[Beacon Staff]

OK, it's definitely cold ... and windy

by Beacon Staff on Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:00 am

Hope all of you experiencing the current "polar vortex" in the Northeast U.S. and southeast Canada are managing to stay warm.

Here in the Philadelphia/Princeton area, we had a low temperature overnight of 1 degree Fahrenheit (-17 degrees Celsius) with high winds gusting to 40 mph (65 km/h). The low temperature overnight is a record for the day -- by 5 degrees; the previous record low for the day was 6 degrees F.

How are things in your area today? We read somewhere that there's been a heatwave in parts of Australia.

[Nancy Shamanna]

Re: OK, it's definitely cold ... and windy

by Nancy Shamanna on Tue Jan 07, 2014 10:00 am

I too hope that you are all managing alright in the present cold 'snap' in the east. I was upset whenI saw that due to an ice storm, the City of Toronto and many regions in eastern Canada were without electrical power for two weeks last month. People had to go to 'warming centres' set up in public spaces.

On the prairies, your temperatures do not seem unduly low to us. It was -24C on Sunday here and we have had a series of cold snaps this winter. I think the difference for us is that we expect this in winter, and thus have mostly really insulated our houses. We have double paned glass in the windows; we plug in our cars to 'block heaters' at night. I have 'heated seats' in the car too!! I have three different lengths of down coats and very warm boots, scarves and hats too, for being outdoors.

wE even put booties and coats on our dogs to walk them...but when it is below about -10, I don't take our family dog out for long walks, since I am afraid he might get frostbitten paws...he is not a sled dog after all.

if you leave your water taps just dripping a bit it might prevent any freezing of the water pipes in your home. I hope that the snow cover is sufficient to protect the plants in your beautiful gardens. We visited your area last spring and I just loved the gardens...you are in zONe 5 or 6 maybe and we are in zone 2 or 3. The ambient temp. under snow cover is still only around freezing..snow is a great insulator. Many small animals will be sheltering under the snow.

Hope the 'polar express' leaves your area soon.

[NStewart]

Re: OK, it's definitely cold ... and windy

by NStewart on Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:37 pm

Yes, it is cold in the Philadelphia area today. I went to start a car that I was to use to pick up a woman to drive her to her radiology treatment today and it wouldn't start. I felt badly about having to cancel her ride this morning, but I had no choice.

I went to college in Wisconsin in the 60's and remember many a day that the temperature was below zero. I even remember being stupid enough to wait on line to get into a bar on Saturday night when the wind chill was -40 deg F. But, we knew how to dress to stay warm. Believe it or not I still have my down coat from those days and it kept me toasty this morning while I was trying to get the car started.

Sensible clothing, good windows and insulation, and common sense will help us get through today and tomorrow here in the mid-Atlantic. We don't get this type of weather very often, but it can be exhilarating if we don't keep seeing the negatives. It's just another day where the extreme temperature is cold rather than hot.

Bundle up, snuggle in, have some hot chocolate and enjoy your day.

Nancy in Phila

[heike]

Re: OK, it's definitely cold ... and windy

by heike on Wed Jan 08, 2014 3:23 pm

let me send over some fresh spring branches of blossoming forsythia then! here's spring, warm and overly so, beautiful! one can see the alps over lake Zurich. some sprinkles of rain. but -- no worries, snow and winter will arrive here also this year! just a bit later...

[LibbyC]

Re: OK, it's definitely cold ... and windy

by LibbyC on Mon Jan 13, 2014 3:10 am

Hi Beacon Staff,
Yep we are starting to roast over here in Australia. The west was awful last week (approaching 50 degrees C!!!!) and now it has the east of Australia in its sights. Today I arrived home (after my monthly trip to the myeloma clinic) to 35 degrees. Apparently the rest of the week will be hotter - I think I will take the children to the beach (Southern Ocean). There is nothing like jumping into freezing water and getting an ice cream headache .
Keep warm,
Libby

[Ron Harvot]

Re: OK, it's definitely cold ... and windy

by Ron Harvot on Fri Feb 14, 2014 2:32 pm

And I thought it got hot in Texas. 50C = 122 F, that is not hot, that is absurd. Temp in Texas in the summer is usually between 35 - 40 C or 95 - 105 F

I think that is hot expecially when I am riding my bike. The winters in Texas are mild by North American standards. A real cold day has lows in the lower teens and highs in the lower 30s F. Which is about -10C to around 0C. But the typical day is lows in the upper 20s F in January and Highs in the Low 40s F

Canada and the extreme Northern US get -25F or -32C

Too cold for me and I used to live in the Northern US but my blood has thined since those days.