One of the first things I learned about the extreme cold is that stuff stops working in it. Camera batteries die. Old cars refuse to start up and our new car gets nine miles to the gallon. The power jack in my car doesn’t effectively charge the bluetooth earpiece I put in there. Cigarette lighters stop working. Pay-at-the-pump stops working. Cell phones randomly turn off. You just can’t count on anything in the Great Blue Outside.
Back when I lived in the South, it was a really big deal whether the temperature would go below freezing and stay there for the better part of three or more days. It happened every other year or so. When it did happen, it would kill off most of the fleas that tortured our poor pets. If it didn’t, it would mean more scratching for them and more work for us.
I used to think that below a certain temperature, cold was cold. Once you hit, I dunno, twenty degrees or so, then it was mostly a matter of humidity and wind. I mean, how cold can it really get?
Our jaunt in Arapaho has taught me different. At twenty, you don’t want to stay out very long because you will get uncomfortable. At zero, you don’t want to stay outside very long because it will be painful. At ten below, it’s painful almost from the get-go. You just don’t want to go out at all. The whole town goes relatively silent. Places remain open, but the community just kind of retreats into itself, for the most part.
It reminds me a little bit of Gulf Coast summers. Except that Gulf Coast summers don’t seem as bad.
When I first moved up north, I told myself that at least with cold weather, you can keep putting layers on. If you tried to find the appropriate level of clothing for southern summer, you’d be arrested for public indecency (or you’d be Robbie Williams in this music video). That may be true if I would bite the bullet and order long johns. Given my odd dimensions (I’m tall, but with normal legs and a long torso), that would be a task.
I am proud of myself for one thing. I have a bucket hat that was too large (which, given my substantial cranial endowment, is impressive). I have a headwarmer that I don’t like how it looks. But I can put the bucket hat over the headwarmer and it creates something workable. The next step is to be able to wear a mask without fogging up my glasses. For my toes, however, and for my hands, there is no cure. On the latter part, the cold actually coopts my gloves and rather than keeping the head in, it simply acts as a cold blanket around my hands.
I have come to understand what northern transplants meant when they would say, “At least down here, you don’t have to shovel snow!” How much work could that be, I asked. It turns out, a lot. I understand how people can die doing it. The snow had started falling before we got back from our trip down south, but fortunately someone took care of it for us. The first day back, and every day since, I’ve been out there shovelling the sidewalk and freezing my toes off. Legally, we don’t have to shovel it until the snow stops and since the snow has been non-stop, I am theoretically okay. However, I learned the hard way two winters ago that if you don’t take care of it after it falls, it starts packing in, freezing on itself, and becoming much tougher.
This winter we have it easy. We were told to vacate the garage the week after Lain was born. We figured if we weren’t going to have the garage, we’d just park out front. Which is really handy because we have a winding driverway that I no longer have to shovel. So, that’s a victory at least.
Of course, when we got home from our trip, our heater was broken. The house was freezing. But then it would work sporadically. Basically, it would work when the serviceman was here and then stop working ten minutes after he’d leave. This happened three times until we determined that it was a part that was burning out when it was kept on “too long.”
Back home, if you are a landlord, you can be held civilly or even criminally liable if you do not have air conditioning in a unit you are renting out for certain months of the year. Up here, of course, it’s heat. The house we will be moving into doesn’t have air conditioning. Nor did our house back in the Pacific Northwest. But all of them have heat, I can tell you that. As do we now, when the repair man fortunately found a replacement part double-quick.
Dude, I’ve been chasing Gandolf all weekend. Started out Thursday in Idaho Falls. I was supposed to go up to Victor to pick up a load of beer (of all things). Told my dispatcher that it was snowing and the roads were slick with cars running into the ditch, and then uttered the magic words, “I don’t feel safe driving in this.” Legally, I’m sort of the master of the ship when it comes to safety related issues, especially weather.
Then picked it up Friday (roads still sucked, but it wasn’t snowing as hard) and I’ve been a day behind the storm ever since. You know when it’s the coldest out? Yep, the day after the storm. But I’m good to make delivery tomorrow.
Now to see if the beer is still liquid. When I picked it up, the guy in charge (it’s a micro-brew) asked me if I was sure it wouldn’t freeze. Apparently our CSR (account rep) told them that it was OK since the truck would be idling at night and–as God is my witness he really said this–the vibration would keep it from freezing. What a pant-load! If anything saves it it will be the alcohol content. This should really be on an insulated refer unit, but in any case, it’s not my problem. It might change my schedule of events tomorrow, but it won’t be my bad.
Twenty!?….twenty is great xc skiing weather. Its the perfect winter temp. Ten, well that is getting brisk and zero, well zero is a pain.
Its always fun after a cold snap ( 10 or below as high temp) to see all sorts of people wearing shorts and t shirts when it gets up to 30.
Pay at the pump stops working??? huh, i’ve never seen that even when its below zero. -20 now that really gets your attention.
