# How Cold Is It? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 6, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996 "2014-01-06T03:22:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/81 "2014-01-08T19:05:36Z")
It was -21 last night, skyrocketing to a balmy 2[sup]o[/sup] today. If you have a brass monkey, I recommend snow pants. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/82 "2014-01-08T19:07:43Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > BBC was reporting that all 50 states are being hammered by the cold. Really? All 50? I know it can get downright chilly at night in Honolulu, and sure they even have [snow skiing way up on Mauna Kea on the Big Island](http://www.hawaiiinfoguide.com/hawaii_skiing.htm), but somehow I doubt Hawaii is getting hammered by the cold. They sort of cheated on the Hawaii one and used a below freezing reading from the top of a dormant volcano. I’m guessing Mauna Kea. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/83 "2014-01-08T19:15:10Z")
[It was so cold in Chicago that a peacock froze to a tree. The bird eventually succumbed to pneumonia.](http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Peacock-Escapes-Zoo-Dies-From-Cold-239264271.html) ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/84 "2014-01-08T19:20:33Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > They sort of cheated on the Hawaii one and used a below freezing reading from the top of a dormant volcano. I’m guessing Mauna Kea. How is that cheating? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/85 "2014-01-08T19:23:53Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > How is that cheating? It’s akin to using a record high in Juneau to declare that the entire state of Alaska is having a heatwave. ---
**Author:** ![ems](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@ems](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ems)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/86 "2014-01-08T19:31:18Z")
It dipped down below freezing in Houston about 26 where we live when I got up yesterday which is cold for here but not really cold and nothing compared to further North. Anyway I had to laugh at the news here in Houston on Monday night when describing the incoming ‘Hard Freeze!!!OMGOMG!!!’ that given this was only going to be overnight that they suggested keeping your cabinet doors open under your kitchen/bathroom sinks so the pipes didn’t freeze under your sink. Really? Good lord it was not that cold. I actually played this back to the hubby who I thought was going to fall off his chair laughing. Coldest I have ever been was when I worked in Wyoming -25 plus the windchill and at the time I worked outside a lot. That hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/87 "2014-01-09T04:48:03Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > They sort of cheated on the Hawaii one and used a below freezing reading from the top of a dormant volcano. I’m guessing Mauna Kea. > [@FXMastermind](#): > > How is that cheating? I consider it cheating too. sure, it’s technically correct, but trust me when I say Hawaiians are _not_ bundling up like Quinn the Eskimo. Something to keep in mind: -40 degrees Fahrenheit and -40 degrees Celsius are the same temperature. The two scales converge at that point. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/88 "2014-01-09T10:29:18Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Sam, the English invented a language they cannot speak. Watchertallinabaht? > [@](#): > > Go easy on them. They just finished paying the Colonies back for the Marshall Plan. > They’ve had a rough time of it, OK? > > 😉 As it happens old chap, it’s been unseasonably mild over here in Blighty. I might even not need a cardigan today… ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/89 "2014-01-09T14:46:27Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > It’s akin to using a record high in Juneau to declare that the entire state of Alaska is having a heatwave. Not to mention that, in the context of this particular weather phenomenon, it’s got nothing at all to do with the reason that the rest of us have been freezing our collective jibblies off for the last few days. (Today, a high around freezing! A heat wave!) ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/90 "2014-01-09T14:53:13Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I consider it cheating too. sure, it’s technically correct, but trust me when I say Hawaiians are _not_ bundling up like Quinn the Eskimo. At the same time I was reading that news article I received an email from the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau happily sharing their current temperature of 82 degrees F. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/91 "2014-01-09T15:03:08Z")
Not meaning to rub it in to the folks living where _real winter_ occurs, but for San Francisco, [the lowest recorded temperature was 27 °F (−3 °C) on December 11, 1932](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco#Climate). ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/92 "2014-01-09T15:14:24Z")
> [@mascaroni](#): > > Watchertallinabaht? > As it happens old chap, it’s been unseasonably mild over here in Blighty. I might even not need a cardigan today… Provided Land’s End doesn’t wash away into the ocean. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/93 "2014-01-09T15:19:38Z")
An exposed steel T burst in the plumbing at the rented trailer. _Steel._ Damn, that’s cold! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/94 "2014-01-09T21:27:35Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > An exposed steel T burst in the plumbing at the rented trailer. _Steel._ > Damn, that’s cold! Just replaced it, with water and ice falling out of the trees down my neck. Thermometer on the local church clock/love Jesus sign has added a plus sign in front of the temperature. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/95 "2014-01-10T02:24:30Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Thermometer on the local church clock/love Jesus sign has added a plus sign in front of the temperature. 🙂 Heat wave! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/96 "2014-01-10T02:56:39Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Heat wave! you have to sleep sometime, you son of a gun. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/97 "2014-01-10T03:05:03Z")
Weather prediction is not a science, it is a Black Art. Nonetheless, it will, if they killed the pigeons correctly, be 65F this weekend in Little Rock. Are other areas recovering? ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/98 "2014-01-10T04:34:52Z")
Well, I’ve got water from the faucets, no water from the ceiling, and heat again, so I"m doing all right here in C-bus. 🙂 (Still have a giant hole in the ceiling, a light fixture that is, I believe, filled with water, and a washer and dryer I hesitate to turn on, but one thing at a time.) ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/99 "2014-01-10T05:16:02Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Well, I’ve got water from the faucets, no water from the ceiling, and heat again, so I"m doing all right here in C-bus. 🙂 (Still have a giant hole in the ceiling, a light fixture that is, I believe, filled with water, and a washer and dryer I hesitate to turn on, but one thing at a time.) The last two days have been in the upper 30s. It will be in the upper 50s for the next few days. A friend of mine started to do laundry tonight and a pipe burst. I’m waiting until Monday until I turn my washer on. 😃 I’m glad you got your heat back. I was without my furnace (had to use oil-filled radiators in two rooms) for 10 days right before christmas. It was in the 20s some nights. I don’t even want to think what that would have been like with the temps we’ve had this week. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996/100 "2014-01-10T11:32:25Z")
Pipes are bursting like crazy all over the southern Appalachians. The fire department was driving around town the other day checking for leaks along the road. They stopped by my work to tell us that the place where our sprinkler system connects to the city water was leaking. A valve froze and popped off when everything thawed out. Fortunately it was on the city side, so they had to fix it. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-cold-is-it/677996.md?page=6)