# how cold does it have to be to freeze to death? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 14, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-does-it-have-to-be-to-freeze-to-death/168611 "2003-04-14T12:47:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-does-it-have-to-be-to-freeze-to-death/168611/1 "2003-04-14T12:47:00Z")
For some reason, this question is bugging me. Can a person “freeze” to death at a temperature above freezing? Julie ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-does-it-have-to-be-to-freeze-to-death/168611/2 "2003-04-14T12:51:25Z")
Sure. You can die from hypothermia within hours in water at 50 degrees F. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-does-it-have-to-be-to-freeze-to-death/168611/3 "2003-04-14T13:02:57Z")
OK. To hijack this a little, what’s the highest temperature that you can freeze to death at? I imagine that wind can make a huge difference so assume no wind, totally exposed to the elements, and without food and drink. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-does-it-have-to-be-to-freeze-to-death/168611/4 "2003-04-14T13:43:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by phreesh \* > \*\*OK. To hijack this a little, what’s the highest temperature that you can freeze to death at? > > I imagine that wind can make a huge difference so assume no wind, totally exposed to the elements, and without food and drink. \*\* Not a hijack. That’s really the question I had, I just didn’t phrase it properly. Julie ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-does-it-have-to-be-to-freeze-to-death/168611/5 "2003-04-14T14:43:16Z")
Any temperature that lowers your body’s core temperature will do it. Depends on clothing, whether you are laying prone on the ground (that will suck the heat out of your body like nothing else), etc. Lot’s of variables. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-does-it-have-to-be-to-freeze-to-death/168611/6 "2003-04-14T15:22:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Severe Hypothermia (Core Temperature Less than 90° Fahrenheit, or 32.2° Celsius) > Depending on the body temperature, a victim who appears to be asleep may be in a complete coma.\_ Below 65° Fahrenheit (18.3° Celsius), humans become poikilothermic like a snake, and take on the temperature of the environment. [Levels of Hypothermia](http://www.wfubmc.edu/besthealth/ODH/hypothermia_levels.htm) 65° likely refers to the temperature of the body core. A body temperature in this range is life threatening. You can probably die at higher temps, but an external temperature of 65°, coupled with good heat transfer, as in a liquid, is low enough to kill you. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-does-it-have-to-be-to-freeze-to-death/168611/7 "2003-04-14T15:42:56Z")
Freeze is not really the right word just like you are not really “freezing” when you say so. You die of hypothermia and, yes, there are many variables. I know a guy who was part of a crew of 5 when their schooner went down off Cape Hatteras. Four of them managed to get in the raft but this guy wanted to save the dog and he was quite fat (and not too young either) so he never made it to the raft. The day was cloudy and visibility not too good but the CG managed to locate the raft pretty fast but the other guy was in the water ost of the day until he was finally located just before dark. Although he was hospitalised for a couple days it seems he was not in bad shape and he was told he kept his body temperature pretty well due to all the blubber he was carrying. A thinner person would have probably perished. Nevertheless he swore he was never going anywhere near Cape Hatteras in December. ---
**Author:** ![ooga\_booga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b77776/32.png) [@ooga\_booga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ooga_booga)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-does-it-have-to-be-to-freeze-to-death/168611/8 "2003-04-14T16:04:10Z")
The short answer to the question is: yes. People can freeze to death at temperatures above 0 C/32 F; this happens from time to time in South Asia, where a combination of hard-core poverty and generally warm weather can leave many people unprepared to deal with the occasional modest cold snap. For example, [there’s this story](http://www.earthchangestv.com/breaking/January2001/0108bangladesh.htm): > [@](#): > > DHAKA (Reuters) - A cold spell sweeping Bangladesh has killed at least 30 people over the last five days, local officials said on Sunday. > > They said temperatures dropped to 6.8 degrees Celsius (44.24 degrees Fahrenheit) in some northern areas early on Sunday and could fall further in the next few days. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-does-it-have-to-be-to-freeze-to-death/168611/9 "2003-04-14T16:42:41Z")
ooga booga, those people did not “freeze” in the strict sense of the word. They just died and they did not freeze until someone put them in a freezer.