50 degrees below zero?! How do you live with that? (Moorhead: living in, dangerous)

[BENZBOY15]

I can't even imagine the wind chill being 50 below, with a temp in the mid -30s. How do you deal with it? I've lived in San Diego my whole life and I thought it was freezing when it got down to 23 a couple of weeks ago. It hasn't been that cold in at least 15 years, the weather people said.

Does this cold bother you? Have you had to adjust after a move, or are you a native?

[guinness212]

LOL! I am a native to MN, and yes it does get cold, but that's what makes living here so special. I live in the northern part of the state, and this cold weather doesn't really bother me, it just makes me add another few layers of clothes before I head out. It really isn't that bad and long as you are smart about it!

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by BENZBOY15

I can't even imagine the wind chill being 50 below, with a temp in the mid -30s. How do you deal with it? I've lived in San Diego my whole life and I thought it was freezing when it got down to 23 a couple of weeks ago. It hasn't been that cold in at least 15 years, the weather people said.

Does this cold bother you? Have you had to adjust after a move, or are you a native?

It wasn't -50 it was -60. And it wasn't wind chill. It was straight temp I do believe.

[ElkHunter]

I just went and checked. Yes, it was -60 in 2002 in Moorhead Minnesota.

No wind chill.

[MidniteBreeze]

The state record is -60 (actual temp). The record was broken in 1996 in Tower, MN. (The old record was -59 in Federal Dam, MN). I didn't know Moorhead also hit -60...I guess it just didn't make the news because it didn't break the record?

The good news is -60 is not common, even for MN. Here in northern MN we are almost guaranteed to see -20 at least once a winter, but those arctic cold snaps usually only last a few days. Trust me, 30 ABOVE feels downright balmy after that, lol.

[DaninEGF]

I know what you mean....when it hits 5 above people will have light coats on . This is especially true the later you go on in the winter as the sun is getting stronger and its warmth more noticeable when it in it. Having no wind like this morning (Monday) helps. Just got a call from a cooperative observer in Thornhult (north of Bemidji) and it was -40F there at 4 am. Coldest I have seen in this outbreak. 2 or 3 years ago it was colder than this though as one night many places had -40 to -45F.

Speaking of Moorhead, they have never been to -60F....I checked the records we have here at the NWS office in Grand Forks where I am working this morning and the coldest temp ever in the F-M area was -48F in 1887. 2002 was a pretty mild winter. Of note too, the wind chill formula changed a few years ago, so that -40 now compares to -60 or on the old formula which had been valid up to the year 2000.

As for me, I like the cold. Not many folks go outdoors for skating or snowmobiling though in this cold. So many will be happy when it gets closer to zero.

Have a good day....last below zero daytime for northwest MN is today (Monday). This was likely the coldest outbreak this winter....just because of increasing daylight up near the arctic circle and thus less chance for extreme cold air.

Dan

[golfgal]

I think the cold temps are much easier to deal with then the extremely hot temps. You add a few layers of clothing and just don't go outside as much. When it is 110° you take off a few layers and don't go outside much. It is pretty much the same thing. People are always amazed with the cold but don't realize that that kind of weather only happens for a few days in the winter and not even every winter is like that. People don't seem to think it odd that living in Texas you stay inside all summer because it is too hot to go out, what is the difference???

[Need_affordable_home]

I agree, heat can be a problem but extreme cold at -30 can cause frostbite in less than a minute and at -50 you have a few seconds! Even MoMark couldnt stay outside more than a hour without getting hypothermia and thats at plus 15 degrees(windchill of near zero) in Missouri. I cant imagine -30, much less -50. That is beyond frigid and is how cold it gets in Coastal Antarctica(gets much colder away from the moderating effects of coastal)

Maybe those guys that live up north have a special adaption or tolerance to cold, kinda like those penguins that can survive living in the arctic and even antarctic. Those humans bodies probably are very effecient in conservating heat and -50 to them would be like zero degrees to a south FL guy like me as I am not adapted to the cold.

[mystree]

Trust me, 30 ABOVE feels downright balmy after that, lol.

So true...lol
I do think you acclimate to your climate,I'm from the lake erie area but my husband is from minneapolis so I did spend one winter in minnesota. I remember in pa. after a cold snap of negative temps 30 degrees felt like spring and in the 40's actually rolling the windows down in the car a bit. Funny we have been in south carolina for 6 years and I get chilled in the high 60's low 70's and my husband now says its cold in the 50's.

[Need_affordable_home]

Originally Posted by mystree66

So true...lol
I do think you acclimate to your climate,I'm from the lake erie area but my husband is from minneapolis so I did spend one winter in minnesota. I remember in pa. after a cold snap of negative temps 30 degrees felt like spring and in the 40's actually rolling the windows down in the car a bit. Funny we have been in south carolina for 6 years and I get chilled in the high 60's low 70's and my husband now says its cold in the 50's.

So how long would it take me to develop tolerance to the cold when I move north? Is it still dangerous to be outside at like -30 if you tolerate it and feel fine? I plan to visit the northeast next winter and was wondering