-10° and Worse

Yes to all of the above.

Sorry, only -6 here right now. But it'll be colder tomorrow night. Yeah, cold is coming into the house, it's hard to be outside more than a few minutes without many layers, my skin is drying out and nothing seems to help, my hands and lips crack, I wear a fleece and a waffle weave shirt and a reversible flannel pair of bottoms and sometimes wool socks to bed. Dog won't go out, has regressed to pissing in house. Dances on his toes before too long. It's brisk, baby. Brisk!

I went to school for a year in Montreal. And I was on the cross country team. You really have to be young and even then after a certain point it's dangerous to the lungs. Also walking to class in the morning, you'd arrive and it would take 10 minutes for your face to warm up enough to talk.

#2 = Randy & Evie Quaid, Saskatoon.

It's rough. Can relate to a lot of what r2 said. Also issues with pipes freezing, it's recommended to run any faucets several times during the day, especially pipes in exterior walls (like our kitchen sink). We also let our kitchen faucet run with a slight drip on nights like tonight. Just gotta stay warm! The furnace runs a lot. We just moved into a house with a furnace intake pipe on the outside, that pulls fresh outside air into the furnace. Last week when the temps dipped quickly below zero, we got a lot of frost buildup around the mouth of the pipe. If it can't pull air in, the furnace won't run, so we had to run outside a few times a day to knock the buildup off so the furnace could run.

I just got home from work and the temperature is -12. I can’t wait until this is over.

unless it's windy it's not that bad if you wear layers and keep your face, hands and top 9f head covered outside. Inside you need to keep the water on a small bit so the pipes don't freeze. I have electric ceramic heaters to supplement my regular gas heat when it's cold.

Thanks for your replies. They’re very informative.

It was 70 today in Phoenix but a little windy. I hate the wind.

[quote] I went to school for a year in Montreal. And I was on the cross country team. You really have to be young and even then after a certain point it's dangerous to the lungs. Also walking to class in the morning, you'd arrive and it would take 10 minutes for your face to warm up enough to talk.

That's just ridiculous.

I don't know how anyone lives in places like Chicago, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Toronto, or Montreal.

And I cannot even imagine how people lived in that climate before 1900, without just... dying.

The inside of your nostrils freeze up when you breathe.

It’s a fucking shock, for sure. Even with a full winter coat, sweater, T shirt, beanie, gloves, denim pants and boots, I can’t stand to walk in it fir more than about 20 seconds.

R2, get the dog puddle pads and teach him how to use them. You can buy them at any pet store. He’ll be happier and it’s much easier to clean.

R3 We had -22’C last week and you need proper winter clothes to keep yourself warm. It doesn’t take 10 minutes to be able to talk. You are able to talk outside and right after you are inside.

R10 When it is really cold here, from -20 to -35 Celcius I think those people who came here at Stone Age and decided to stay after their first winter. Many died or moved back to south but those who stayed were really strong.

-10 fahrenheit is like -24 celcius so...

[quote]I live in Alabama and have never experienced anything like that so I’m curious.

If you have proper insulation, proper weatherproofing etc. You're not going to notice unless you're /really/ stingy with the heat.

The most annoying thing to deal with is if you have to start typing after getting to work and you've outside for any length of time beforehand. You have to let your fingers thaw out a bit before they'll move properly.

If you have a hot tub and your hair is wet the ends of it will freeze.

Frozen mailboxes, frozen locks. Car doors frozen shut etc.

R10, they wore Hudson’s Bay capotes, a type of full length or thigh length coat made of a Hudson’s Bay blanket. The traditional capotes had fringe or a small capelet around the shoulders and a long hood. They were cut something like a bathrobe with a sash, with a long narrow pointed hood, like a long Santa hat. Indigenous people and whites alike wore them, as early as the 1600’s. They wore them with leather leggings over their pants. People today still make and wear more modern versions of Hudson’s Bay jackets and coats. People only went outside when they were moving around, chopping wood or hunting, and they did whatever they could to get ready before winter, so they probably stayed in as much as they could.

If you’re interested, look up the history of the Hudson Bay blanket. It’s really interesting, and there’s a lot of information about how these trading blankets became a form of currency because they were so useful. The stripes show how large the blanket is, larger blankets had more stripes.

