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Those videos made me really uncomfortable. The coldest I've ever experienced was 9 degrees a few years ago. I was properly dressed and it wasn't windy, so I didn't notice a huge difference. Also, it was the middle of the night so I wasn't expecting it to be warm, which helped. There's something bothersome about seeing sunshine outside, stepping outside, and freezing your ass off. There is definitely a correlation with how cold you expect it to be and how cold you feel.
Actually there were two more videos in the series that I didn't know about before. So it goes all the way from -20C to -75C. There's pretty obviously a difference in how it feels.
Here are all four videos, starting from -20C and going down to -75:
Actually there were two more videos in the series that I didn't know about before. So it goes all the way from -20C to -75C. There's pretty obviously a difference in how it feels.
Here are all four videos, starting from -20C and going down to -75:
If it's sunny and calm, I don't wear gloves, if it's overcast and windy, I do
The question is:"Is there a dramatic difference between 0 °C and -40 °C".
Whoa, sure there is. It's the same difference between 0 °C and +40 °C. It feels utterly different.
I'll try to explain what sub-freezing temperatures feel like, since I've been in them.
0 °C (32 °F) is not extremely cold. Even if it's late evening and it's dark, it feels "icy" (if you've never experienced it because you live in a warm subtropical climate, have you ever put your hand in a glass of icy water from the freezer? It feels like that), but you're free to do whatever you want, you can stay outside as long as you want and you are not forced to wear gloves, even though I recommend them if you're staying outside for more than 30 minutes, because (my) hands will get a bit slower, but nothing brutal, nothing bad will happen anyway. -40 °C is extremely oppressive, you can't do any outside activity. 0 °C and -40 °C are completely different.
-5 °C (23 °F) feels colder, but it's still nice, especially if there's no wind. It feels "refreshing"
-10 °C (14 °F) doesn't feel very nice. I don't know how to explain it. You can still do what you want, just dress with the right clothes.
-15 °C (5 °F) feels very cold. If there's no wind, you can do what you want outside, but it feels uncomfortable.
-20 °C (-4 °F) and below, it starts to be oppressive, even without wind. You have to wear heavy clothing (gloves, socks, pants, hats) and it feels very pungent. I can stay 30 minutes outside, and more, but it gets really uncomfortable if you stay outside too long. If someone experiences -20 °C (-4 °F) and that person never experienced anything below 5 °C (41 °F), okay, I admit it, it can be fun, because it's something new and exciting, but living in a place where the temperature is often like that, it's neither new nor exciting, it's just annoying.
There is already a big difference between 0 °C and -20 °C. If someone who lives in northern Nunavut wonders if there is a big difference between 22 °C (72 °F) and 42 °C (108 °F), then the answer is yes, there is a big difference.
Here are the cities (>30K population) with the average low below -20 °C (-4 °F) in January in North America:
Maybe there are a few others. The list of Asian cities would be far too long.
40 °C difference is a lot, so I'll try to understand whether 20 °C difference is a lot or not.
As I said before, the difference between -20 °C (-4 °F) and 0 °C (32 °F) is big, and those two temperatures feel very different.
But what about 0 °C (32 °F) and 20 °C (68 °F)? Do they feel that different?
To me, 0 °C feels cool and 20 °C feels warm. But 20 °C feels warm to someone and cool to someone else, it's a mysterious temperature.
If you are used to 20 °C summers, like Dublin, then it will probably feel warm. If you are used to 20 °C winters, like Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, then it will probably feel cool.
It's a temperature where some people feel cool and some people feel warm.
0 °C feels cool or cold to almost everyone, but it can still feel warm under the right conditions. Does it feel very different from 20 °C? Certainly.
Is there a dramatic difference between the winter in Seward and the winter in Gjoa Haven? I bet they don't feel the same at all
If it's sunny and calm, I don't wear gloves, if it's overcast and windy, I do
The question is:"Is there a dramatic difference between 0 °C and -40 °C".
Whoa, sure there is. It's the same difference between 0 °C and +40 °C. It feels utterly different.
I'll try to explain what sub-freezing temperatures feel like, since I've been in them.
