Coldest Weather I've been in

[Mark Ricketts]

With this story frostbite on the chin would be the least of my concerns. Unprotected eyes at those speeds and temperatures, even for one minute, could suffer some major long term harm.

 

[archbury918]

When we first got outside we had no idea of the actual temp. We knew it was well below zero but with no wind it just felt 'crisp". We spent about 10-15 min readying our machines and equip. At that point we felt good. Hence not grabbing our helmets. Plus we knew it was a short run.

We initially started at about 30mph or so. Of course we started snapping our throttles to surge ahead of each other. We were about half way when we were all abreast and decided to 'open them up'. So your right it was mere seconds we were at top speeds. Had the shoreline not come up, most of us would've exceeded 120. Like I said, once indoors we didn't feel anything wrong. The waitress looked at us funny. It was then we noticed what she saw. We had large grayish white pockets that looked like blisters.
Again, it was extremely foolish, but hell when you're in your 20's you are invincible!

We did have our Oakleys on. The sun reflecting off the snow was extremely bright. We were fortunate the sunglasses were plastic. Metal frame B&L's probably would've stuck to our skin.

 

[Worf]

The Blizzard of '76. They flew all our Construction and Heavy Engineers from Ft. Leonard Wood to Buffalo. One more day of snow and they said the City and it's burbs would've had a "breakdown of civil authority". As it was that was the most snow and bitterest cold I'd ever seen. Till CW3PA mentioned '76 I'd forgotten all about it. Shows how merciful memory can be sometimes. The people though... treated us like kings/heroes.

Worf

 

[HoosierDaddy]

The Blizzard of 1978 in midIndiana....

 

[pauleway]

The Blizzard of '76. They flew all our Construction and Heavy Engineers from Ft. Leonard Wood to Buffalo. One more day of snow and they said the City and it's burbs would've had a "breakdown of civil authority". As it was that was the most snow and bitterest cold I'd ever seen. Till CW3PA mentioned '76 I'd forgotten all about it. Shows how merciful memory can be sometimes. The people though... treated us like kings/heroes.

Worf

That was the Blizzard of '77 Worf. I was in the "Belly of the Beast" for that one!!:eusa_doh:

 

[Doctor Damage]

'77 was bad here in southern Ontario, too. I think my grandfather was in the hospital at the time and my mom had to drive home in our VW camper van (hippie wagon) through many feet of snow. She made it, while many superior vehicles did not, which she credited to the overall crappiness of the camper van since it wouldn't go fast, although I suspect the fact the engine was over the drive wheels at the back helped a lot. Anyhoo, we've never had it that bad again since... although now that I've said that, we will, LOL

 

[Doctor Damage]

Environment Canada description and info on wind chill:
http://www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather/default.asp?lang=En&n=5FBF816A-1

 

[Stanley Doble]

-20 today. I do believe this December set a record for cold and bad weather and it looks like January will follow suit.

The blizzard of 1977 near here, the road was closed north of Colborne for a week due to 10 foot snow drifts. They couldn't clear it with snow plows, they had to bring in bulldozers and front end loaders.

There were 2 years of bad snow storms about that time. I think it was 75 and 77 but 77 was worse.

 

[Doctor Damage]

-20 today. I do believe this December set a record for cold and bad weather and it looks like January will follow suit.

The blizzard of 1977 near here, the road was closed north of Colborne for a week due to 10 foot snow drifts. They couldn't clear it with snow plows, they had to bring in bulldozers and front end loaders.

There were 2 years of bad snow storms about that time. I think it was 75 and 77 but 77 was worse.

It makes sense this Decembeaver would set a record for cold, as it's been pretty fierce here in southern Ontario this year, and my area hasn't gotten the worst of it. It makes it almost impossible to meet with friends as the weather has interered on several occasions. Fortunately my work, such as it is, can be done from home mostly. I was a wee laddie in 1977 and don't remember the Big Snow myself, although I've seen photos my parents took and it was 6' of snow or thereabouts. I think my dad was stuck at his factory where he was a supervisor and couldn't make it home for a few days. Hopefully we don't get that this year, since... well, it would just suck frankly.

