So you thought it was cold here last week......

just been on messenger with a mate who lives in Cochrane Alberta. minus 35 today over there.
says the wind chill makes you cry.

One of my sons lives in upstate NY, only a couple of miles from Lake Ontario so he'll definitely cop some of this with a high likelihood of a heavy dump of lake-effect snow just to add to the fun.

It’s a strange kind of cold over there. I was in Edmonton in March 2000 & it was -9, I was in a T shirt & didn’t feel like -9. Came home to to +5 & was bloody freezing.

Someone I know through another cycling group is in Texas (San Antonio I think) and they are bracing themselves, having got caught out a year or two back when a cold snap broke their electricity supply.

Ironically, earlier this week he was making a fuss about having to ride in a balaclava as it was down to 10°C.

-55c ? 😯 Bloody hell.

It’s a strange kind of cold over there. I was in Edmonton in March 2000 & it was -9, I was in a T shirt & didn’t feel like -9. Came home to to +5 & was bloody freezing.

Yeah the dryness does make a difference, I've worked over the province and down to about -10degC with the sun out is not bad at all, maybe not t shirt as you describe but vest and thick shirt is ok for short period if active and no wind. Add in wind, no sun and it start to feel cold and anything less than -15 feels cold whatever and when it's -30 and less it's just painful unless you are properly covered, lined trousers or overhauls etc

"It’s a strange kind of cold over there."

Whilst this is true and I'm often out and about at -10C in some pretty lightweight gear compared to the UK -30C is cold no matter which way you cut it. This is the inside of my back door where ice is now accumulating and I'm about to spend a happy 15 minutes with the hair dryer to defrost the lock....

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and here's sweajnr dressed for his 3 minute walk from the car park to the school....

[url= https://i.ibb.co/BBjnhr1/PXL-20211224-164148569-PORTRAIT.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.ibb.co/BBjnhr1/PXL-20211224-164148569-PORTRAIT.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Edit - no idea why that came out so big...

It’s not going to feel a nice cold with that wind! Blimey. Guy I shared a flat with in Glasgow was from BC - always said it felt colder here due to the dampness even though he was used to far lower temperatures.

And we thought 'The Day After Tomorrow' was a nice fantasy romp.

Don't think some of the states affected (or their infrastructure) are really set up to withstand properly cold weather.

Don’t think some of the states affected (or their infrastructure) are really set up to withstand properly cold weather.

At least they'll have something in common with a big chunk of Hampshire currently.

Rightly or wrongly, I'd expect many northern inland states to be reasonably used to bitterly cold winters, but Texas and Florida? 😮

At least they’ll have something in common with a big chunk of Hampshire currently.

And since the banknotes changed to plastic, they can't even just burn money to keep warm. 🙂

55c ? 😯 Bloody hell.

Er no. That's the ****stemperature. Used only to sensationalise weather forecasts.

Those ‘muricans just love quoting windchill temperature figures although I did see a FB post from someone in the Yukon showing a thermometer indicating below -50C this week.
I’d say that down to -20C it’s all pretty manageable if you’re dressed appropriately, below -25C and it starts getting a bit nippy around the eyes and nostrils and below -30C you really need to start getting your act together. I’ve done some work in an environmental chamber at -40C, and you don’t really notice to begin with and then you pick up what you think is a flexible rubber hose and it breaks - we were testing some kit for the Swedish military who store stuff in unheated shelters - hydraulics and pneumatics could fail as the o-ring seals stopped working. Getting out and riding a bike in those type of conditions is pretty awesome.

Windchill is a thing but it shouldn't be quoted with a C. So -25C with a windchill of -30.

And yeah. Last time there was a cold snap in Texas I had colleagues who's houses basically froze. All external pipes and the like. Not good.

always said it felt colder here due to the dampness even though he was used to far lower temperatures.

Coldest I’ve ever been was stood in a drag lift queue on cairngorm at around 2c being blasted by freezing horizontal rain. Felt much worse than -25 in a gale at the top of the mountain at Alpe D’Huez.

-25C at the moment in Chicago with 35mph gusts which really finds the gaps in clothes/stupid wooden houses/etc

It’s not going to be for long this time.

