# Cold weather survival **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 14, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392 "2005-03-14T02:21:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pairofnormals](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@pairofnormals](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pairofnormals)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/1 "2005-03-14T02:21:20Z")
What’s the lowest outside (not body) temperature ever survived by a person? I mean in extremely cold weather for a certain length of time. I have heard that it was minus 60 degrees fahrenheit, but I want to know if this is correct before informing anyone of the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/2 "2005-03-14T02:31:06Z")
It gets colder than that in Antarctica and in the Northern Alaska oilfields, so people who are prepared can obviously survive that. Maybe you could tighten up that question just a bit? ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/3 "2005-03-14T02:38:07Z")
> [@pairofnormals](#): > > What’s the lowest outside (not body) temperature ever survived by a person? I mean in extremely cold weather for a certain length of time. I have heard that it was minus 60 degrees fahrenheit, but I want to know if this is correct before informing anyone of the answer. How much time? How much clothing? ---
**Author:** ![pairofnormals](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@pairofnormals](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pairofnormals)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/4 "2005-03-14T03:06:30Z")
I’ll rephrase my question, I would like to know the all-time record low temperature survived by any particular human, at the coldest place, dressed however they were when they survived it. Sounds kind of confusing, doesn’t it? Well, I can’t really think of any other way to word it. ---
**Author:** ![Scarface\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Scarface\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarface_Z)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/5 "2005-03-14T03:09:30Z")
Does wind chill count? ---
**Author:** ![pairofnormals](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@pairofnormals](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pairofnormals)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/6 "2005-03-14T03:11:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Does wind chill count? Yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/7 "2005-03-14T03:31:49Z")
> [@pairofnormals](#): > > I’ll rephrase my question, I would like to know the all-time record low temperature survived by any particular human, at the coldest place, dressed however they were when they survived it. Sounds kind of confusing, doesn’t it? Well, I can’t really think of any other way to word it. I’m going with the Apollo astronauts who endured Lunar nightside temperatures of -170C. Of course, they were wearing pressure suits that kept them plenty warm and almost completely isolated them from the environment, but it matches your conditions in post #4. What do I win? 😃 Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/8 "2005-03-14T03:42:15Z")
Just recently they showed a man who broke a record by standing in cold water for one hour. How did he not get hypothermia? ---
**Author:** ![pairofnormals](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@pairofnormals](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pairofnormals)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/9 "2005-03-14T03:43:41Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m going with the Apollo astronauts who endured Lunar nightside temperatures of -170C. Of course, they were wearing pressure suits that kept them plenty warm and almost completely isolated them from the environment, but it matches your conditions in post #4. > > What do I win? Eh… my admiration and a pat on the back for being the first to ever accurately answer my question? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/10 "2005-03-14T04:02:02Z")
_Guinness World Records_: > [@](#): > > The coldest permanently inhabited place is the Siberian village of Oymyakon (pop. 4,000), 63º16’N, 143º15’E (alt 2,300 ft or 700 m) in Russia, where the temperature reached -90ºF (-68ºC) in 1933, and an unofficial -98ºF (-72ºC) has been published. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/11 "2005-03-14T15:48:41Z")
Since wind chill counts I’ll relate this story. Myself and a few dozen others played in a rugby tournament in Stevens Point, WI in February of 1995 where the wind chill reached -76°. That was pretty cold. The referee’s whistle froze to his lips and two players from an opposing team were in the hospital for over 3 days with frostbite. At one point I blinked and one of my eyes froze shut. We were probably outdoors for around 2 hours. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/12 "2005-03-14T15:54:06Z")
I should note that I am not claiming to have set a record or anything, just relaying an anecdote. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/13 "2005-03-14T15:57:01Z")
Why didn’t they call off the Rugby tournament? ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/14 "2005-03-14T16:10:56Z")
Pretty damn good anecdode **August West**. Beats mine when during a cold snap in Montana, 3 days of -40 or colder, the toilet bowl froze in my apartment. The first time ice built up in my beard when I was out for a walk was like a Jack London story but the novelty quickly wore thin. I don’t think the question is meaninful unless you give a time frame. I can make a gas station stop without putting my jacket on when it’s below freezing but I’m not going to do well overnight. My wife has a Titanic trivia book that talks about one of the surviors being in the water for hours but notes that it was an extreme case as most people died in a much shorter time. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/15 "2005-03-14T18:03:50Z")
Keep in mind that in [2001 the NWS changed how wind chill is calculated](http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/windchill/index.shtml), so pre-2001 reports of wind chill are not comparable to current wind chill reports. You can see the differences [here](http://www.crh.noaa.gov/bis/newwindchill.htm). Also keep in mind that wind chill reports depend on wind - so just because it’s a -70 wind chill, if you’re not actually out in the wind - which is often the case as trees, buildings, and landscape often provide wind blocks - you’re not really experiencing -70 wind chill. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/16 "2005-03-14T18:07:54Z")
On Mt. Everest in 1996, several climbers survived overnight in a pretty horrible storm. One survivor, Beck Weathers, is a pretty amazing case: he was left for dead, woke up, staggered back to camp and help, then had to be rescued again when his tent collapsed and let all the wintry weather back in. That second time, he was crying for help for a coupla hours until someone happened to pass by. He’s lost large amounts of himself to frostbite, but he’s alive. One of the other climbers (a guide, actually) survived alone on the mountain for most of two days and was in radio contact, but later died of exposure. Don’t know the temperature or the windchill, however. ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/17 "2005-03-14T20:09:46Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > I’m going with the Apollo astronauts who endured Lunar nightside temperatures of -170C. Of course, they were wearing pressure suits that kept them plenty warm and almost completely isolated them from the environment, but it matches your conditions in post #4. I’ll have to dispute that. All of the Apollo landings were on the sunlit side of the moon - they never had to endure lunar nightside conditions. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/18 "2005-03-14T20:34:18Z")
> [@AndrewL](#): > > I’ll have to dispute that. All of the Apollo landings were on the sunlit side of the moon - they never had to endure lunar nightside conditions. Ooft. So it seems, from a quick perusal of Apollo mission accounts. However, in shade, it would be near nightside temperatures. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/19 "2005-03-14T22:42:39Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Why didn’t they call off the Rugby tournament? Because they were DRUNK! _sheesh_ You know nothing about rugby, do you? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392/20 "2005-03-14T23:29:43Z")
Ha! We weren’t drunk until after the tournament. We were hung over during it. We didn’t call it off because 4 teams actually took the time to travel for it and we had done a lot of work preparing for it, and we were young and stupid, so we just decided to go for it. And believe me, we were getting the full effect of the wind. It was so windy that there was no snow on the pitch, the wind scoured it all away so that we were playing on bare frozen ground. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-weather-survival/294392.md?page=2)