It is so cold......how cold is it??

[Big Paul]

Now that's cold!!!

[Frank McGrath]

Last Christmas Eve, My wife and I were in Ornsdorf, Austria, for the Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht service at the chapel where the song was first performed. We and about 15,000 othere people out in the cold during the service. It was around 10 degrees F. But the reason we were there kinda made us ignore the cold. Merry Christmas.

[thescot]

Looks like someone has a problem with alcohol abuse. That's definitely alcohol abuse.

[TheKiltedWonder]

May I commend you on your taste in vodka? I think Svedka is vastly underrated by most...

[Mr. Woolery]

Well, it is often a matter of how you dress. I have lived in California and here in Fairbanks. Yes, it gets cold here. Really cold. The California cold (which could sure feel chilly, I admit) was not that bad if I dressed for it. Sure, it looks dorky to be in warm clothes with rain gear over, but it kept me warm enough. Up here, you can cover all the parts that need to be warm, use layers, wear special materials and so on. But there's no pair of gloves I have found yet that will let me use my hands and still keep them warm. I have Refrigiwear gloves and they are the best of several types I have tried. If I am outside for more than half an hour, my hands are COLD at anything under minus 20. Toes, same way. I don't care that the Sorels are supposed to be good to 40 below, they let my toes get awful chilly before that. And when your eyeball moisture is literally freezing at the corners of the eyes, that's just cold. No way to cover the eyes and still be functional outside. I've had my eyelashes freeze together so I have to take off my glove and melt them with finger heat (such as it is) just so I can finish walking home.

It gets cold here. And the part that sucks about it is that it lasts for several months. Global warming seems to be improving our winters, but they are still long and cold. And when you consider how much heating oil has to be burned to keep the house liveable, it gets expensive to live here. The up side is that the burning oil probably contributes to making future winters warmer! Hmm, some benefit, eh?

My dad quipped last week (-42 that day) that it could warm up 100 degrees and his relatives in California would still call it cold.

Every school kid knows the one temperature that is the same in Fahrenheit and Centigrade.

Most kids have blown soap bubbles at -40 and watched them freeze and shrivel before they land on the ground. Once in a while, they shatter.

If you toss a cup of boiling water in the air, almost none hits the ground because it sublimates into steam very quickly at that temperature.

People leave their cars running while the go into the market for two items. Otherwise, the windows are covered with ice inside in a matter of minutes.

One local priest has said that Fairbanks is as close to Heaven as we can get while on earth. Where else can you walk on water more than half the year? (Sure, a lot of Canada, Russia, and so on, but we understood what he was saying.)

If you shower in the morning and don't have your hair perfectly dry, you'd better cover it. I remember girls on my high school bus who would have damp hair on leaving their houses and then be shocked when pieces of it broke off at the bus stop. No kidding. Froze solid and cracked. Dry hair doesn't do this, but it sure says something about morning showers.

Incomprehensibly, I still see people who don't zip up their jackets or wear a hat. It strikes me as criminal when I see someone pulling a little child along who also isn't zipped up or wearing a hat. Doctors see a lot of ear infections up here. Can you guess why?

But then, if the choice was here or California, I would have to bring up our summers. During those brief months we live in the jeweled navel of the Northern Hemisphere. People come from all over the world to see the places that I walk my dog.

Stay warm, everyone!

-Patrick

[Don Patrick]

Well, it is often a matter of how you dress. I have lived in California and here in Fairbanks. Yes, it gets cold here. Really cold. The California cold (which could sure feel chilly, I admit) was not that bad if I dressed for it. Sure, it looks dorky to be in warm clothes with rain gear over, but it kept me warm enough. Up here, you can cover all the parts that need to be warm, use layers, wear special materials and so on. But there's no pair of gloves I have found yet that will let me use my hands and still keep them warm. I have Refrigiwear gloves and they are the best of several types I have tried. If I am outside for more than half an hour, my hands are COLD at anything under minus 20. Toes, same way. I don't care that the Sorels are supposed to be good to 40 below, they let my toes get awful chilly before that. And when your eyeball moisture is literally freezing at the corners of the eyes, that's just cold. No way to cover the eyes and still be functional outside. I've had my eyelashes freeze together so I have to take off my glove and melt them with finger heat (such as it is) just so I can finish walking home.

It gets cold here. And the part that sucks about it is that it lasts for several months. Global warming seems to be improving our winters, but they are still long and cold. And when you consider how much heating oil has to be burned to keep the house liveable, it gets expensive to live here. The up side is that the burning oil probably contributes to making future winters warmer! Hmm, some benefit, eh?

My dad quipped last week (-42 that day) that it could warm up 100 degrees and his relatives in California would still call it cold.

Every school kid knows the one temperature that is the same in Fahrenheit and Centigrade.

Most kids have blown soap bubbles at -40 and watched them freeze and shrivel before they land on the ground. Once in a while, they shatter.

If you toss a cup of boiling water in the air, almost none hits the ground because it sublimates into steam very quickly at that temperature.

