Is the cold weather I'm hearing about as unusual as what's being reported ?

Nope - not unusual at all. In fact it's all due to global warming. (sorry I couldn't resist).

Locally here in Maryland, USA it's currently 9 F. That's a bit colder than normal for here.

Bill :)

We are colder than normal-righ after having record high temps a few weeks ago.
We're running the same temps Bill..8F and with wind chill (which has been brutal for several days) it's like minus 9 F.

So it is a safe bet to say that I will not be going out again today!
lol
brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

It's been super cold up here, but not all that unusual for this time of year. We typically get a few days like this every winter. -23 wind chill yesterday morning! My dog still insists on going for her (2) 2.5 mile walks everyday though, so I really have to bundle up! :eek:

Vickie

It's cold here in Northern Maine, but it's not at all unusual for this time of year. I remember years where we had close to a month of sub-zero temps, with wind chills as low as -65. It seems to be getting milder just about every year.

At the moment it's 0/-9 here but was -7/-32 yesterday which is why they closed the schools. Normally it has to hit -20 (that's with wind chill) to close, and that's because so many kids wait for buses. Sometimes they'll have a one-hour delay, hoping it'll warm a little. Our school systems build in 3 "snow days" a year but seldom use them for snow. It's more often for extreme cold, the odd power outage or staff illness (there's a LOT of flu going around right now.)

http://www.canadaeast.com/storyImage...2500_59805.jpg

GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT



Here is a pic from this morning's paper... We are in a deep freeze. It use to be like Cathy said, down here too. But a month and half ago, it was 12C = 55F. That was not normal. To answer your question Ron. :)

[ February 07, 2007, 06:52: Message edited by: Jesse-Joe ]

We are in the thick of a normal northern Minnesota deep freeze! It is -25F here right now, we hit -30's the last several nights in a row. When the wind was up, we were getting wind chills of -44 and lower. It is unusual for *this* winter, as we have had above normal temps most of the season, but not unusual for winter up here as a general rule. What is not normal is the lack of any significant snowfall.

Same here - least snow in years. I think we've got about 4-5 inches on the ground, though north of us on the Tug Hill plateau (directly east of Lake Ontario) they measure in feet, about 5-6 feet in the last few days, on top of whatever they had before this storm. That's normal for them.

Unbelievable.....you folks must be a hearty breed.

The question was prompted by the media coverage that suggested it was unusually cold in your parts, and that people were turning into popsicles.

Being a "desert rat" the vast majority of my life, I cannot relate. Correct me if I'm wrong, but what I've gathered from the replies so far is...a bit colder but not extreme.

Here in North Central Illinois we are currently at minus 18 F. wind chill is at minus 30 something. Technically speaking it's colder than a witches bottom!

Yesterday we got 5 inches of fluffy white stuff, sort of unusual when it's this cold.

Wowee! We're havin'a heat wave - it's 12 above!! Breakin' out the shorts - not!

LOL Peter

OK New Jersey is chilly, but nothing like what I experienced in the 60's in Montreal.
I was telling Susan this morning the common practice if one's car got very cold overnight was to place the battery in the oven to warm up and hopefully restore a modicum of voltage together with removing the spark plugs
I initially had a superb 1962 Buick Special super-compact

http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/images/...al_in_1964.jpg

Ah such sweet memories!!!
which featured GM's then revolutionary 3.5 litre aluminium V8.
Yes it was in Canada so it was aluminium whatever the makers thought the metal's correct name was!You know aluminium just like sodium and not at all like cadmum!!
(that engine was later made down under as the Brabham/Repco V8 and built by Land Rover in the UK:I had strongly suspected that current Range Rovers, now part of the Ford range still use "my" engine but no the inevitable wiki
shows in a great write up at:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_V8_engine
that now the Jaguar V8 is used
Anyway the engine was shoe horned in making access to the two rearmost spark plugs "tricky"
This meant that after a few winter's plug removal and the subseqent wear on the threads from inadvertently cross threading,
not hard with frozen fingers, and a series of thread inserts installallations it became impossible to remove those two plugs for
fettling and I then had a V6!!!
Would anyone from say Edmonton care to comment here
In Montreal we took solace from the story that over there it got so insanely cold that it was customary to plug your engine's dipstick replacement oil heater into upstands in car parks which had electrical sockets
(My Buick did have a sort of plug in hotplate under the battery)
I also still shiver at the thought of one February morning when Montreal was minus 24 degrees Fahrenheit
and I was the only one of my class of 6 beginners who turned up for our weekly 2-hour ski lesson at Sun Valley in the Laurentians at
St Adele
http://www.vivelaneige.com/galerie/a...ey_1980-81.JPG

