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The coldest weather you've experienced?

JC Callender said:
Wow, minus 20 huh! I'm surprised so many posters south of me get more extreme cold days. We got about 10 inches of snow here a few days ago as well. December is usually very pretty as well as good weather for walking around here but we're in the midst of another vortex and it's going down to -5 tonight. We're supposed to get another big snow this weekend. Hopefully your cruise is in Jan. or Feb., those are the best months to get out of dodge, imo.
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I lived in Michigan for 13 years, it never got as cold there as Chicago when one of those Arctic cold fronts comes through. Too much water. I think Cinci sometimes even gets colder than Detroit on those days.

The coldest weather though is in the Midwestern plains. Of course, they are still warmer than Winnipeg and Saskatoon.
 
Wow! Check out the forecast for Sunday Night.

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I really do not see how we will be in the teens with Detroit being -6. I'm going to bet that changes, drastically over the next two days.
 
Saturday night will be downright deadly in the upper Midwest.

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Lutherf said:
I wasn't around in the 50's but I sure remember the old black rubber boots that you just stuffed your whole shoe into. They'd keep your feet dry but didn't do a damned thing for the cold.
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Those were known as 'galoshes' and I had them as a young kid.

They were used by those that needed to wear dress shoes and pants at their destination, where the galoshes protected one's shoes and pants legs from the wet, slush, snow, and salt.

In my and my brothers' cases, we had Catholic School uniforms of dress pants and leather shoes - and we had to be spiffy clean & presentable every morning. My dad worked in a bank wearing a suit & tie and leather dress shoes, so he used them too. They were commonly seen at bus and el stops in the city, during the commute to and from downtown. What can I say? They're definitely old school stuff!
 
Casper said:
-30F air temp, 30mph winds, DMZ Korea.
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My pop was a Korean vet. He immigrated from Poland to Chicago, so from one really cold winter place to another. He said a lot of his brother soldiers from the warmer U.S. climes were blown-away by the Korean cold! They didn't expect it at all.
 
I suppose I should share my coldest experience. Probably 15 or so years ago my family and I spent Christmas time at my grandparents place in the middle of nowhere, Minnesota (for anyone familiar with Minnesota, the city they lived in (Pine River, population 650) was about halfway between Brainerd and Bemidji). Anyhoo, one morning I was the first person awake, so I went to look at their indoor/outdoor digital thermometer. It read indoor, 68F, but for outdoor it was just a strange symbol instead of a number. I grabbed the users manual, and it said that symbol meant the temperature was outside of the range that the thermometer was calibrated to. It was programmed to read down to -40F. Turn on the local news, and it was an absurd -58F, not counting the wind which was pretty stiff at about 20-25mph. There are no words for that level of cold.
 
Johnson said:
I was running some errands thus morning in my local picturesque Wisconsin hamlet, and the temperature was a steamy tropical -12 F. That's pretty cold. It gets colder than that every now and again, but it's the type of cold you have to experience to understand. So what's the coldest (outside) temperature you ever had to suffer through?
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I did arctic warrior training in Bridgeport, Californa up in the mountains. I think I've experience colder weather but that was a situation where we weren't allowed to get out of it and warm up for a couple weeks. I don't recall the temperature but often couldn't open our canteens for being frozen shut.
 
Couple of days around February 1st, 1996 in Wisconsin. Most of the state was between -30F to -20F. A town in Sawyer country (north Wisconsin) fell to -55F and set the state's record.

calamity said:
I lived in Michigan for 13 years, it never got as cold there as Chicago when one of those Arctic cold fronts comes through. Too much water. I think Cinci sometimes even gets colder than Detroit on those days. The coldest weather though is in the Midwestern plains. Of course, they are still warmer than Winnipeg and Saskatoon.
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It's the polar jet stream. It meanders in a north to south wave as it go from east to west across the very top of the Northern hemisphere. For us, it normally blows up across Alaska and Canada and then plunges straight south through the Rockies to Wisconsin/Illinois bringing the frigid temperatures in the Winters to the Midwest. It reverses course again across the East Coast / Atlantic. However it usually means the Michigan and the East Coast are spared the frigid winters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_stream

As such, that's also why we see impacts from El Niño - La Niña

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effec...media/File:El_nino_north_american_weather.png
 
brothern said:
Couple of days around February 1st, 1996 in Wisconsin. Most of the state was between -30F to -20F. A town in Sawyer country (north Wisconsin) fell to -55F and set the state's record.