People leave their cars running while the go into the market for two items. Otherwise, the windows are covered with ice inside in a matter of minutes.

One local priest has said that Fairbanks is as close to Heaven as we can get while on earth. Where else can you walk on water more than half the year? (Sure, a lot of Canada, Russia, and so on, but we understood what he was saying.)

If you shower in the morning and don't have your hair perfectly dry, you'd better cover it. I remember girls on my high school bus who would have damp hair on leaving their houses and then be shocked when pieces of it broke off at the bus stop. No kidding. Froze solid and cracked. Dry hair doesn't do this, but it sure says something about morning showers.

Incomprehensibly, I still see people who don't zip up their jackets or wear a hat. It strikes me as criminal when I see someone pulling a little child along who also isn't zipped up or wearing a hat. Doctors see a lot of ear infections up here. Can you guess why?

But then, if the choice was here or California, I would have to bring up our summers. During those brief months we live in the jeweled navel of the Northern Hemisphere. People come from all over the world to see the places that I walk my dog.

Stay warm, everyone!

-Patrick

I had forgotten about those days. But must say, even in the jeweled navel days, especially in June and August, the rain can be very bone soaking cold. Miss those days fishing for Dolly Varden and moose hunting though.

[beowulf67]

Well it was 12 at my house this morning, and for Alabama that is COLD!!!!

[auld argonian]

As I write (7:30 AM) it's 0 Fahrenheit here in Chicago. At the current exchange rate, that's -17.77777 Canadian. It looks like it'll warm up to a refreshing 23 F later in the day. I'm headed out to the Art Institute later...still not sure if it'll be a kilted expedition or not. That's not because I wouild feel cold but only because I'm feeling a bit anti-social and don't want to have to deal with all of the "...aren't you cold?" questions from the rubes.

Best

AA

[Surly Dave]

Well, it is often a matter of how you dress. I have lived in California and here in Fairbanks. Yes, it gets cold here. Really cold. The California cold (which could sure feel chilly, I admit) was not that bad if I dressed for it. Sure, it looks dorky to be in warm clothes with rain gear over, but it kept me warm enough. Up here, you can cover all the parts that need to be warm, use layers, wear special materials and so on. But there's no pair of gloves I have found yet that will let me use my hands and still keep them warm. I have Refrigiwear gloves and they are the best of several types I have tried. If I am outside for more than half an hour, my hands are COLD at anything under minus 20. Toes, same way. I don't care that the Sorels are supposed to be good to 40 below, they let my toes get awful chilly before that. And when your eyeball moisture is literally freezing at the corners of the eyes, that's just cold. No way to cover the eyes and still be functional outside. I've had my eyelashes freeze together so I have to take off my glove and melt them with finger heat (such as it is) just so I can finish walking home.

It gets cold here. And the part that sucks about it is that it lasts for several months. Global warming seems to be improving our winters, but they are still long and cold. And when you consider how much heating oil has to be burned to keep the house liveable, it gets expensive to live here. The up side is that the burning oil probably contributes to making future winters warmer! Hmm, some benefit, eh?

My dad quipped last week (-42 that day) that it could warm up 100 degrees and his relatives in California would still call it cold.

Every school kid knows the one temperature that is the same in Fahrenheit and Centigrade.

Most kids have blown soap bubbles at -40 and watched them freeze and shrivel before they land on the ground. Once in a while, they shatter.

If you toss a cup of boiling water in the air, almost none hits the ground because it sublimates into steam very quickly at that temperature.

People leave their cars running while the go into the market for two items. Otherwise, the windows are covered with ice inside in a matter of minutes.

One local priest has said that Fairbanks is as close to Heaven as we can get while on earth. Where else can you walk on water more than half the year? (Sure, a lot of Canada, Russia, and so on, but we understood what he was saying.)

If you shower in the morning and don't have your hair perfectly dry, you'd better cover it. I remember girls on my high school bus who would have damp hair on leaving their houses and then be shocked when pieces of it broke off at the bus stop. No kidding. Froze solid and cracked. Dry hair doesn't do this, but it sure says something about morning showers.

Incomprehensibly, I still see people who don't zip up their jackets or wear a hat. It strikes me as criminal when I see someone pulling a little child along who also isn't zipped up or wearing a hat. Doctors see a lot of ear infections up here. Can you guess why?

But then, if the choice was here or California, I would have to bring up our summers. During those brief months we live in the jeweled navel of the Northern Hemisphere. People come from all over the world to see the places that I walk my dog.

Stay warm, everyone!

-Patrick

You forgot to add that "It was so cold you could set a bucket of boiling water outside and it would freeze so fast the ice would still be hot!"

[Jerry]

It's 14 F here in Amelia county Va this morning. I just came in from letting my chickens, ducks and geese out of the coop. As usual, after eating some of the feed I had put out, the geese took off for our(literally) pond. I watched them put their feet out to land and they skidded on the ice. They managed to get themselves back to the shore and went back to the pen, acting all disappointed. It's supposed to get up to 40fF later so I'll go out and try to break some of the ice near the shore for them.