but in a necessarily shortened hour one to one with my French Canadian ski instructor I leaned more than in any ten other lessons
Warning ski pix to follow when i find some more spare time!

Sweden is back in the deep freeze after a very mild early winter, then a brief cold snap, then moderate temps, and now we have real winter for only the second time this year. It was -22C when I got up this morn, but by the time I had my tea it had warmed to -21.5, so off I went outside to feed the animals and collect some wood. I have to admit my fingertips got cold, but that was about it.

The only time I have ever really felt COLD was late last year and early this year when I was recovering from that little spot of bother with my head. I must be healthy again as today didn't seem so bad.

Mind you, I'll still be happy when spring gets itself over here.

[ February 07, 2007, 13:03: Message edited by: David (djb) ]

I think we're having January weather in February, which means (groundhog aside) we won't see spring until May. Sigh. The seasons do seem to be pushing forward a month or so.

I hear on the news today that they could get up to 100 inches of snow by Sunday. 100 inches of snow! That's equal to our yearly total.

exactly how cold is the ditch diggers toes in a bottomless well, eh??

exactly how cold is the ditch diggers toes in a bottomless well, eh?? [/QUOTE]A very good question young man
all I could find using Google was this fine photograph
http://josephburnett.com/photos/2006/ladakh/lad-10.jpg
on Joseph's blog page at:-
http://josephburnett.com/content/blogcategory/14/36/
which links to:-
http://josephburnett.com/content/view/33/36/
if it is any help the caption to that photo is:-
"However it was that these Ladakhi Farmers decided where and how this ditch should go, it seems like they had fun doing it.
My sister thought that I should title this one "drunken ditch diggers"
Also on that blog is another link to this Buddist picture
http://josephburnett.com/photos/2006/ladakh/lad-05.jpg
Fortuitiously the caption to that picture includes
"Blue toes? Why not"
So I submit,Peter that at the bottom of the well it is cold enough to turn Budda's
toenails blue!!!

if you explore it you might find that Mr Burnett has an interesting site
I did and found this "funny" that Jenney might enjoy
http://josephburnett.com/photos/2006...e/DPP_0210.JPG
caption
"So ... where can I park, how should I park, and for how long?"

Please don't boo me but I am so spoiled. :D I have been a California girl all my life(55 years). I don't seem to tolerate the extreme heat or cold to well. Arthritis has set in to my whole body so I guess that is why. I think the states where it is so cold in the winter are truly beautiful and I wish we had real seasons. I have always talked about moving out of state. Maybe someday the timing will be right. If anyone need me to send them an electric blanket or socks (my feet are always cold), please let me know. :)

We had down to -42 a couple weeks ago. It was a cold spell and lasted about 10 days, not -40's all the time but we were hovering in the -30's.
now we are having a heat wave it was 18 degrees today!!

86'F here and sunny :D

Sounds great, smarta**, LOL. Wish we were there !!!

Bill :)

hey joveski, is that a global warming issue??? or is that typical for this time of year??

typical for this time... it can be colder or hotter. we've had a few days this year where its gotten close to 110'F!

that would be a bit toasty in my book!

We had several weeks of cold weather here in Denver (well, Denver South suburbs and at 6400 feet), starting with the first big snow (in mid-December). And, for the first time in years, the snow didn't melt. It looked like a Saratoga winter ... when they had snow. They do have a cold spell now, but no snow.

It warmed up about a week ago. On Monday I noticed that it got to 60. So Tuesday and Wednesday I went biking, leaving home once it was over 50, and dodging the piles of snow in the street. Most streets were pretty clear. Today it didn't get over about 45, so I didn't bike, but I have my fingers crossed.

The 2 feet of snow in my yard is down to about 8". Here's hoping.