Dovebiker

I’d say that down to -20C it’s all pretty manageable if you’re dressed appropriately, below -25C and it starts getting a bit nippy around the eyes and nostrils and below -30C you really need to start getting your act together.

Agree. I have lived most of my life at the Arctic Circle (was it you who had picture at sitting in front fire at wooden shelter? Our family cabin is about 1km from that place) and to about -20C it is just winter weather and only after it gets colder than that people are starting to take things more seriously in towns and cities. Teenagers might even put a hat on.

Also I’m really feeling the cold more now that I’m living nearer the sea, -10C when the sea is still open feels really colder than -20C in the north.

This is the inside of my back door

My uncles farm house had two doors on every external door. Blew me away the first time I say it!

Teenagers might even put a hat on

Unless they're from Newcastle

dressed for his 3 minute walk from the car park to the school….

Excellent, good to see everything functioning as normal.

Here everything would be shut and whiners whining

Our son is working in Banff. We're a little worried for him as he's not one for listening to advice, and doesnt tap into news sources. He seemed unaware of this until we messaged him via WhatsApp! His work provides accommodation but think they close down over Christmas, leaving the workers on site. As he was packing light he didnt take half the warm weather clothing I'd suggested, and hasnt bought much out there due to it being so expensive. Hoping he's staying indoors and not planning more solo hikes whilst the warnings are in force! We're also reading about power cuts being predicted.

I’d say that down to -20C it’s all pretty manageable if you’re dressed appropriately, below -25C and it starts getting a bit nippy around the eyes and nostrils and below -30C you really need to start getting your act together.

We had a holiday in northern Finland for millennium New Year, it was -15 or so and we were all amazed how easy it was to cope with. In the UK, -5 feels cold. It did get down to -25 for a couple of nights and that was noticeably more difficult.

Felt colder in Helsinki on the way home, -8 but damp. And then landing at Manchester is always cold and miserable. 😅

Maybe it's just me but is the US getting more extremes of weather now? Sweltering heat in summer, more hurricanes and then bitterly cold winters...?

I remember skiing at Jackson Hole a few years back when it was -32C at the car park; no idea what it was up the hill but only fully enclosed lifts were running and the published advice was to take the day one run at a time, then head indoors to warm up. No exposed skin allowed and the lifties were checking as people left the top of the gondola.

I've also ski toured from Braemar when it was -23C when we parked Andy's truck at Linn of Quoich and headed up Bhuird. The powder in the forest at the head of the glen was way better that day than out on the hills; we shouldn't have bothered with the summit and just done laps in the forest instead.

But as @dazh says, the top of Cairngorm (or any Scottish summit) in a gale of freezing rain or ice will feel a whole lot worse. I've been out touring on a day like that, not realising that on our ski back, we were passing within a half mile of two climbers we'd spoken to in the car park that morning who died in the snow.

And yeah. Last time there was a cold snap in Texas I had colleagues who’s houses basically froze. All external pipes and the like. Not good.

This though seems a thing throughout North America - lightweight, poorly insulated houses which just chuck energy at heat or cold. We have friends who were on Vancouver Island, now a couple of miles west of Lake Huron. He is a joiner and has super insulated much of their house, added draft lobbies to all doors etc. The neighbours think he is nuts.

One of my ex staff lives in Duluth, east end of Lake Superior. They have a couple of year old house and yet even last winter were showing ice around the doors pictures like the one above.

Perception or reality?

I've experienced -37 in Calgary - I cannot describe how that felt

Maybe it’s just me but is the US getting more extremes of weather now? Sweltering heat in summer, more hurricanes and then bitterly cold winters…?

So there is a god?

Mrsmidlifes stepmom froze to death last Feb in about -18C. Had a fall while out feeding her animals on her smallholding in New Jersey.

A friend of mine has recently moved from Florida to Detroit. I bet that'll be a nice change.

Just wondering what I'd do if that kind of storm hit here - how do you walk the dog in that kind of weather? Booties, coat, and a maximum of 5 minutes outside, praying pooch will take the hint and do its thing without delay?