We’ve had a terrible winter. Little snow, one long cold snap and mostly overly warm. Its in the 30’s and raining now. Meh.
“What he said,” says the East-Coast Canadian. Sunny, crisp, 20 degree days are my favorite kind of weather now that I’ve moved down here.
Although I think the dry cold of states like Arapaho (and my own) sucks the breath out of one more, it does have the advantage of not gluing bits of one’s face together quite so quickly.
Pay at the pump can indeed stop working; it’s happened to me. Doesn’t seem logical (you’d think everything involved is digital and electronic and therefore immune to temperature) but it happens.
Key fobs can stop working too. Which is a problem because if it gets that cold, the keys to your car can also snap off inside the locks when you try to turn them. So then you’re standing outside your locked car, in subzero temperature and snow, with no key and no way to unlock it. What’s your next move? (Not my story, but rather my wife’s.)
Easy. Kill a a moose ( or Ton Ton if you are in the Star Wars universe and on the planet Hoth), cut it open and crawl inside.
Doesn’t seem logical (you’d think everything involved is digital and electronic and therefore immune to temperature) but it happens.
Not true. The fundamental process — pull a strip magnetized to a different degree in different places past a read head in order to generate a very low-power signal — is both inherently analog and mechanical. The various parts are affected by changes in temperature. Metal and plastic both contract in the cold, and at different rates. A solder joint that is good enough at room temperature may fail (either partially or completely) at cold temperatures because of contraction. Alignment and spacing of the read head is important, and can be affected by cold temperatures. It is possible to get ice build-up inside the mechanism in very cold conditions (ice which would normally be melted by either friction or waste heat from the electronics) and spoil the spacing between the mag strip and the read head. The performance of electronic components like transistors, resistors and capacitors vary with temperature — there’s a reason you have to pay significantly more for mil-spec electronic components that are guaranteed to function down to much colder temperatures. Given the large amount of analog amplification needed to make the signal from the read head usable, and the variability of the components, the signal may be distorted to the point it’s not usable in very cold temperatures.
If not in the wilderness, go get a cup of warm/hot water and pour this on the lock before inserting/turning the key (I am assuming that it’s not just the key getting brittle in the cold, but ice resistance in the lock that increases the risk of key breakage)?
Of course, this “fix” may also put you in a worse spot later, as that water freezes on/in the lock, making it presumably even harder to turn next time; and maybe that time you’ll have no access to warm water.
If you are not in the wilderness, use a hair dryer. (Seriously)
If I remember correctly, you can spritz with rubbing alcohol to get it moving.
I actually considered that, but I assumed that the car was reasonably far away from an AC outlet (a cup of warm water should be available at anyone’s house/apartment/restaurant/ maybe even store, and is very portable, whereas I don’t own a hairdryer and many other ppl/places won’t have one, nor the extension cords necessary to get it in reach of the car.)
Good call – I would think rubbing alcohol would work, that sounds like a better idea – maybe keep a small bottle, or some alcohol wipes with you?
Actually, being that Burt’s wife presumably has her purse with her, spritz some perfume if she carries that. Perfume’s mostly alcohol, and I don’t *think* the remaining chemical components are particularly corrosive.
Ah, but she doesn’t wear perfume.
Don’t people get chapped in shorts if it’s that cold? (30 degrees?)
Cold is much easier to live with, provided you’re indoors and have working heat. As an added bonus, many modern conveniences have the side effect of giving off heat as a side effect, which can be helpful. Unfortunately, there isn’t much endothermic in the realm of consumer appliances or electronics for those of us that live in the South.
On the other hand, going outside when it’s truly cold is far worse than heat. From my experience, all cold starts to feel the same around -20F, it’s really all the same outside of how quickly exposed skin will freeze.
Welcome to winter.
I have been living in the Bay Area for 4.5 years and am still mildly amused at how Californians treat cold weather. It can get cold in the Bay Area but far from super-New York cold. I think the coldest it has been in my time here is around 48 degrees. Yet Californians seem to put on their heavy winter coats as soon as the temp hits below 60.
Years ago when i worked for a homeless shelter here in Anchorage i got to go to LA for a training week at a shelter that was part of the same national charity. It was February and a cold one at that. It was in the single digits when i left. In LA it was in the 70’s during the day. When we went out to find street kids at night on Sunset i was wearing a t-shirt and the locals had on leather jackets, scarves and wool hats.
We put on out heaviest coats when it’s as cold as it gets here? How odd. 🙂
That would explain the leathery skinned, boney, botoxed older woman wearing a full length fur coat at LAX when it was in the 80’s that passed by me last time i was there.
It is still the 60s though. These are coats that New Yorkers would not wear until the temp went below 50.
At CMU, it was always the southern Indians. Put on heavy coats the first cold snap in August (mid sixties). By the actual winter, they always seemed to have new coats, better designed for the temperatures.
And that’s Pittsburgh, which isn’t terribly cold.
