# Frozen Dopers: Who is caught in the 2019 Polar Vortex and freezing their tushies off? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 30, 2019, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648 "2019-01-30T00:40:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2019, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/61 "2019-01-30T22:24:59Z")
Wasn’t bad today. We had about 6 inches of snow in the night, beautiful dry powder, big blue day to play in. It was 10 F at dawn, warmed to about 20 F; pretty normal western Massachusetts January temps. But it will get cold tonight, below zero with a lot of wind. For the third time this winter I locked the horses in the barn for the night. Tomorrow will be around zero all day, they say. Nothing is closing, not schools not anything. This isn’t comparable to what the upper midwest is getting. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/62 "2019-01-30T23:13:13Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Yep. If you don’t want to wear the gear, you should carry it. Plan for the worst and all that. Yeah. I had plastic bags (to wrap around my legs), a sweatshirt, an emergency blanket and a regular blanket all in the car in case something bad happened. But I’m in a city, it isn’t like I’d break down in the middle of nowhere. I wouldn’t have left if I lived in a rural area. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/63 "2019-01-31T01:36:39Z")
It’s four degrees here in western New York and I was thinking that was pretty cold until I read the temperatures some of you guys are experiencing. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/64 "2019-01-31T02:04:02Z")
On Sunday I was supposed to go out and get groceries, but it was like -16C out so I said screw it. On Monday things had warmed all the way up to -8C so I did go out then. I haven’t left my apartment since, and won’t until I run out of food on Friday. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/65 "2019-01-31T04:05:14Z")
I spent almost 70 minutes outside today, in Chicago. It was -17F. I will never do this again. The hard part was pretending to be interested in the plant tour, when all I wanted was for it to be over already. It is the first time ever I had no questions. Given the way I was dressed, I could’ve sent anyone in my place, as no actual part of me was uncovered. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/66 "2019-01-31T04:50:01Z")
Tomorrow is garbage day, so I took out the usual stuff. It’s -21°C out there right now (wow, that’s -5.8°F, incredible even for around here!). Went out in my dressing gown, flailing in the wind, in my summer sandals. Not really a problem except for massive piles of snow that I stepped in. But I would NOT want to be doing the garbage route tomorrow morning – or anything else tomorrow morning! This is supposed to ease up fast in the next couple of days, bringing ordinary rain for a while. Then we’ll probably get more snow, which I don’t mind at all, but I can’t say I much enjoy the impression of living on Pluto. Fortunately these extremes are fairly rare in this part of the country. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/67 "2019-01-31T04:54:03Z")
-14 on my remote outside thermometer. However my old house is creaking and popping like crazy, might actually be hard to to sleep if it doesn’t settle in. And on Sunday it is supposed to get to nearly 50? ETA: that’s -14 Fs of course. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/68 "2019-01-31T05:39:09Z")
It is currently 6°F / -14°C where I am it. One of my cats wedged himself behind the filing cabinet on top of the radiator improvising a kitty sauna. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/69 "2019-01-31T05:57:02Z")
It’s warmed up to -22 C since this morning and has started snowing, since it’s not so cold. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/70 "2019-01-31T05:58:04Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > It is currently 6°F / -14°C where I am it. > > One of my cats wedged himself behind the filing cabinet on top of the radiator improvising a kitty sauna. Cats is smart when it comes to seeking the warmest spot. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/71 "2019-01-31T06:06:37Z")
Northern Piper, are you in Michigan or Saskatchewan? ---
**Author:** ![Batano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@Batano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batano)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/72 "2019-01-31T06:08:00Z")
I’m working in Kazakhstan: we call -29 F Tuesday. Forecast for -31 F next week. Those are actual temps, not wind chill. Biggest problem is with my glasses. If I put the muffler around my mouth, the warm air from exhaling freezes up the lenses. And of course when you go inside the glasses fog up immediately. Luckily the wind has been fairy calm and of course I have the right clothes including a fur hat. Fur seems to trap warm air around it, so my face stays warmer than if I just wore a stocking cap. I’m hoping for -38, where C = F. People here take the cold in stride. They use sleds rather than shopping carts or strollers. Some of the sleds even have flip down wheels so you can navigate the occasional cleared sidewalk. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/73 "2019-01-31T11:44:57Z")
