How we deal with arctic cold in the lower 48 (St. Paul: school, to live in)

[Harrier]

Originally Posted by arleigh

I'm in california , and was thinking of tomorrow laying out for a suntan.
today was nice and warm .

As is today.

We were having a cold snap here in L.A. a few weeks a go - daytime temps in the low 60's with nighttime temps below freezing in some local areas.

That was before winter officially began!

Harrier was thinking that after the Michigan State Spartans football team won the Rose Bowl, they and their fans who traveled to Pasadena from the university must have been bummed to have to return to East Lansing.

[Rance]

Skilak is always the last to freeze. I think we've had more above freezing days than below freezing this winter...so it has yet to begin getting a good ice layer. All the other local lakes like Hidden and Engineer are good and froze tho.

[Cubanchic]

You guys in Alaska are having a warm winter this year, hoping the jet stream will plunge down south for us in Miami and we get a real cool down come tuesday.

Jersery girl here and I remember very cold winters growing up, but for the last 25 or so years it has been warm...until this winter. Reminds me of my childhood and snow days!

[Stoke]

Closing stuff down because it's too cold? Odd.

[Minnesota Spring]

Right now it is colder in places like Atlanta, Houston and New Orleans than it is in Anchorage!
It's colder in Nashville than it is in Fairbanks. How is that for awesome!

[arctic_gardener]

It got down to around 34 below zero F today in Saskatoon, SK (with a windchill of 55 below zero F). This is typical for the coldest day of the year (every year), which we always get in January and sometimes in December or February. Nobody really makes much of a deal about it, beyond the passing "Hey, it's nippy today, eh??". That being said, I envy you guys a little bit, because I would appreciate being told not to come in to work, or class, or whatever. When everyone makes a big stink over the weather, it somehow makes it easier to get through it.

[RedJacket]

Originally Posted by Rance

How's a guy supposed to go ice fishing when there is no ice!

How do you catch a fish that's frozen inside a block of ice?

[countryboy73]

Hmmm, I changed the alternator on my truck in the driveway this morning, in southern MO. It was -9 by the thermometer at the time, and the wind was a nice brisk breeze, maybe 12-15 mph. Nose and cheeks got a little chilly, but really, it felt pretty good to me. Sun was shining, low humidity, what's not to like. Heck I am moving to northern Idaho or Montana later this year, sick of these MO summers! People laugh when I tell them you can get 105 degrees and 90% humidity in the summer, and -20 with a 30 mph wind in the winter here, but it's true. Not every year, but it does happen. The cold, I enjoy. The heat, I despise.

As far as winter road conditions, they are typically better in Idaho than here in MO, given similar weather. These clowns do not clear the roads very well, and the rest of the clowns have not a clue of how to drive on ice or packed snow. Its a circus. Been here most of my life, things haven't changed. Did spend some time in Ft. Worth a couple decades back, I remember getting an inch or so of snow, they cancelled schools, closed stores, the whole place practically shut down for the day. The snow was completely melted away by 10 AM. That is nuts.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

My wife lived in Minnesota when she was vey young. She told me that back then temperatures that were a lot colder than now were very common. According to the weather forecast for that region, it has been much warmer for the past 20 years. Now it is cold like it used to happen over 20 or 30 years ago.

I agree with that. I grew up in North Dakota. -40s were common every year. Nothing ever closed because of cold or deep snow. The only reason the schools would ever close was because of road conditions. So there had to be active blizzard conditions for them to close. Even that was enough to get out of school about a half dozen days a year.

We had a thermometer. Before leaving for school, I'd check it and the mercury would be all the way to the very bottom. Then I'd walk two blocks through three foot deep snow drifts to the school bus stop. My skin would be absolutely numb by the time I got there. Fortunately the bus stop was at a convenience store. The owners were really nice about letting us wait inside the store until the bus came.

I think if it was -5 or below, the school didn't make us go out side for recess. If it was just zero, they probably made us go outside.

[Osito]

Drink myself delirious. I'm kidding...well...not really...