There’s a good scene in Neil Gaiman’s American Gods when the hero goes outside to pick up some groceries in Minnesota, during the dead of winter and when there’s a breeze. He feels it’s cold and figures with a jacket on, he’ll be okay walking briskly. Several blocks later he isn’t getting any warmer. But he’s stubborn and he presses on. A few blocks after that, and he realizes that he has made a serious mistake and that indeed, his very life is in danger.
I’ll not include what happens after that because [spoilers]. Fantastic book. But yes, it can get that frickin’ cold.
Cold ain’t nearly as dangerous as a cold november rain (particularly if you’re wearing cotton).
or marrying axl rose.
A few things I learned in my winter in Milwaukee.
Glove liners: often more warm than the gloves.
Boots work the same way. The $7/pair wool socks are great, but work better if you have a thin hose-type sock underneath it.
Nothing cuts wind like leather, unless it’s vented; in which case, it sucks.
We were sitting around one day talking about what we did to stay warm.
I had two pair of longjohns and a pair of sweatpants stuffed in my pants that I had to assemble before I put my pants on. And I was still cold.
A guy from Tennessee swore by these wool longjohns from Cabella’s.
A Yooper on the crew only wore the flannel-lined jeans.
So, I got me some flannel-lined jeans, and they quickly became my favorite winter pants.
I have several flannel-lined, and one fleece-lined; but that’s good for me.
And, as I remember it, Omaha was a lot colder than Milwaukee, fwiw.
You get weird looks from your relatives if you’re actually from the north and go around wearing more than one pair of pants (no one can tell if you’re wearing long johns, or in any case the looks you get are at least comprehending). I know this for a reason.
That being said, in addition to lined pants, corduroys are your friend in the north.
…Oh, and I haven’t been to the plains at all, but I’ve heard it’s completely ridiculous, certainly compared to WI (esp. lakeside Milw).
I was actually right on the lake in Milwaukee. And again in Indiana.
But I was working night shift in Omaha. That might have had something to do with it.
Long Johns are a must if you’re going to be outside for longer than the journey from the car to the door once it starts getting below 20 or so. Wearing two pairs of pants is a big sign that you’re not bright enough to own long johns. Lined pants are kosher (and awesome), but not particularly fashionable in most cases.
If you’re working outside for any period in those temperatures, especially with a wind, good heavy coveralls go a long way.
With a wind, you want rainpants (goretex)
The average low here in St. George, Utah in January is 29. We’ve managed to get higher than that approximately twice in the last 48 hours. I’ve woken up to 11-14 degrees the last 3 days. It’s been 13 years since I moved from Iowa. I forgot just how cold *cold* can be.
People have hit on most of the obvious clothing things. Long underwear. Wool socks. Good boots. If you’re doing something that doesn’t require manual dexterity (eg, shoveling snow), mittens will always be warmer than gloves. When I was a lad, I had hunting mittens that had a slit where you could extend your trigger finger when it was time to shoot.
IMO, the key to shoveling snow is technique (I’ve got 50 years of experience with the chore now). Most of the people in my neighborhood have terrible technique. If it’s cold enough, the snow won’t stick to your shovel. When in doubt, spray the shovel with a silicone lubricant first. Plan your attack so that you can push more and throw less. Lift with your legs not your back. Throw by swinging your arms from side to side, not by twisting your back. Getting into a rhythm is good. What to wear for shoveling is a balancing act. On a calm day, it’s easy to overdress for the chore. You’re going to generate a lot of waste heat; your body will expend a bunch of energy trying to keep you cool inside that parka once you get into the rhythm.
Shoveling two or three tons of snow off the driveway is a serious workout (multiply out the weight sometime — it adds up fast). Pay attention to your breathing — if you’re breathing hard, slow down. Inhaling large amounts of cold air is very hard on your whole system, and you’re already giving it a challenge.
Yeah, if you’re sweating, take clothes off. Keep flesh covered. Simple principles.
I have a solution to snow shovelling. Move to somewhere around thirty degrees north latitude. If I ever shovel snow again, it will be too soon.
All protests and complaints about how lovely the winter is, the change of seasons, etc. ad nauseam — will fall on deaf ears. I’ve had it with snow and ice, driving on skating rinks, shovelling out cars, falling on steps, the fetid odours of sweat in woollen hats, finding the other glove, jumping off other people’s cars and screwing up my alternator. Done. Finito. Been there. Done that.
Well, sometimes I think about that kind of place, then I sit out on the deck in the evening, in the thin dry air, with a glass of a nice white wine, and decide that I’ll accept shoveling a few times each year. OTOH, I don’t think about moving fifteen miles west (and 2,500 feet up), where the climate is quite different, although some people seem to prefer that.
To be clear, when I talk about having a “long driveway” I am talking about a driveway that bends all the way around the house, coming in at the northeastern part of the lot to the garage at the middle-westerns part of the lot. A lot that is 2/3 of an acre in size.