It is officially cold out. I got out my “real” winter coat and am wearing it instead of my traditional hoodie. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/74 "2019-01-31T12:59:31Z")
It was so cold this morning that when I pulled my scarf up to cover my mouth, which redirected my breath to fog up my glasses, the fog on my glasses _froze solid_. Which was a giant pain on my 10 minute walk to the metro station. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/75 "2019-01-31T13:05:35Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Reading these weather stories leaves me speechless. I don’t know how y’all do it. I know at the moment you have no choice, but yikes. You get used to ridiculous cold after awhile, like the Jack London characters in Alaska who’d take off their caps and gloves during a -7F warm spell. Years ago we had 8 straight days in South Dakota where the temperature never got above zero (almost all of it in the minus single digits and minus teens). It seemed normal after about a week. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/76 "2019-01-31T13:10:44Z")
The wind chill in Omaha yesterday morning was -19f. I spent most of the morning working outside. Carhartt is the way to go. This morning, it is -7f. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/77 "2019-01-31T13:11:58Z")
-28 here in west-central Wisconsin right now — that’s as cold as I’ve ever experienced. We’re okay — the gas fireplace is doing its best to supplement the radiated heat, which otherwise couldn’t keep the house above 55 or so at this hour, mainly because the incoming water is so cold. In an hour, I’ll show my kid how hot water, tossed into the air, freezes into a little snow-cloud before it reaches the ground. Between now and Saturday mid-day — sixty hours or so — the temp is supposed to rise over 70 degrees! My kid and I will do a little skiing at our local hill on Saturday morning — but the temps will already be above 32, and snow will be melting! This kind of deep freeze happens when the polar vortex is LESS stable than usual, and so less confined to the Arctic. Like in 1984-85, the frigid January was preceded by a warner-than-usual December. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/78 "2019-01-31T13:27:11Z")
Currently it is 25 below zero in the suburbs of Chicago. 7:30 am Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/79 "2019-01-31T16:39:10Z")
NE Minnesota - We had -30 with a -56 windchill. Schools have been closed since Tuesday. The post office suspended mail delivery yesterday. I don’t think I’ve never seen that happen in my lifetime. My daughter and her family live a couple of hours southwest of me and are having the same temps. Her natural gas was shut off along with 150 other residents. Apparently the gas system was over-taxed and was losing pressure. So in order for the majority of the households in the area to continue to receive gas, her area had their gas shut off! Everyone else with gas service has been told to lower their thermostats to 60 or lower and to refrain from using other gas appliances. The city paid for hotel rooms for the families. I haven’t heard from her yet today to see how it’s going - they weren’t allowed to take their dogs. They set up some electric heaters for them and have to keep checking on them. I told her to have the faucets running so the pipes don’t freeze. Sure hope that works - if not the city will have a huge repair bill from everyone. Ray of hope - our temps will rise by 60 degrees come Saturday! Forecasted for 30 degrees ABOVE zero. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2019, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648/80 "2019-01-31T16:47:29Z")
In the Chicago suburbs, I had to get into my car yesterday and the button panel for the garage door wouldn’t respond. Don’t know if it was the battery or what and I couldn’t get the battery compartment to open, either. This went on for a while and I was about ready to try to warm it with a lighter or something equally dumb\* when it finally worked – and the garage door motor immediately said “nope”. I had to manually lift the door while the opener struggled. Once in, I was planning to leave it open since no one was going to loot my garage in -28F weather but my wife made concerned noises so I figured I’d swing the lever to detach the door from the opener mechanism and at least not have that issue later. This morning, I don’t know if the grease was frozen on the rollers or what but it took three of us to lift the door where I could normally do it practically one handed. Be glad when it’s a balmy 0F later today. Happily, no frozen pipes, the furnace works and we had power so it could have been a lot worse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-dopers-who-is-caught-in-the-2019-polar-vortex-and-freezing-their-tushies-off/828648.md?page=5)