Actually MP, imagine one half of the world being the worst low pressure system in modern history, then it collides with the warm air over the equator.
Every scientist agrees that that scenario would produce the worst storm system the world has ever seen. What they don't agree about is the length of time it would take to create that system. I personally don't believe in the 10 day scenario, but after 10 years of horrendous storms at the equator, the troposhperic cyclones would be . . . just this side of nightmarish.
Laheen, the tropospheric storms would eventually end upon contact with the water, as they were land based storms. Not to mention that once they hit the equator they would rapidly loose all the cold air that created them. The storms were stated to be moving in the movie, and it was also stated that the ice they left in their wake would last 100s of years.