 

[Smithy]

It makes sense this Decembeaver would set a record for cold, as it's been pretty fierce here in southern Ontario this year, and my area hasn't gotten the worst of it. It makes it almost impossible to meet with friends as the weather has interered on several occasions. Fortunately my work, such as it is, can be done from home mostly. I was a wee laddie in 1977 and don't remember the Big Snow myself, although I've seen photos my parents took and it was 6' of snow or thereabouts. I think my dad was stuck at his factory where he was a supervisor and couldn't make it home for a few days. Hopefully we don't get that this year, since... well, it would just suck frankly.

Ah the joys of lots of snow

I had to jump out of the second floor window to get out of the house to go to work a couple of times in Norway. Was a strange thing to open the front door and be confronted with a wall of white in the morning!

 

[Stanley Doble]

My father came from Kapuskasing where they don't call it winter until you can cross country ski over the telephone wires. Car companies from all over the world do their cold weather testing in Kapuskasing.

 

[Worf]

That was the Blizzard of '77 Worf. I was in the "Belly of the Beast" for that one!!:eusa_doh:

I stand happily corrected.... sucks gettin' old!

Worf

 

[IXL]

I stand happily corrected.... sucks gettin' old!

Worf

Don't worry about your memory lapses, Worf, they happen to everyone at some point. By the way,you got that twenty dollars I loaned you a while back.....

 

[Bruce Wayne]

On Monday the high for my area is supposed to be -7F.

 

[Ekphrastic]

When I lived in the Salt Lake City area several years ago, my church asked me to help out with its Boy Scout troop. Fine, I said; I was in Boy Scouts when I was a kid, and I'd earned my Eagle Scout rank, so I felt pretty prepared.

Wrong. Hoo boy, was I wrong.

The troop was run by a guy who--I swear--was trying to turn the boys into Navy SEALs. Every activity we had resulted in me bleeding, it seemed. (I flipped over my bike's handlebars while mountain biking, got slammed into a rock face by my spotter while rappelling, etc.) However, the activity that nearly did me in was snow-caving.

For those who don't know, a snow-cave is a survival shelter. If you're stuck in a frozen landscape and have to get out of the wind, and if there's no better shelter around, you can dig a hole in the snow (there's some technique to it, but that's really basically it). They're not exactly warm--though some people will argue 'til they're blue in the face that snow-caves are perfectly comfortable, but DON'T BELIEVE THEM--but they'll be warmer than the surrounding area.

I was busy helping the boys dig their snow-caves, and I didn't have time to dig mine before the sun went down. In desperation, I threw my gear into a hole under a picnic table at the campsite. (Why was there a hole leading underneath a picnic table, you ask? Simple! The boys later told me they saw a coyote coming out of it before I usurped its den.)

Problem was, I got lots of snow on my gear in the process of shoving it all into the hole. I woke up a couple hours later soaking wet; my body heat had melted the snow. So there I was, trying to sleep in a coyote den, soaking wet, high in the Wasatch Mountains, freezing to death. And a blizzard had moved in.

At that point, I figured that I'd fought the good fight. I had sworn that I'd never ask the boys to do something that I wouldn't do myself, but I was starting to worry that hypothermia would set in. I found the keys to the supply truck in my gear, ventured out into the blizzard, found the truck, and got in. I cranked the engine--I didn't care if I woke up the entire canyon--and turned the heat up as high as it would go. The seat in the truck was covered with a filthy blanket, but I didn't care; I wrapped myself in it, turned the engine off (so I wouldn't asphyxiate) and fell asleep. Every hour or so, the cold would wake me up, so I'd crank the engine again, fire up the heater, and repeat the process.