0 °C (32 °F) is not extremely cold. Even if it's late evening and it's dark, it feels "icy" (if you've never experienced it because you live in a warm subtropical climate, have you ever put your hand in a glass of icy water from the freezer? It feels like that), but you're free to do whatever you want, you can stay outside as long as you want and you are not forced to wear gloves, even though I recommend them if you're staying outside for more than 30 minutes, because (my) hands will get a bit slower, but nothing brutal, nothing bad will happen anyway. -40 °C is extremely oppressive, you can't do any outside activity. 0 °C and -40 °C are completely different.
-5 °C (23 °F) feels colder, but it's still nice, especially if there's no wind. It feels "refreshing"
-10 °C (14 °F) doesn't feel very nice. I don't know how to explain it. You can still do what you want, just dress with the right clothes.
-15 °C (5 °F) feels very cold. If there's no wind, you can do what you want outside, but it feels uncomfortable.
-20 °C (-4 °F) and below, it starts to be oppressive, even without wind. You have to wear heavy clothing (gloves, socks, pants, hats) and it feels very pungent. I can stay 30 minutes outside, and more, but it gets really uncomfortable if you stay outside too long. If someone experiences -20 °C (-4 °F) and that person never experienced anything below 5 °C (41 °F), okay, I admit it, it can be fun, because it's something new and exciting, but living in a place where the temperature is often like that, it's neither new nor exciting, it's just annoying.
There is already a big difference between 0 °C and -20 °C. If someone who lives in northern Nunavut wonders if there is a big difference between 22 °C (72 °F) and 42 °C (108 °F), then the answer is yes, there is a big difference.
Here are the cities (>30K population) with the average low below -20 °C (-4 °F) in January in North America:
Maybe there are a few others. The list of Asian cities would be far too long.
40 °C difference is a lot, so I'll try to understand whether 20 °C difference is a lot or not.
As I said before, the difference between -20 °C (-4 °F) and 0 °C (32 °F) is big, and those two temperatures feel very different.
But what about 0 °C (32 °F) and 20 °C (68 °F)? Do they feel that different?
To me, 0 °C feels cool and 20 °C feels warm. But 20 °C feels warm to someone and cool to someone else, it's a mysterious temperature.
If you are used to 20 °C summers, like Dublin, then it will probably feel warm. If you are used to 20 °C winters, like Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, then it will probably feel cool.
It's a temperature where some people feel cool and some people feel warm.
0 °C feels cool or cold to almost everyone, but it can still feel warm under the right conditions. Does it feel very different from 20 °C? Certainly.
Is there a dramatic difference between the winter in Seward and the winter in Gjoa Haven? I bet they don't feel the same at all
When the temp is above 25℃, humidy decides how you feel the temperature.
30℃ can feel hotter than 40℃. So you can't really say 40℃ feels worse than 30℃
For example Antalya can have an heat index of 38℃ with an air temperature of 31℃ while Cizre can have a heat index of 37℃ with an air temperature of 40℃
One is a humid climate in Turkey and the other is a dry climate in Turkey.
There is certainly a dramatic difference, although not as much as 0ºC to 40ºC. 0ºC is not dangerous unless you're dressed for 30ºC and above. Sunlight at the right angle can even make it feel warm.
-40ºC, a temperature never seen where I live, is much more dangerous, severe frostbite can set in within 5 minutes on bare hands. Most non-tropical vegetation can survive 0ºC but not -40ºC. Plastic bags become brittle, and electronic devices stop working at -40ºC. (Even at considerably higher temperatures; once in -20ºC weather my phone died even though it was showing 30% battery.)
Another 40ºC difference down, and CO2 is close to the sublimation point. (It doesn't happen in Antarctica because there is too little CO2 in the atmosphere; in order to cause CO2 sublimation at -100ºC, the CO2 partial pressure must be ≥0.13 bar, compared to ~0.0006 bar in our atmosphere)
0 C / 32 F is not all that cold. It can range from fairly mild to properly cold, depending on wind, daylight, and cloud cover, but it's never a particularly "sharp" cold.
I've never experienced -40 C / -40 F, the coldest I've ever experienced was -20 C / -4 F. It's quite a big difference. The cold feels almost electric at those temperatures, like the air is charged with a deep, intense, vibrant cold. And that's only halfway from 0 to -40.
-40 C is a temperature that only happens with any regularity in the coldest populated areas of the world (as well as vast expanses of uninhabited ice caps).
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There's pretty obviously a difference in how it feels.
