Polar Vortex

[RickF]

Hope everyone can stay reasonably war this coming week with the predicted cold temps. I see parts of MN will be -30 actual temp with much colder wind chill. Yikes!

[John Morgan]

Well, I will still be wearing shorts, my trademark. Wear them all day, all year, except when I have to do things like concerts (tux - ugh). But probably won't be taking any long walks outside. I am crazy, not stupid (wife and others take exception)!

[highpitch]

John has that 'look'...

dg

[davewerden]

Well, we're sure trying to keep warm! It was -14 air temp when I woke up today, and has climbed all the way up to +6.

[John the Theologian]

We're supposed to get to about -22 degrees here in Iowa City this coming week, with a wind chill pushing 40-50 below.

We've sandwiched several snow storms-- we're getting 3-4 more inches tonight-- between our polar vortex temps-- it was about 15 below earlier this week. We have about 10 inches of snow on the ground right now.

I chuckle when I remember the Iowa state climatologist saying in early December that we were going to have a "mild" winter.

[SteveP]

I feel for you guys. It was so warm and sunny here today (low 70s) that I was able to take a short ride on the Harley in a t-shirt. I was wearing long pants, though, unlike John M.

[highpitch]

Yep, ...

Us Southern 'Zonies suffer winters.

DG

[ghmerrill]

I feel for you guys. It was so warm and sunny here today (low 70s) that I was able to take a short ride on the Harley in a t-shirt. I was wearing long pants, though, unlike John M.

Thanks. I'd happily take sub-zero winters over the desert (even with all the water in that lake).

[RickF]

I feel for you guys too. Here in south Florida is was a bit chilly at 54 this morning but no complaints from me.

The coldest I’ve experienced was in 1968 while in the Air Force. I spent a year at Sondrestrom Air Base, Greenland where for a couple days it was -42F (wind chill -77). During winter all vehicles were left running over night AND plugged in to a hitching post for a heater to keep the engine block warm.

[John Morgan]

I feel for you guys. It was so warm and sunny here today (low 70s) that I was able to take a short ride on the Harley in a t-shirt. I was wearing long pants, though, unlike John M.

My Harley sits in the garage, next to the snow blower, nice and clean and shiny, waiting for that first burst of 60 or so degree weather!! One of the drawbacks of living where there is an actual winter, but all in all, a nice place to be.

[ghmerrill]

I've always felt that I could do more to make living/working in the cold easier and comfortable than I could about living/working in the heat. Of course, I'm sure that's partly attributable to my childhood and young adulthood. But I'd rather just dress properly and work outside in the cold and the drifts than hunker down in air conditioning because working outside in 90-100+ degree heat with high humidity is extremely unpleasant and in fact dangerous in some respects. In a place like Arizona, at least you typically don't have the high humidity, but then you've got the desert. I find it an interesting and enjoyable place to visit, but not one in which I'd choose to live (definitely not low desert, but not even high desert)

[opus37]

This is the first real winter weather we've (Minnesota) had in about 20 years. The snow we had last night was perfect for snow blowing (and shoveling) because it is light and fluffy. The cold snap does a good job of killing off invasive species. It gives us bragging rights. We get to say, "you know, it's a little nippy out there." We get to go on television and throw hot water in the air and watch it freeze before it hits the ground. The ice and snow sculptures for the St. Paul Winter Carnival don't melt before you get a chance to see them. You haven't played hockey until you've done that outside when it is -20 F or lower (ask any Canadian about that). You get to pour vodka into your tuba valves to keep them from freezing when you march in the Torchlight Parade. Last but not least, we get to really appreciate every day of spring summer and fall a little more than most.

[ghmerrill]

I've never operated a snow blower . When I was growing up, of course, no one had one. Even when I was in Chicago, they weren't that common for residential users, and we still have a picture of me shovelling snow over my head in the blizzard of '79. Now they're just commonplace. I also never had 4WD (except an old '47 Jeep Universal delivery vehicle I drove in high school) until, oddly, we moved to NC. RWD and chains: that's the natural order of things.

Like air conditioning in the South, technology has made the North more livable as well.