When I finally got home the next morning, I found that I'd lost three pounds overnight from all the shivering I'd done. It was a stupid campout to have. We shouldn't have gone--I only went out of a sense of duty and wanting to help the kids survive. As it was, another troop was snow-caving that same night, and they got caught in an avalanche; they got into serious trouble.

So, yeah, that's the coldest I've been. Don't know how cold it actually was, but it was enough to make me lose three pounds overnight.

 

[Worf]

Don't worry about your memory lapses, Worf, they happen to everyone at some point. By the way,you got that twenty dollars I loaned you a while back.....

Har diddly har har!!!! Minus 12 tonight boys... Wore the pre-war Irvin today with arctic Carhart overalls.

Worf

 

[Tomasso]

When I lived in the Salt Lake City area several years ago, my church asked me to help out with its Boy Scout troop. Fine, I said; I was in Boy Scouts when I was a kid, and I'd earned my Eagle Scout rank, so I felt pretty prepared.

Wrong. Hoo boy, was I wrong.

The troop was run by a guy who--I swear--was trying to turn the boys into Navy SEALs. Every activity we had resulted in me bleeding, it seemed. (I flipped over my bike's handlebars while mountain biking, got slammed into a rock face by my spotter while rappelling, etc.) However, the activity that nearly did me in was snow-caving.

For those who don't know, a snow-cave is a survival shelter. If you're stuck in a frozen landscape and have to get out of the wind, and if there's no better shelter around, you can dig a hole in the snow (there's some technique to it, but that's really basically it). They're not exactly warm--though some people will argue 'til they're blue in the face that snow-caves are perfectly comfortable, but DON'T BELIEVE THEM--but they'll be warmer than the surrounding area.

I was busy helping the boys dig their snow-caves, and I didn't have time to dig mine before the sun went down. In desperation, I threw my gear into a hole under a picnic table at the campsite. (Why was there a hole leading underneath a picnic table, you ask? Simple! The boys later told me they saw a coyote coming out of it before I usurped its den.)

Problem was, I got lots of snow on my gear in the process of shoving it all into the hole. I woke up a couple hours later soaking wet; my body heat had melted the snow. So there I was, trying to sleep in a coyote den, soaking wet, high in the Wasatch Mountains, freezing to death. And a blizzard had moved in.

At that point, I figured that I'd fought the good fight. I had sworn that I'd never ask the boys to do something that I wouldn't do myself, but I was starting to worry that hypothermia would set in. I found the keys to the supply truck in my gear, ventured out into the blizzard, found the truck, and got in. I cranked the engine--I didn't care if I woke up the entire canyon--and turned the heat up as high as it would go. The seat in the truck was covered with a filthy blanket, but I didn't care; I wrapped myself in it, turned the engine off (so I wouldn't asphyxiate) and fell asleep. Every hour or so, the cold would wake me up, so I'd crank the engine again, fire up the heater, and repeat the process.

When I finally got home the next morning, I found that I'd lost three pounds overnight from all the shivering I'd done. It was a stupid campout to have. We shouldn't have gone--I only went out of a sense of duty and wanting to help the kids survive. As it was, another troop was snow-caving that same night, and they got caught in an avalanche; they got into serious trouble.

So, yeah, that's the coldest I've been. Don't know how cold it actually was, but it was enough to make me lose three pounds overnight.

Look at it this way: You survived and now have a great story to tell.

 

[thor]

Yesterday it was 15 below zero with the 30mph wind chill plus blizzard/white-out conditions; a fun day to pilot a ferry boat in NY harbor.

 

[Worf]

Yesterday it was 15 below zero with the 30mph wind chill plus blizzard/white-out conditions; a fun day to pilot a ferry boat in NY harbor.

What'd ya wear to keep from sticking to the deck?

Worf

 

[thor]

LOL, Worf! Just gotta keep moving or you become an instant Popsicle! The crew wears Mustang floatation jackets and we layer up underneath. I wear an awesome Devold Norwegian wool sweater that is perfect for freezing temps.