# It's freakishly cold outside **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 27, 2002, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173 "2002-12-27T16:30:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/1 "2002-12-27T16:30:08Z")
“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” my ASS I am! For once I’d like a Christmas without any snow anywhere, since it’d be a good signal of it not being cold enough to freeze your nads off out there. But no such luck in Finland, no. Second day of -25C in row. It’s such a joyful feeling to have your eyelids cracking ever so slightly when you blink your eyes - not to mention when your nostrils freeze. Of course, I have no-one to blame but myself for going out there. I just thought that now after Christmas might be a good time to return the books and the records to the library. Sigh. Stupid wintery season. Why can’t summer come already? ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/2 "2002-12-27T16:51:29Z")
That IS cold. It’s only -3 C here. Practically tropical! (Haha.) That’s what you get for living in Finland. Whose fault is that, I ask you? WHOSE? I hate that nostril-freezing thing, though. I’m with you there. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/3 "2002-12-27T16:53:05Z")
I’d like to add, it _feels_ like it’s -13 C. According to [weather.com](http://weather.com), anyway. I don’t get this. If it feels like it’s one temperature, why isn’t it that temperature? I mean, what else are we measuring, other than how cold it feels? What’s the point? ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/4 "2002-12-27T16:57:38Z")
I opened this thread to join you in railing against the cold, but I see you have it much worse than I do. I still hate it with every fiber of my being, and impatiently await the day I can leave the cold behind forever. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/5 "2002-12-27T17:05:04Z")
I’m wearing shorts today. Two days after Christmas, and I’m wearing _shorts_! I love cold weather. What the hell am I doing in Texas? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/6 "2002-12-27T17:05:28Z")
-8F (-22C) for the last couple of nights here in central Colorado. Pipes froze the other day because a breaker triped and shut off the heat tape. This is the first year (in 10) we are heating with propane instead of wood. Kinda nice to have a thermostat. All part of the experiance don’t cha know. ---
**Author:** ![Jaakko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@Jaakko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaakko)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/7 "2002-12-27T17:15:56Z")
Move to the south young un, it’s only -2 C here. It’s always windy on the coast though… ---
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/8 "2002-12-27T17:19:18Z")
Well, I’m coming to Hesa (To prove my peasantness I call it Hesa instead of Stadi!) 1-4.1.2003 - let’s hope it continues to be warm there. ---
**Author:** ![Feynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@Feynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feynn)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/9 "2002-12-27T17:57:38Z")
Heh… it’s downright balmy here right now… -7 C. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/10 "2002-12-27T18:56:36Z")
It’s 17 here, and bright and sunny! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/11 "2002-12-27T19:14:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kantalooppi \* > \*\*“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” my ASS I am! For once I’d like a Christmas without any snow anywhere, since it’d be a good signal of it not being cold enough to freeze your nads off out there. But no such luck in Finland, no. Second day of -25C in row. It’s such a joyful feeling to have your eyelids cracking ever so slightly when you blink your eyes - not to mention when your nostrils freeze. > > Of course, I have no-one to blame but myself for going out there. I just thought that now after Christmas might be a good time to return the books and the records to the library. Sigh. > > Stupid wintery season. Why can’t summer come already? \*\* What’s colder on average Helsinki or Moscow? > [@](#): > > City of Helsinki > Founded 1550 > Capital of Finland 1812 > > Total area 686 sq.km > Sea 500 sq.km > Land 186 sq.km > Shoreline (mainland) 98 km > Islands 315 > > Mean temperature (whole year 2001) 5.9°C > Warmest month July, mean temperature 20.2°C > Coldest month February, mean temperature -6.8°C > > Total population (2001/2002) 559,718 > Men 46,5 % > Women 53,5 % > Finnish-speaking 87,6 % > Swedish-speaking 6,4 % > Population density (2001) 2,999 inhabitants per sq.km > Total population in the Helsinki Region (2001/2002) 1,213,743 ---
**Author:** ![andymurph64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@andymurph64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andymurph64)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/12 "2002-12-27T22:07:53Z")
Damn greenhouse effect… ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/13 "2002-12-28T00:29:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lightnin’ \* > \*\*I’m wearing shorts today. > > Two days after Christmas, and I’m wearing _shorts_! > > I love cold weather. What the hell am I doing in Texas? \*\* I saw some guy in shorts at the mall on Christmas Eve… my sister and I wondered what was up with that. It was about 5ºC outside… still a bit cold. F\_X ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/14 "2002-12-28T00:41:30Z")
Here I am, in one of the warmest areas of the USA. I go outside about 7:30 this morning, and what do I see? A thin coating of frost on the cars, on the railroad tracks on the other side of the parking lot, and on the grass in the park across the tracks. I’m exhaling giant clouds of steam and my nose is going numb from the cold. What–is Tempe the cold spot in the so-called Valley of the Sun? Of course, the sun is shining and there isn’t a cloud in the sky–and it gets up into the high 60s (F) this afternoon. I guess the moral is: don’t go out so damn early in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/15 "2002-12-28T12:12:19Z")
This morning: -28C. Brr. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/16 "2002-12-28T12:50:29Z")
Supposed to get into the 60’s here today. But with a chance of rian. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/17 "2002-12-28T12:55:05Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t get this. If it feels like it’s one temperature, why isn’t it that temperature? I mean, what else are we measuring, other than how cold it feels? What’s the point? Well, as I understand it, apparent temperature is based on the rate heat is leaving your body. This is influenced by a number of factors, not just the external temperature. Wind and moisture, mainly. So while the actual temperature might be -3, you could be losing heat from your body at the same rate as you would if it were -13. Does that make sense? I don’t think I’ve explained it very well. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/18 "2002-12-28T13:04:16Z")
At 9pm it was 21.3 here. That’s Celsius of course, so 70.3F. It’s still heaps cooler outdoors than in. How stupid are we, living in Australia and not owning an airconditioner?? ---
**Author:** ![Jaakko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@Jaakko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaakko)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/19 "2002-12-28T14:26:35Z")
Oh no, I bragged too early! Today it’s -12C and a strong wind to boot. And I just got a cold too, dammit dammit dammit… ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/20 "2002-12-29T13:23:38Z")
I was taking a coat to my aunt’s earlier today so she could repair the sleeve and when I walked back to my house,the wind was so strong that my eyes began to water. My eyelids promptly began to freeze together. Not too nice. Well, at least is isn’t snowing… right now. Oh, wait, never mind. Small flakes, though. The kind that _sting_ when the wind blows them against you. I just love Finland in the winter. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173.md?page=2)