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Well said. I hear this fallacy often, but people just aren't objective enough on the matter.
There is some truth to it though. Humid cold implies moisture and in cold conditions that moisture freezes causing ice fog. In very dry cold the sun is shining and the sky is blue. -30F in ice fog feels colder than -30F in full sun. Many people have pointed that out.
Minus 30 is not so bad, if you're not in the wind and the sun is shining. Most people living in the northern half of America or Europe have experienced wind-chill at or near minus 30. If the temperature is -30 and there is no wind, then the windchill is also -30, and it's not so bad at all. If the sun is shining, you will feel the benefit of the solar radiation, too.
I've walked to school many mornings with thermometer readings below -20, and a few below -30, and I think once or twice at -40. Usually, when it is that cold, there is absolutely no wind. Car exhaust just hangs in the air above the street, and when you exhale, the cloud just sits there in front of your face. Sometimes the moisture from your breath turns to snow before your very eyes and falls to the ground.
Wind and humidity have a lot to do with it. When the temperature is in the +20s, there is no wind, the sun is shining, and the dew point is very low, you can be quite comfortable outdoors in just your shirt sleeves for quite a long time. The dew point is usually very close to the overnight low, so if it went down to -20 last night, and it turns sunny today without wind and gets up to +25, that can feel almost summery.
You have many "ifs" with your "-30 isn't so bad if ... and ... "
What about -30F at midnight with a 20MPH wind? I would think that most -30F conditions occur in the arctic and they would usually occur during times of fall/winter when the sun angle is low. If it happens above the arctic circle past November but before March then it will most likely be dark or twilight.
You have many "ifs" with your "-30 isn't so bad if ... and ... "
What about -30F at midnight with a 20MPH wind? I would think that most -30F conditions occur in the arctic and they would usually occur during times of fall/winter when the sun angle is low. If it happens above the arctic circle past November but before March then it will most likely be dark or twilight.
Here, and in most northern US locations, very cold temperatures are recorded during calm, clear nights due to radiational cooling. -30°F, calm wind, and low sun angle (normally on a day with a high diurnal range so should warm up fast) would be the most likely situation. At high latitudes (or altiudes see Mt. Washington on that day on early January there was -34°F with a 69 mph wind occurred) , -30°F and windy is possible still probably not that common.
I live in the coldest part of the lower 48. Up here, whether it's -30 F actual or -30 windchill the dog still has to go outside to peeoop.
We just learn to dress for it. Coats that end at the waist are stupid and useless - coats that go down to the top of the boot are most sensible. THIN layers (silk & microfiber) under the coat, or I start to feel like the Michelin man and get claustrophobia. Wool socks inside felted boots. Thick wool mittens (gloves don't keep your fingers warm). A hat and a scarf that covers the nose & mouth inside a hood. No skin showing except the whites of your eyes. I don't wear my glasses when it's that cold because the metal gets too cold quickly.
I've often wondered why my eyeballs don't freeze. On the news they say that frostbite can occur at that T after 10 minutes of exposure, and I've been out in -30 (and below) for longer than that. My eyes are fine.
As others have noted, it feels worse when it's windy.
When you go inside after being out in the cold, the inside Ts can feel horribly hot. I keep my house at +64 F and it takes a while to adapt to being that warm again. Public buildings and other people's houses that are kept warmer than that can be a misery. I have to attend some evening meetings in City Hall and at times have wanted to rip all my clothing off. Would it be ok to attend Council meetings nekkid?
I live in the coldest part of the lower 48. Up here, whether it's -30 F actual or -30 windchill the dog still has to go outside to peeoop.
We just learn to dress for it. Coats that end at the waist are stupid and useless - coats that go down to the top of the boot are most sensible. THIN layers (silk & microfiber) under the coat, or I start to feel like the Michelin man and get claustrophobia. Wool socks inside felted boots. Thick wool mittens (gloves don't keep your fingers warm). A hat and a scarf that covers the nose & mouth inside a hood. No skin showing except the whites of your eyes. I don't wear my glasses when it's that cold because the metal gets too cold quickly.
I've often wondered why my eyeballs don't freeze. On the news they say that frostbite can occur at that T after 10 minutes of exposure, and I've been out in -30 (and below) for longer than that. My eyes are fine.
As others have noted, it feels worse when it's windy.
When you go inside after being out in the cold, the inside Ts can feel horribly hot. I keep my house at +64 F and it takes a while to adapt to being that warm again. Public buildings and other people's houses that are kept warmer than that can be a misery. I have to attend some evening meetings in City Hall and at times have wanted to rip all my clothing off. Would it be ok to attend Council meetings nekkid?
Where I live the inside temp is close to the outside temp due to poor heating system...when we get down into the low 30s at night, my iphone, ipad, and laptop are cold to touch in the morning.
When I went to NYC the first week of February, I experienced that drastric inside/outside temp difference for the first time and it felt weird to walk into a store and start sweating. It was about 20 F outside (probably sounds balmy to you but lots colder than I was used to) and maybe 70 F inside. I didn't want to take off my coat for the fear of losing it so I would be in a rush to go back outside to cool off again.
I grew up in Louisiana, used to swimming from April to October, I used to consider 50 degrees cold.
