Back when I lived in NYC, my limit would be in the 20s, depending on wind. Now that I drive everywhere, the longest I’m ever outside is when I snow-blow the driveway. And my limit would be in the teens, depending on wind.
I’ll find out tonight while performing in the Denver Parade of Lights. Temp at Parade start time is supposed to be about 10 degrees. It’s a 2-mile route, it usually takes us about 45 minutes to an hour.
I’m drumming for the Colorado Fire Tribe, though, so the act of drumming plus the ambient heat of the fire dancers’ flames usually keeps us relatively warm.
Depends on how well-equipped I am. I love cold weather but don’t particularly like being cold. My current limit is pretty much zero, maybe five below, but if I lived somewhere colder, I’d just buy some better long underwear and gloves.
For me it also depends on the activity. Living in what becomes a winter wonderland I have been out running (properly dressed) at -50 with the windchill and been fine -
But that walk from the car to work? Sucks at anything with a wind…
I think it mostly depends on being dressed properly. With the right clothing, and enough of it, you can be outside for hours in negative degree weather and not get chilled as long as you are moving.
As **Athena **said, it depends on what you’re doing and especially on how you dress. A few years back my husband and I went to Alaska, above the Arctic Circle, to get a chance to see the Aurora Borealis. For obvious reasons, you have to do that when it’s not mid-summer, and of course at night, so I knew it was going to be cold. I had silk longjohns layered under other warm clothes, topped off with a specially-purchased coat that was supposed to be good for subzero temps, with matching hat and gloves. I was out under the stars for a long, long time, at least an hour, probably nearly two, and I swear I was not cold at all. The temperature was no higher than 20 degrees F. below zero. The big tough guy, of course, had not planned so well, and was reduced to uncontrolled helpless shivering in less than 15 minutes and had to go inside and take a warm bath.
I was not moving around much, just standing and watching the sky.
In defense of the organizers of the float, “proper cold weather white water behavior” was explained prior to the event.
Like others have said, it depends on my level/type of activity and ability to dress for it.
Just out running errands, going to/from work? I can handle 20F with no problem. If I can dress warmly, -10F is not a problem.
I get a lot of odd looks at work this time of year when I’m standing outside the door, checking IDs without a coat. 40F is shirt-sleeve weather to me.
Of course, it’s been a few years since I’ve done much more than stumble to the car, clean it off or shovel the sidewalk. My days of traipsing through the Adirondacks in Feb. are long past.
40F. Layering be damned. I’ve lived in Phoenix for 15 years, and no matter how many layers I have on, say, when visiting my in-laws in Montreal, I’m pretty much a mad dasher from house to car to house when it’s below 40.
- 20 C (-4 F) depending on windchill (ie little) on a bright, cloudless day is awesome. The air feels clearer, everything looks chrystalline and sharp. Love it.
I grew up north of Minneapolis. Down around -30F it can get painful to the skin. I didn’t care for that. Living in down in Chicago now, I don’t really get that bothered by the cold. It can get uncomfortable, but not to the point where I won’t be willing to go outside.
70F though I can tolerate down to 50F for a while before I get all hurty.
I live in Wisconsin.
No. I’ve been out in subzero (F) weather. I just bundle up and I’m fine.
It all depends on the activity.
Properly dressed for skiing, I’ve been at Sugarloaf USA in Maine on a day when it was -15F at the summit Gondola loading point (1/2 way up, before it was removed). The loaders thought we were crazy, but we were warm, and having a blast.
I’ve done sub-zero activities other than skiing, and as long as I’m moving, and properly dressed, had no problems.
I’ll swim into the 50s.
It’s the heat that kills me. Anything over 85F (with humidity) will cause me to melt, or find myself under AC, or in the water swimming. Without humidity, I’ve been fairly comfortable at 110F in Vegas. Of course at 110F you have to work to stay hydrated, if you’re at all active.
I remember when it started to dip into that range in IL my local news had the Cheery Weather Lady giving the forecast which included phrases such as:
“Exposed flesh will freeze in 60 seconds”
and
“Potentially fatal”
A guy I know has done multiple year-round research stints in Antarctica and he used to send us the weather reports. He landed one time during a record HIGH temp of -30C and got frostbite on the inside of his mouth hauling his bags from the plane into the station.
I’m outside almost every morning in winter snowshoeing or whatever. But when it gets down to about five below zero on the Fahrenheit scale (actual air temperature, not windchill) my nose hairs start to freeze and I prefer to stay indoors. I can survive much colder weather than that, but I don’t particularly enjoy it.
-30 F is about my limit. I’ll ski at -20, and hike at -30, but below that is rarely worth it for me. The coldest I’ve been out for any extended time is around -40, and that’s a bit too cold for me to enjoy.
Yes, I love those days. You think it’s been cold and then one of those hits–it’s like another world is created.
I think if I am bundled up enough I wouldn’t mind being out for long periods in very cold weather, as long as I am moving around. But I tend to underdress and find myself scuttling between car and work or car and home.
ETA: I thought you meant -20 F; that’s what I was referring to as far as everything taking on another dimension. -4, not as much but still quite invigorating.
I’ve never been anywhere that it got too cold to be outside. I grew up in Southeastern Washington State, where some winters it got into the single digits. The wind didn’t blow much there when it was that cold, which makes a big difference. We didn’t get blizzards, either, at least when I lived there.
I also don’t drive. Pretty much, if I have to go out, I go out.
In one of Jack London’s stories, the gold prospectors would take off their hats and mittens when it warmed up to a few degrees below zero. This sounded fishy to me, but it’s true that your tolerance level heavily depends on what you’re used to.
I lived in South Dakota during a cold snap when it didn’t get above zero for eight straight days, and I habitually walked 1/3 of a mile or so to lunch. Toward the end of that cold spell I found myself getting used to it, sort of.
I don’t have to live outside in the cold, thankfully, so there’s not anything so extreme here that I can’t tolerate it as long as it lasts.