It's the polar jet stream. It meanders in a north to south wave as it go from east to west across the very top of the Northern hemisphere. For us, it normally blows up across Alaska and Canada and then plunges straight south through the Rockies to Wisconsin/Illinois bringing the frigid temperatures in the Winters to the Midwest. It reverses course again across the East Coast / Atlantic. However it usually means the Michigan and the East Coast are spared the frigid winters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_stream

As such, that's also why we see impacts from El Niño - La Niña

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effec...media/File:El_nino_north_american_weather.png
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When I went to college in Dekalb back in the 80's, there were several days where T was -20 to -30. Brutal.
 
Johnson said:
I was running some errands thus morning in my local picturesque Wisconsin hamlet, and the temperature was a steamy tropical -12 F. That's pretty cold. It gets colder than that every now and again, but it's the type of cold you have to experience to understand. So what's the coldest (outside) temperature you ever had to suffer through?
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It was close to -45F w/o wind chill. IIRC the daytime high for that entire week was around -15F to -20F. Arctic Cold Fronts FTW. :lol: We're (different town from then) getting down to -18F tonight, but -20F is an every year occurrence.
 
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-20C today -35C with windchill
 
Fiddytree said:
Today is somewhat warm. -18 F with windchill.
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You get used to the cold I suppose . -5C to -15C is all good with me, below that its getting cold, Above that the snow tends sot turn to slush, I dont like slush.
-20C is below my outside activity fun temp. -18F is worse
 
Quag said:
You get used to the cold I suppose . -5C to -15C is all good with me, below that its getting cold, Above that the snow tends sot turn to slush, I dont like slush.
-20C is below my outside activity fun temp. -18F is worse
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You do get used to it. Plus, I also know It'll kick up a notch soon. It'll return to -35 or so this weekend. And I currently live in the warm zone of my state. Further north, where I used to be, it gets a good 10-15 degrees colder.
 
I can't imagine. But my BFF is in Billings, and it's supposed to hit -20 tonight, and it's still snowing. Sitting here in my warm, cozy office, the pics she's sent look like a winter wonderland, but I'm grateful I'm not up there.
 
nota bene said:
I can't imagine. But my BFF is in Billings, and it's supposed to hit -20 tonight, and it's still snowing. Sitting here in my warm, cozy office, the pics she's sent look like a winter wonderland, but I'm grateful I'm not up there.
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Got family in that town. Great place. Too many businesses using that Rimrock name though ;)

They were like "oooh no! We got it easy compared to you folks!" Found out we're getting -50 this weekend.
 
Fiddytree said:
Got family in that town. Great place. Too many businesses using that Rimrock name though ;)

They were like "oooh no! We got it easy compared to you folks!" Found out we're getting -50 this weekend.
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Worst ive had is -45 (without wind chill)
Really dont enjoy those temperatures much. Where I live about the worst it gets is -35C and that's pretty rare. Usually get a few -30C days every winter though, fortunately just a few
 
Johnson said:
I was running some errands thus morning in my local picturesque Wisconsin hamlet, and the temperature was a steamy tropical -12 F. That's pretty cold. It gets colder than that every now and again, but it's the type of cold you have to experience to understand. So what's the coldest (outside) temperature you ever had to suffer through?
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Sourthen OH, -30 actual plus chill factor, very rare.