Minnesota, I was born here. It is currently -15, with a combined windchill temp of -33. Up north they may have hit record -50. We are under a cold weather advisory. You can't have any exposed skin for more than a few minutes or you will start feeling a stinging/numbing. Cars don't start, you feel bad for pushing your car to drive. It's icy everywhere - really like a frozen world. You basically live inside (yes we have tunnels downtown). My building sent out a warning that pipes are busting because of people leaving windows, doors open (?). I feel so bad for any stray animals out there that don't have shelter. But because it's Minnesota you still see people out biking, jogging, and clubbing/dining with skirts and heels or dudes without a coat. I wear triple layers, a fleece neck scarf, thick socks and boots yet my feet still freeze. It just makes you grumpy and it's isolating. It's also eerily quiet at night since few people are out, except for the criminals stealing cars. I miss walking outside.. since I used to live somewhere warm, I hate it but many here are 'used to it' and say it makes you appreciate the spring and summer more. That's my take.

It’s -4 in Illinois as I type this and I refused to even go outside to check the mail Saturday because it’s so cold. I have all the curtains closed because it keeps out the draft. A few years ago there was one day it was -20 and frost was on the INSIDE of my bedroom window.😳

[quote] The most annoying thing to deal with is if you have to start typing after getting to work and you've outside for any length of time beforehand. You have to let your fingers thaw out a bit before they'll move properly.

Sounds miserable.

[quote] Frozen mailboxes, frozen locks. Car doors frozen shut etc.

Sounds like a pain in the ass.

[quote] People only went outside when they were moving around, chopping wood or hunting, and they did whatever they could to get ready before winter, so they probably stayed in as much as they could.

Those poor people must have been bored out of their minds.

[quote] My building sent out a warning that pipes are busting because of people leaving windows, doors open

Is it better living in an apartment building than a single family home, during this sort of weather?

I would imagine that apartment buildings are much better heated and withstand the cold better than a house.

Update from r5: it's 2am & I just had to run outside & knock the frost buildup out of the furnace intake pipe. Good night!

-10 here in Wisconsin, other wise known as a Sunday morning in February, meh. Although I'm a little sick of looking at my car covered in salt, over 2 feet of snow on the ground and the car washes are all closed :(

I will say that once I was on a long plane layover in Chicago one January and took the train to downtown to see the Art Institute exhibits. It was 8 degrees with a brisk wind blowing. I was freezing in a heavy leather jacket, sweater and jeans but the Chicagoans were fashionably dressed but completely appropriate for the weather. For women, knee length quilted down coats lined with fur, the men also in down coats, everyone with hats, ski mittens, etc. In other words, they don't play when it's winter time. They dress for it. But this cold snap seems to be both prolonged and consistently windy. Bad combination. It's been colder than normal where I am (in the Northwest), but not anything like what the Midwest has been experiencing for the past 8 days or so. Our lowest temperature was 8 degrees - and that was plenty cold. The main rule of thumb in cold and wind, is to eliminate exposed skin. Everything, including the face, should ideally be covered with something, preferably something well-insulated.

Did you guys get any snow, R23?

The forecast was for about 2-4 inches this weekend.

R22 are stores open in that kind of weather?

Fast food?

Does life go on as normal when the weather gets to -10, or do certain places have to close?

^^ Oh, yeah, everything is business as usually, you just can't wash your car, because water is a bit stiff at -10

Minus 10C and lots of snow at the moment. I live in an older apartment building. Heating's ok but really expensive. If I don't have it on every surface becomes cold to touch. Even my roll-on deodorant!

The cold informs everything I do - routine, what I wear, general logistics. Drying clothing/bedding is a major hassle (dryers aren't a thing here) and I have bath towels that never seem completely dry. Also have to be really careful when I do go out to avoid slipping on black ice.

And my physical self - I haven't seen the sun for what seems like weeks which kinda sucks the life out of me and my skin is dry as fuck.

It hurts to take a deep breath, you cover up your nose but moisture builds up so fast!. Your feet get cold unless you have the kind of socks that are foil lined. You must avoid exertion that would make you sweat. Single pane windows can be deadly. People in Alaska and in the lower 58, the Keewenaw peninsula, take their bvehicle batteries in at night and out in the morning so they won't freeze. Birdsong vanishes from the sky and you get as close to nature silent as you can get. Snow that had fallen glitters. If there is snow cover, buried gas lines etc. will be okay. If there isn't, there could be outages. It is very hard on your heart.

Boondocking youtubers freeze in their cars, camper vans, A liners, and hot tents and won't be discovered until spring.

Oh, I forgot to add - when I go out, it's so cold my eyes water continually. I have 'goggles' that I use but, because I'm wearing a mask, they fog up and are completely useless.

When it was 4F around midnight, you could feel the cold coming in from the back sliding doors, even with the blinds closed over them. The door itself is frozen on the inside, we'll have puddles on the floor after it defrosts.

The furnace is on 65F but running nearly constantly now that it's -1F, and it's supposed to get down to -15F by Monday night. My concern is that the car's doors will be frozen shut or it won't start when the bf gets out of work at midnight, he's on second shift.