“The NWS's Cheyenne branch tweeted: "The cold front has arrived in Cheyenne and it is already a record-breaker! From 1:05 to 1:35, the temperature plunged from 43 to 3 degrees, a FOURTY-DEGREE drop in just 30 minutes!”

In Eurospeak that’s 6 to -16 Celsius.

https://www.newsweek.com/flash-freeze-hits-us-temperature-plunges-42-less-one-hour-1769021

Not wanting to make light of the severity,but well played to the BBC staffer who worked "Hell has frozen over" into the report

BBC News - US winter storm: Icy blast hits 200 million Americans
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64083129

Just imagine the numbers of burst pipes when it warms up.
Zero lagging at those temperatures and you can guarantee split joints.
Plus people going out, because its pretty much the first covid free xmas, so let's go amd see gramps. Who is only an hour away, in a car with summer tyres, no previous experience of driving in icy conditions. Who will get stuck, without a 4 season sleeping bag in the car. Then they try to walk out, in trainers.

Cripes - anyone see footage of the pile-up in Ohio? Absolute carnage with quite a few dead. They really do pile-ups in a special way in the US.

One of my ex staff lives in Duluth, east end of Lake Superior. They have a couple of year old house and yet even last winter were showing ice around the doors pictures like the one above.

i lived in a house with quad glazed windows and 15” of insulation in the walls and still got ice like that around that exact type of door handle when it got really cold. i guess the cold travels through the handle. it didn’t happen on the front door, strangely.

Er no. That’s the ****stemperature. Used only to sensationalise weather forecasts.

i love it when i see folk posting things like this. i believe wind chill is quoted because it influences how quickly your skin will freeze if it is exposed. i’m sure if you’re a mountain explorer or working in a mine in the arctic you’d be suitably equipped, it’s manageable if you are a texan who is usually eating outside at this time of year it will make a big difference.

in the lower mainland of BC yesterday we had lots of snow followed by freezing rain. i’m my neighbourhood anything that was left outside has a thin sheet of ice over it and there are icicles hanging from anything that got wet.

it’s pretty grim, this part of canada can’t cope with these temperatures!

I’ve experienced -37 in Calgary – I cannot describe how that felt

i always think it feels a bit like stepping into a too hot bath with cold feet. you can’t tell if it’s hot or cold until the pain hits. but it’s cold.

Maybe it’s just me but is the US getting more extremes of weather now? Sweltering heat in summer, more hurricanes and then bitterly cold winters…?

it’s the whole of the continent. the northern parts which were pretty arid are now getting more snow leading to flooding in spring.

the weather is changing and it isn’t getting more pleasant

A friend of mine has recently moved from Florida to Detroit. I bet that’ll be a nice change.

Well, it doesn’t have DeSantos there, so that’s a plus…

I can't remember the true temperature but in Calgary in 1993 I experienced -43°C windchill. I went from boiling hot in the house, dressed in everything I had in preparation, to frozen to the bone on stepping outside. Instantly, or so it seemed.

lightweight, poorly insulated houses which just chuck energy at heat or cold

I've posted this before but until a few years ago my in-laws' house in Wisconsin had no insulation between the inner walls and the outer siding. They just relied like most people on massive amounts of heating. It had been like that for 100 years.

My sister in law had no lagging at all on the hot water tank in the basement, and the immersion heater was on all the time. And the idea that this should change was some kind of fringe tree hugger concept.

Huge weather systems like this have a knock on effect..
Expect a super charged jet stream and some mega low pressure systems running in off the Atlantic by the end of the week.. 60 to 70++mph storms...

cloudnine
Free Member
Huge weather systems like this have a knock on effect..
Expect a super charged jet stream and some mega low pressure systems running in off the Atlantic by the end of the week.. 60 to 70++mph storms…

Username checks out👍

@cloudnine - The BBC forecast earlier on Countryfile said pretty much the same - it’s boosting the jet stream and it’s dragging successive long streamers of wet, stormy weather across the Atlantic to us. It’ll stay fairly mild, though.

I was looking through a bunch of photos on a Bored Panda post earlier, really brings home what the conditions are like…

https://www.boredpanda.com/blizzard-snow-cold-weather-usa-2022/