Forecast is minus (-20) Below Zero. Cold enough?

[Redbugdave]

I lived and worked in Fairbanks Alaska when I was young. The coldest temperatures I experienced were between -55F and -60F. I enjoyed working outdoors in those temperatures, although I didn't actually get much done because nothing worked well. It was a different world but an adventure and that's what I was there for, as well as to earn money for college. Today when the temperatures reach 50 above I'm ready to head south but it's the lack of sunshine and daylight that bothers me most now.

It was the same with me, too. I was up there almost 3 years. Ahhh...to be young again with adventure waiting. I even used to backpack in the warmer -20 degrees for a few days at a time. Having the right equipment and frame of mind alters your world.

 

[Idnar7]

I have lived 50 of my years in MN but the coldest I have ever been was at a high school football game in Austin, TX. It was about 40 with no wind but a damp cold that penetrated any amount of clothes. I bought some hot chocolate and was shaking so bad I spilled 2/3 of it just trying to hold the cup. And this was someone who grew up playing hockey on outdoor rinks and ice fishing on the river with no form of shelter. Over 60 now I have become a weather wimp and avoid the outdoors in winter.

 

[Nodak]

It really is what you adapt to. The first 40 degree day in the spring here you will see people with no jackets and driving around with the car windows open. Even in the coldest weather I will open the windows in my home for several hours on a sunny day just to get fresh air in. When I was still working we had to explain to new persons assigned to Cavalier AFS that they had to avoid using the parka they were given on arrival until it got truly cold. If they started wearing it in September they would not adapt and would feel the cold all winter.

 

[ABQ2015]

I was in central Oregon, where I hope to retire, during Thanksgiving. One of my concerns is that I won't be able to handle the winters but I do have lots of relatives in NM and TX that I can "visit" during the winter months. It was about 10 degrees colder there but was in or near the 40's by 10 am so I'm thinking that this is not too bad. The daylight hours are also not as long but less than an hour shorter than down south. Also there was never much of a wind. Then I get back to NM and now it's in the negative digits in Oregon.

It's fun on Facebook to see all my Texan friends and family bitterly complaining about the weather being in the 20's (although the roads are supposed to be as icey as ice skating rinks). Then the Oregonians post.

The coldest that I felt in Oregon during my trip was in Portland. It was only in the upper 30's or so but it felt very damp and that wet cold really chilled me.

 

[Buck2520]

-18 this morning in Idaho, -28 with windchill. Retiring in Jan, hope to spend time in a more southern latitude next winter.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

I was in central Oregon, where I hope to retire, during Thanksgiving. One of my concerns is that I won't be able to handle the winters but I do have lots of relatives in NM and TX that I can "visit" during the winter months. It was about 10 degrees colder there but was in or near the 40's by 10 am so I'm thinking that this is not too bad. The daylight hours are also not as long but less than an hour shorter than down south. Also there was never much of a wind. Then I get back to NM and now it's in the negative digits in Oregon.

My mom's last 13 years were spent in southern Washington, so we looked for over 10 years at retiring there or to Oregon. We've made friends with a lot of beagle people, and we had the chance to be there through all the seasons.

I think OR is a beautiful state, and we would love the chance to own some acreage there; in fact, twice we made offers on houses there, but they didn't work out.

It's a good thing they didn't. After seeing all the seasons many times, I finally realized over the past 2-3 years that too many months of dark days wouldn't work for me. I think it started happening as i got older. I get nauseous and feel like I want to curl up in a ball. I can't stand it. It shuts me down, even when it happens here in California. I truly am solar powered these days.

The final straw for me was flying up to Portland in early July from a sunny California day to get below Portland's clouds and finding overcast. We had looked at the forecast and saw sunshine, so we wore shorts.

Like you, I have relatives in TX to visit, but then, I never did see the point of leaving where I can live all year round, mostly in comfort, to move to a place where I have to get out of town for a few months every year.

And then I have 3 dogs to take with me, wherever I go . . . .

 

[MRG]

I suffer from the same thing, called SAD. There are good therapy lights, some find them very useful. We used to always head south, right before winter. That way I had a week of sun, after that the days start getting longer.
MRG

 

[Accidental Retiree]

I suffer from the same thing, called SAD. There are good therapy lights, some find them very useful. We used to always head south, right before winter. That way I had a week of sun, after that the days start getting longer.
MRG

I bought one of those blue lights for myself last year, and I found it really helps. I admit, I was a bit skeptical, but it really works for me. I break it out in the mornings, when I am up early having my coffee, and let it shine on me for half an hour or so while I catch up with ER.org and play Words with Friends.