Do you have a same hobby of mine, Val, Mountain Biking? Or are you talking something else? :)

Very akin to one of my favorite sayings, which happens to be quite appropriate right about now.

It's colder than a well-diggers ass in January!

OK I took up the challenge of more googling and found this
http://www.lindamoran.net/images/snowshoveling.jpg
on
http://www.fansinblack.com/x/showthread.php?t=19338
which led mre to
http://www.fansinblack.com/x/showthr...389#post155389
where above that picture is this "caption"
"But it's colder than a well diggers a$$ at 40ft. . need that hot coffee this am
And for good measure I then google image searched for "Buddha's a$$" and was rewarded with this picture
http://www.daa.com.au/~trs80/chem/photos/ay_buddha.jpg
whose caption is
"This is the 12m wide by 17m high Buddha at Ayuttaya"
where Ayuttaya is in Thailand but if you hover over the picture you get the HTML "alt" title
"One big-ass Buddha at Ayutthaya"
Fulsome apologies if this offends anybody because of its religious implications and any Buddhists reading this of course

[ February 10, 2007, 10:24: Message edited by: johnfowles ]

Hi timetraveler,

How do you make "housesocks"? :D They sound warm even just hearing the name. :)

Read all about it at:-
http://decoraccentsinc.com/knifty_knitters.html
or read
http://www.feedshow.com/show_items-f...08727650f57bd0
where I read
"I have also order Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino for my sockret pal's socks, the yarn will make comfy housesocks for this winter but unfortunately the colors are all pastels so I intend to overdye."
an another message on the same forum
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/83/26...16d2f4.jpg?v=0

The postman delivered a wonderful box from my KTS swap pal Samantha at mrspao.com today. It came all the way from the UK and
included 100g of wool nylon sock yarn from a small English company called Curious Yarns in a deep winter colorway (I can see
myself wearing these socks this winter),
Fascinating stuff ladies

timetraveler and johnfowles,

Thank you both so much. Having never joined a chat group(this one is probably special), I can't believe people who don't know me could be so helpful. I am an artist and color is one of my passions. Listening to Gordon sing and making housesocks sounds like a little bit of heaven. I have a Wal-Mart down the street and can hardly wait to check this out. :) Thank you both so much again. I'll let you know what I make. :D

Hi DSR,

The folks here are the finest group of people I have ever known. It's wonderful you can join us, and I'm sure you'll love it here.

And back to Brrrrr for a moment. My feet and a** were a tad on the cold side today too. I had to work early today, and there are no early commuter trains on the weekend, so I had to wait on two very cold streets for a couple of busses. I think both Uppsala and Stockholm were in the -15C to -20C range between 5.30am and 7am this morn.

When I hit the office, the hot coffee (or six) got poured down me very quickly! :D

Hello all,

It's me the California girl. we are leaving for Philadelphia Tuesday. There has not been very much snow there this year but the storm is suppose to start Tuesday. Sure wish I had time to make my houseshoes. The nights are suppose to be in the mid teens and mid 30ish during the day. :) Good thing I own a lot of socks. Already looking forward to getting back home and playing with my Knifty Knitters stuff.

Thanks again Jessie-Joe and Sir John :)

You got that wrong DSR
surely your signature should be tada tada!!
--------------------
I'm much too young to feel this damn cold.

Okay John,

That plane went right over my head. :redface:
I guess I will have to ask my husband to explain it to me. :)

Okay, sometimes Rose is dreaming. Sorry John. :redface: Now I am laughing so hard my stomach hurts. I love to laugh and people here have a wonderful sense of humor. :D


I'm old and cold. :D

i am very pleased you got it Rose eventually and enjoyed my jest. Just one small point though,
Being British born and bread I have a wonderful sense of humoUr, so watch it!!

Lots of great British comedy clips here:-
http://rankin.chez-alice.fr/porridge/pics/grind.jpg
Just click each thumbnail on the page thst should open.
a British television sitcom called "Porridge" just right for a COLD morning!!
(in the UK being in prison is called "doing porridge")
My favoUrites are the second and third from the top row

[ February 12, 2007, 05:45: Message edited by: johnfowles ]

big fan of ronnie barker here!