I live up in the frozen north (canada). Our houses are built for the cold. They have a lot of insulation. If your house is poorly insulated then you feel it for sure. The windows and walls don't get icy inside as long as you have an adequate heating system and decent insulation. Good windows are double or triple pane and rated for the cold. Our pipes don't freeze as long as you keep the heat on in the house. In terms of going outside there is a big difference between -20 on a sunny day with little wind and -20 on a cloudy and windy day. The windchill is what gets deep into your bones. On a nice sunny -20 day, you can spend a lot of time outdoors without getting cold. You have to wear the right clothes and generally keep moving but lots of people spend hours outside doing sports or physical activity or clearing snow. It is quite enjoyable and you get the warmth of the sun on your face! On non sunny days it is a different story, it just feels damp and cold and people just kind of only stay outside as long as they have to in going from point a to point b. Anything that is wet will freeze - so nostril hairs freeze, if your eyelashes or hair is wet, it will freeze too. You get used to breathing in cold air. It isn't damaging. When you live in a cold climate, it is just part of life. Some people love the cold far more than others but you just accept it like other places would accept more extreme heat. We get pretty hot summers, crisp fall weather and a mix of nice and horrible weather in the spring so we get a good variety. It would be nice if summer was a little longer and winter a little shorter but it is what it is. There are also warmer / colder places within Canada so you can move to a slightly different climate if you want without leaving the country.

-14 here in Minneapolis as I type. Our house is old and a bit drafty but we have a good forced-air furnace, It's running well more than 50 percent of the time right now. We also cover some of our bigger windows with plastic in the winter, and we have a space heater in our basement. We don't have to leave water running, have never had a problem with frozen pipes. And our car, a Subaru, always starts right up no matter how cold. At least it's been sunny the last couple days so our rooms are nice and bright.

If I lay around too long I get chilly, and it's hard to keep your feet warm. But we have lots of big blankets. I try to keep busy with exercise, household chores. Husband and I have been doing a shitload of cooking. We're both WFH and have been getting groceries delivered. I literally haven't left the house other than to take garbage and recycling out in a full two weeks.

Lived here most of my life. I don't love this time of year but I'm used to it. We usually spend a week in Puerto Vallarta this time of year and we are definitely missing that.

I can only imagine Californians under a -10° weather...

-19 in Montana with sunshine. I agree with R31. The sun shining makes all the difference in the world. I hung some sheets out to dry and they freeze dried. A Texas built double wide in a Montana winter makes for some interesting things like the bedding on the bed freezing to the wall. It's all good though. Got the heat cranked and cooking chili.

It’s been -40 to 45°C in Alberta Canada for weeks. Should they complain?

[quote]I live in Alabama and have never experienced anything like that so I’m curious.

I'd rather experience living in -10 than living in Alabama.

r33:

[quote]Coldest temperature ever recorded in California: -45 F, Boca, east-central California, 1/20/1937

I’m in Northern Wisconsin right now, woke op to -24°

Even the dog doesn’t want to go out... it does make for efficiency though.

It’s kind of like when it’s 100° and so awful you can’t go out, OP.

And, even with everything described in this thread, there will still be a 20-something or teenage male walking around in shorts.

hahar39, if you see my son tell him I say 'hi'!

R38 100?? That’s cute.

But seriously, I’m in Austin and we are expected an eight-degree low tomorrow night. We have French doors in our TV room and the cold is coming through the glazing so I’m going to cover that with blankets today. Otherwise, lots of blankets, a fire with piñon wood and, yes, chili.

I was walking to a damn mtg one night in dec 1984 and I knew it was around 20 below. everything like black iron, and metal railings like knives. there was a wind, supposedly intense windchill. a big one came up on melrose and I felt and saw my eyeballs froze open. just for a second, blinked, tiny ice tinkle, and after a minute i could see (through tears). Cold, breezy Iowa.

OP you must be from south Alabama. I'm from Atlanta and we've had -5 (real temp) before, so I'm sure northern Alabama has too, or come close to it.

The worst are places like Louiisiana with no insulation, homes off the ground, cheap wood construction, bare pipes, and high ceilings. Florida is actually better because cinder blocks are highly insulating.

Actually it was worse than I remembered.

[quote] The lowest recorded Atlanta temperatures were −6°F and −8°F on January 20 and 21 of 1985 and −9°F on February 13, 1899. There was also an official recording of −10°F in 1985 in Marietta

It was -8 when I woke up this morning. My shower isn’t working in my master bathroom. I’m assuming that a pipe burst somewhere. My furnace is almost 20 years old, so my house won’t get over 58 degrees. It’s miserable.