Someone out there even makes visors with blue lights built in under the brim!

 

[Kimo]

It is right about now I feel so correct about moving to Hawaii....... LOL!

 

[Walt34]

Guess I've always been a weather wimp. Until recently even the hottest days didn't bother me much, but the cold always just sinks right in whatever I wear. A good friend is the opposite - he suffers horribly in the heat but loves cold weather. Maybe just genetics?

Anyway, before clearing the snow from the driveway I ventured outside with a macro lens and took some photos of snow on the bushes near the house. Kind of neat to see individual crystals.

 

[braumeister]

OK, I have to make one more comment here.
Many years ago, I went to a talk by a scientist who had spent a tour in Antarctica. He was full of fascinating information, but his closing segment stuck in my mind.

They had a sauna outside the main living quarters, and they made a film (this was before digital video) of one of them coming out of the sauna and standing there in the open.

The water vapor coming off his body went up about six feet over his head, then condensed, froze, crystallized, and fell back down on him as snow.

It looked exactly like the cartoon guy who had the little rain cloud that followed him everywhere.

300 Club - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Nodak]

Today in Mandan, ND

• Currently
  
  Clouds and Sun -24°
  RealFeel® -24°
  Hourly Forecast
• Today
  
  Dec 23
  
  Frigid with some sun Hi -4°
  RealFeel -17°
  more
• Tonight
  
  Dec 23
  
  A little icy mix late Lo -8°
  RealFeel -26°
  more
• Tomorrow
  
  Dec 24
  
  Morning snow; not as cold Hi 29°
  RealFeel 15°
  more

 

[Bestwifeever]

Today in Mandan, ND

• Currently
  
  Clouds and Sun -24°
  RealFeel® -24°
  Hourly Forecast
• Today
  
  Dec 23
  
  Frigid with some sun Hi -4°
  RealFeel -17°
  more
• Tonight
  
  Dec 23
  
  A little icy mix late Lo -8°
  RealFeel -26°
  more
• Tomorrow
  
  Dec 24
  
  Morning snow; not as cold Hi 29°
  RealFeel 15°
  more

Your reports always make me feel warm, here in Chicago.

 

[Silver]

86 degrees here in central Florida going down to 70's tomorrow. Brrrr.......

 

[Kimo]

85 but we are getting all the way down to 73 tonight...

 

[Nodak]

Warmer at the poles than in ND.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I'd Be Safe and Warm......If I was in LA

10 Day Los Angeles Forecast

Updated: Dec 23, 2013, 10:06am PST

Today Dec 23

75°F
51°F
Sunny

Chance of rain: 0% Wind: W at 3 mph Details



Tue Dec 24

78°
52°
Sunny

Chance of rain: 0% Wind: NNW at 5 mph Details



Wed Dec 25

80°
49°
Mostly Sunny
Full Christmas Forecast

 

[Ronstar]

We're out shopping in and out of small shops in Chicagoland at 7 degrees - good to know that we're colder than the North Pole also

 

[Kimo]

10 Day Los Angeles Forecast

Updated: Dec 23, 2013, 10:06am PST

Today Dec 23

75°F
51°F
Sunny

Chance of rain: 0% Wind: W at 3 mph Details



Tue Dec 24

78°
52°
Sunny

Chance of rain: 0% Wind: NNW at 5 mph Details



Wed Dec 25

80°
49°
Mostly Sunny
Full Christmas Forecast

51 and 52? Still waaayyy too cold....we have to wear additional clothing at 73.......

 

[MasterBlaster]

We just might go have lunch down at the beach today

Here's a picture for you snowbirds:

 

[Marita40]

Yeah, but our tough MN winters make all the women strong, the men good looking,and the children above average. So there!

 

[Walt34]

About a year out from retirement I looked on the Census Bureau's web site, seeking the state with the lowest population density per square mile. That state is ND.

Then I looked at NOAA's web site, found the year-round temperature averages there, and found there is good reason for that.

 

[mn54]

Yeah, but our tough MN winters make all the women strong, the men good looking,and the children above average. So there!

credit should go to Garrison K. and the prairie home companion show. Got to see it live at the fitzgerald theatre. Fun show.

 

[Marita40]

Yes mn54 I've seen his show many times at the Fitz. Garrison lives down the street from me and gets his eyebrows trimmed at the salon where I get my hair cut!

 

[FIREd]

Here, in the Northern Alps, the temperatures have been unseasonably warm for this time of year. But we are expecting lower temperatures and gale-force wind for Christmas.