Then the power goes out - no pressure getting the generator started in -30 plus wind.

Yahoo.
 
Fiddytree said:
Got family in that town. Great place. Too many businesses using that Rimrock name though ;)

They were like "oooh no! We got it easy compared to you folks!" Found out we're getting -50 this weekend.
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I can't imagine -50 and ignorantly assume that once you drop way past zero, it's all pretty much the same? I'll be delighted to be caught up to speed by you. How much worse is -50 than -20?

I have been amazed by what I've discovered about Billings, especially the musical opportunities and fine dining, through my best friend. She's been there only a year and says that if it weren't for the kids being so far away, she and her hubs would retire there. His immediate boss on the project he was sent to Montana to work on is closing on a house Monday.
 
When I was working in powertrain calibration, we'd go up to Baudette, MN every winter for cold weather testing. The coldest we experienced was -35°F air temperature with a wind chill somewhere in the mid -50s. It was actually quite a bit warmer inside the cold cells because there was no wind and they were only set to -30°C.

The temperature outside was so cold that my eyes started to water, and my eyelashes froze together.
 
molten_dragon said:
When I was working in powertrain calibration, we'd go up to Baudette, MN every winter for cold weather testing. The coldest we experienced was -35°F air temperature with a wind chill somewhere in the mid -50s. It was actually quite a bit warmer inside the cold cells because there was no wind and they were only set to -30°C.

The temperature outside was so cold that my eyes started to water, and my eyelashes froze together.
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LOL yeah that's a great feeling. Everyone should know what it's like to have your eyes freeze shut at least once in your life.
 
Ok... So I didn't do my homework and I'm in Pueblo Colorado. It's now snowing like mad and it's 7 degrees. Didn't pack long Johns.
 
nota bene said:
I can't imagine -50 and ignorantly assume that once you drop way past zero, it's all pretty much the same? I'll be delighted to be caught up to speed by you. How much worse is -50 than -20?
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No, you're not all that ignorant here. In many respects it starts to blur. Your car is far less likely to start and run fine, the danger takes less time to impact your health, and whatnot. However, in those brief moments of exposure, you start to wonder what difference another few or several degrees will make. But it's all about that wind. I live in an area of really strong winds matched with the extreme cold. All I know is that when I was a bit further north, I dreaded walking around in February. I never kept up to see if my intuition was correct, but it felt colder than January.

I have been amazed by what I've discovered about Billings, especially the musical opportunities and fine dining, through my best friend. She's been there only a year and says that if it weren't for the kids being so far away, she and her hubs would retire there. His immediate boss on the project he was sent to Montana to work on is closing on a house Monday.
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Yeah, aside from some things that may interest different folks here or there for living conditions or culture, the atmosphere is quite congenial for those that like relatively quiet areas or mountainous regions.
 
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Fiddytree said:
No, you're not all that ignorant here. In many respects it starts to blur. Your car is far less likely to start and run fine, the danger takes less time to impact your health, and whatnot. However, in those brief moments of exposure, you start to wonder what difference another few or several degrees will make. But it's all about that wind. I live in an area of really strong winds matched with the extreme cold. All I know is that when I was a bit further north, I dreaded walking around in February. I never kept up to see if my intuition was correct, but it felt colder than January.

Yeah, aside from some things that may interest different folks here or there for living conditions or culture, the atmosphere is quite congenial for those that like relatively quiet areas or mountainous regions.
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Sounds pastoral...but very cold. I remember the Minnesota winter from my early childhood. I loved it, but I didn't have to drive in the snow or shovel it either.
 
nota bene said:
Sounds pastoral...but very cold. I remember the Minnesota winter from my early childhood. I loved it, but I didn't have to drive in the snow or shovel it either.
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For the most part, you get used to driving. Occasionally you are just screwed, no matter what. But we don't get nearly as much snow as just bitter cold--that "it's too cold to snow" variety of weather.
 
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