda to attend the ceremony in person.
“It will be a very beautiful experience for everyone and especially for the large television audience!” Trump wrote.
But other in-person attendees were encouraged to go to Capitol One Arena, where the inauguration would be broadcast live.
“I'll be joining the crowd at Capital One after the inauguration,” Trump added. He plans to hold a “victory rally” there on Sunday as well.
The U.S. Capitol has hosted inaugurations on 55 separate occasions, with 34 ceremonies taking place on the East Portico, a colonnade on the outside of the building.
Relatively few took place indoors, but when the ceremony moved indoors, the Senate chamber and the House of Representatives were used as a backdrop.
Cold weather has wreaked havoc on past ceremonies held outdoors. In 1873, for example, President Ulysses Grant had military personnel collapsing around him and freezing winds made his speech difficult to hear.
And historians have speculated to what extent wet conditions on Inauguration Day contributed to the death of William Henry Harrison, who contracted pneumonia and died just a month into his presidency.
His inaugural address was the longest in US history and his tenure the shortest.