I went to college in PA, in September it got down to 28 degrees one night and warmed up to 48 and that same day was 95 degrees in Louisiana with a low of 78. I called back home and they were having a swim party.
I had experienced down to 10F in Louisiana in one of those rare cold snaps but it was when I was 8 so I didn't remember it.
I remember the first 0 degree day that I had in Pittsburgh. My alarm clock was set to a specific radio station and the announcer said "Good morning Pittsburgh, it's 0 degrees outside, bundle up!"
I remember stepping out from our overheated dorm building into 0 degrees. It literally took my breath away and I had trouble breathing. I had to get my inhaler (I have cold weather induced asthma and that's when I found that out). Unfortunately I had to bear the cold because I walked to classes.
The sting on the face is rather bad, usually hits at 20F and below with wind, 0F and below without wind.
The coldest I experienced was -22F with a high of -18F which was the coldest day ever experienced in Pittsburgh. Our over heated building actually was now cool. You could see your breath in the foyer even though the heat was set to 80. We had to turn on the ovens in our room with the door open to get it warm in our room and run the shower at full blast hot.
They recommended that nobody go outside so I didn't. They cancelled classes. I mainly didn't want to set off my asthma so I didn't go outside like they recommended.
In two days it warmed up to -10 at night and -5 in the day. I can tell you that is bitterly cold and very uncomfortable.
One thing I wanted to point out is that although you adjusted to a few days in NYC cold, it is nothing like living in a winter up north. Just think about that same cold from November to April. It's long, cold, snowy, and the winter never seems to end. It's the duration of the cold not the actual temps that make winter up north bad.
We've gotten down to 10F in southern Louisiana, but that same day got up to 40 and the next day had a low of 28 and a high of 58. The next day was then low of 40 and high of 75. That makes things much easier to bear! 10F is worse in Pittsburgh because when those arctic high pressure systems tend to come in, they don't tend to leave for a long time. In Louisiana, the Gulf of Mexico starts moderating the temps as soon as the arctic blast goes away.
When I visited NYC, I found 20 F with a light to moderate wind to be cold on my face but not anywhere near stinging. The coldest temps we ever experience during the daytime in my hometown is mid 40s so it was a different experience but I found it exhilerating rather than uncomfortable...I enjoyed the wind blowing in my face and wanted to keep on walking and sightseeing but maybe it was the excitment of being in NYC for the first time with all those tall buildings that masked my feeling cold. I also live in a very suburban area so seeing 100 story skyscrapers were also a novelty for me.
I was wondering if temps of 0 F or lower would have made me so uncomfortably cold to the point where I could not sightsee.....hence this thread.
When I visited NYC, I found 20 F with a light to moderate wind to be cold on my face but not anywhere near stinging. The coldest temps we ever experience during the daytime in my hometown is mid 40s so it was a different experience but I found it exhilerating rather than uncomfortable...I enjoyed the wind blowing in my face and wanted to keep on walking and sightseeing but maybe it was the excitment of being in NYC for the first time with all those tall buildings that masked my feeling cold. I also live in a very suburban area so seeing 100 story skyscrapers were also a novelty for me.
I was wondering if temps of 0 F or lower would have made me so uncomfortably cold to the point where I could not sightsee.....hence this thread.
-30F feels cold, doesn't matter if you're from California or Canada, it feels cold.
I've experienced temps of about -30F a few times in northern Ontario and Quebec and
any exposed flesh will sting, best to wear a ski mask.
Thankfully there are few places that you'll likely visit with temperatures that cold,
unless you plan on a vacation to Fairbanks, Alaska or Yellowknife,NWT.
Even in subarctic Toronto the lowest temperature in an average winter is in 0F to -5F range,
and that's at night/early am, coldest daytime temp is more like 5F to 10F range.
Most people acclimatize to it pretty fast and with no wind, a nice sunny day in the 20's F
feels nice. If it's windy then those same temps can feel frigid.
I remember once pumping gas in a small town near Regina, Saskatchewan....man that was
cold! ...super strong wind went right thru me, my teeth chattering, body shaking,
couldn't wait to go inside and pay it wasn't -30 but felt like it.
I had a hard time going gloveless at 20F (-7 C) on a recent trip to NYC...I wanted to not wear gloves so I could take pics, text them to my friends, post on facebook, etc but ended up just taking the gloves off to snap pics and text them to my bff and them putting them (the gloves) back on and then going back to the hotel room and then posting them on facebook cuz I didn't want to fiddle with posting them from the phone when outside in the cold.
I can only imagine what my fingers would feel like if it was 30 degrees colder than that. I would haven't been able to take any pics at all , let alone text my friends.
I think Adrianna must be about 19-22 years old. It's very laughable that she complains that taking gloves off to text and post her pics on facebook as a major problem. In fact, I find that comment to be far more laughable than her thinking 50 is cold She has no clue how it was 15 years ago when no one owned a cell phone. People took pics with film cameras and hope they turned out okay and then share their stories with their friends AFTER they got back from their trip. I am amazed at how this generation has to share everything with their entire social circle immediately.
If she does ever experience -30, I bet she would choose frostbite over protecting her fingers in the name of social media. This younger generation is doomed!
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it wasn't -30 but felt like it.
, let alone text my friends.