Its awful. Good luck trying to start your car--it's hit and miss! I don't even bother stepping outside my apartment on those days. Sometimes the pipes will freeze if you don't leave them running a bit. As someone with darker skin, I feel like shit if I don't put lotion on. My clothes feel itchy and my body is ashey all over.

[quote]And, even with everything described in this thread, there will still be a 20-something or teenage male walking around in shorts.

They do it just to EXHAUST Roxane Gay.

As a Californian I can’t imagine what it’s like. And I would think that this type of freezing cold is worse the older you get.

[quote]OP you must be from south Alabama. I'm from Atlanta and we've had -5 (real temp) before, so I'm sure northern Alabama has too, or come close to it.

The coldest temperature ever recorded in Alabama was –27°F in New Market (in Madison County, near the Tennessee state line) on January 30, 1966.

Southern Ontario here. We're in the middle of a deep freeze with plunging temperatures. We are in lockdown so about the only thing I can do is to go about outside for a walk in the cold temperartures which is both invigorating and tortuous at the same time. Furnace is on frequently. I like winter but during the pandemic it's been awful. The sum was out for awhile this afternoon which seemed like a healing balm.

[quote] You must avoid exertion that would make you sweat. Single pane windows can be deadly. People in Alaska and in the lower 58, the Keewenaw peninsula, take their bvehicle batteries in at night and out in the morning so they won't freeze.

Poor R28.

Your brain must be frozen.

There are only 50 states total.

And never mind about your horrible grammar.

My sympathies to all you living in this arctic freeze. I remember mid-West winters from my childhood and it was a fun adventure then, but I can't imagine living in that climate as an adult. It's 66F here today and sunny. Future forecast looks like more of the same (mid 60s-low 70s). It gets monotonous sometimes but sometimes boring is not a bad thing.

You forgot expensive, R53. We can't all live in San Diego, etc.

I've lived in several cities across Canada so I know cold!! The cold affects different cities in different ways. Winnipeg for instance can get bitterly cold in Jan/Feb, but it's very dry there in winter (usually) and that makes a difference. It could be freezing fucking cold out, but the moment you step inside, you'd be warm. I never had problems with frozen pipes, ice on inside walls, tepid water and so on. The places I lived in there were well insulated with good windows, so aside from being outside, the temperature outside didn't bother me, and with the type of climate there, you can dress for the weather easily enough and manage to wait for the bus or go for a walk. Once inside, you can literally walk around naked inside and not know it was freezing outside. It tended to be sunny there, so it wasn't as bad as a city like Edmonton where the sky always seemed to be grey. They also don't get freezing rain/sleet there, so cold in Winnipeg is different from cold in a place like Ottawa where they get more ice storms. It's such a strange city because it gets so cold in the winter and so hot in the summer, which is why a lot of people there have pools and cabins. Edmonton doesn't get near as warm in the summer from my experience, but also not quite as cold in the winter.

I found that in cities like Ottawa and Halifax, the temperatures may not have been as cold as Winnipeg or Edmonton, but I often felt colder because of the humidity. It could be just above freezing in Halifax, but it was more bone chilling cold and took awhile to warm up, same kind of deal as England. Pure cold is one thing, cold and damp is quite another.

I love Winter.

It's 5 degrees right now. Yes, it's dangerous. Yes, it can be long when March is here. But, I'd never live in any other climate than Wisconsin's. I'd go crazy with boredom if i didn't have 4 distinct seasons.

On a breezy, slow, warm, Summer day, I can hear a thing that no billionaire in Manhattan can hear: the tree leaves and the wind talking to each other.

In Winter, when every limb and branch of tall forest trees are traced in white snow against a canopy of slate-grey sky, the awesome beauty brings tears to my eyes.

A few years ago, I read a terrible story of a woman in Alabama who sat in a bale of hay and died from a reaction to being bitten by fire ants. I looked up fire ants and they live and thrive in hot climates.

Those Africanized bees that hitched a ride on a freighter and landed in Central America 40 or so years ago eventually reached Texas. They took a notion to head North to pillage and plunder the Midwest.

They got a dose of cold temps, and, last I heard, they put it in reverse around southern Iowa.

There are advantages to 10 below.

I lived in the south for many years and I'll take a few weeks of bitter cold over 9/90/90. 9 months, 90 degrees and 90% humidity, Blah!

[quote] Coldest temperature ever recorded in California: -45 F, Boca, east-central California, 1/20/1937

That is desert where no soul is living.

All you other Chicagoans....

Winter weather warning tonight through noon on Tuesday. Lows around 10 below with 20-30 below windchill AND 12 more inches of snow.

This is where the pandemic and not being able to travel and escape this is killing me...and my little pooch.