# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/21 "2002-12-29T13:53:31Z")
The freeze continues. Stupid Finland. Stupid Joensuu. Well, at least I don’t live in Lapland. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/22 "2002-12-29T14:07:13Z")
I think the coldest I’ve _ever_ experienced would have been about -2C. Right now, it’s ten past one in the morning, and I’m wearing a pear of shorts, and no shirt. My stepson is lying downstairs asleep on the sofa in t-shirt and shorts with a fan on high setting. And I wouldn’t swap it for the world. Anything less than about +16C is cold for me. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/23 "2002-12-29T14:08:15Z")
A _pear_ of shorts? The mind boggles. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/24 "2002-12-29T15:42:26Z")
Oh, _please._ I used to live in Winnipeg. -40. Exposed skin freezes in 30 seconds (they used to actually warn us this on the radio). ---
**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, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/25 "2002-12-29T15:46:25Z")
Last winter, we celebrated New Year’s at my friend’s summer cottage, near Mikkeli. The temperature ranged from a comfy -25 degrees Celsius to a slightly chilly -32; this was also the temperature inside the cottage when my friend first got there. By the time we joined her, she had been heating the place up non-stop for two days and it was a positively scorching +2. We managed to get the air inside up to room temperature the day before we left. 🙂 Of course, that was nothing compared to New Year’s 1999-2000, which we spent up in Martti, about…hmm, 50 km from the Russian border in eastern Lapland. We made the mistake of leaving a bottle of Coke outside for about 30 minutes while unpacking all the other groceries into the refridgerator. When we went to retrieve it, the thing had burst. My, what fun we have here in Finland in winter. 🙂 This is the perfect weather for making ice lanterns. Come, everyone, let us make ice lanterns! Ice lanterns for all! ---
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/26 "2002-12-30T14:48:24Z")
It continues to be freakishly cold. Finns & Temperatures: +15°C / 59°F This is as warm as it gets in Finland, so we’ll start here. People in Spain wear winter-coats and gloves. The Finns are out in the sun, getting a tan. +10°C / 50°F The French are trying in vain to start their central heating. The Finns plant flowers in their gardens. +5°C / 41°F Italian cars won’t start, The Finns are cruising in cabriolets. 0°C / 32°F Distilled water freezes. The water in Vantaa river (in Finland) gets a little thicker. -5°C / 23°F People in California almost freeze to death. The Finns have their final barbecue before winter. -10°C / 14°F The Brits start the heat in their houses. The Finns start using long sleeves. -20°C / -4°F The Aussies flee from Mallorca. The Finns end their Midsummer celebrations. Autumn is here. -30°C / -22°F People in Greece die from the cold and disappear from the face of the earth. The Finns start drying their laundry indoors. -40°C / -40°F Paris start cracking in the cold. The Finns stand in line at the\>hotdog stands. -50°C / -58°F Polar bears start evacuating the North Pole. The Finnish army postpones their winter survival training awaiting real winter weather. -60°C / -76°F Korvatunturi (the home for Santa Claus) freezes. The Finns rent a movie and stay indoors. -70°C / -94°F The false Santa moves south. The Finns get frustrated since they can’t store their Kossu (Koskenkorva vodka) outdoors. The Finnish army goes out on winter survival training. -183°C / -297.4°F Microbes in food don’t survive. The Finnish cows complain that the farmers’ hands are cold. -273°C / -459.4°F ALL atom-based movent halts. The Finns start saying “Perkele, it’s cold outside today.” -300°C / -508°F Hell freezes over, Finland wins the Eurovision Song Contest. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/27 "2002-12-30T15:04:06Z")
Heatwave here in Michigan! We’re _above_ freezing! It’s 2 C. Whoa, dude. ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/28 "2002-12-31T06:24:52Z")
Now that’s one of the funniest things I’ve heard in a while. It dipped down to -20C or so for a few days, but so far, this has been pretty balmy. I dread the -50C that’s due us in February. :eek: The coldest I’ve seen is hmmm, -62C. That winter it was -50 or more for about five weeks - all we did was feed the stove and watch the frost grow. On the inside of the house. Were a little nippy that year. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Finnie\_the\_Pooh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@Finnie\_the\_Pooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finnie_the_Pooh)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/29 "2003-01-01T03:34:16Z")
-300 C All Finns in Lappi, Kivikoski, Tarmola, Intola and Kaministiquia (all of my neighbourhood) quit drinking and join the pentecostal church. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/30 "2003-01-01T03:44:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kyla \* > \*\*Heatwave here in Michigan! We’re _above_ freezing! It’s 2 C. Whoa, dude. \*\* Us too. I find it a little strange that it’s 33F (just above 1C) right now. That’d be a lot warmer than normal at _noon_ (ave for dec 31st is 25F) and it’s nearly 11pm. It’s warm enough for rain and sleet rather than snow though, so we’re not really enjoying the balmy weather. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/31 "2003-01-01T04:42:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfkin477 \* > \*\*It’s warm enough for rain and sleet rather than snow though, so we’re not really enjoying the balmy weather. \*\* This is why Aussies can bitch about the cold. We don’t get groovy cold weather where everybody gets to wear fabulous clothes, and drink hot chocolate around toasty log fires. We get bleak, wet cold weather. 10C in Sydney is usually accompanied by spitting rain and a wind. Our flimsy houses don’t quite cut it, and our one tiny bar radiator is struggling to warm even one room. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/32 "2003-01-01T19:38:30Z")
HEY! You copied that off the same joke, only about the US and Canada. Plagiarist Finns. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/33 "2003-01-01T21:00:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*This is why Aussies can bitch about the cold. We don’t get groovy cold weather where everybody gets to wear fabulous clothes, and drink hot chocolate around toasty log fires. We get bleak, wet cold weather. 10C in Sydney is usually accompanied by spitting rain and a wind. Our flimsy houses don’t quite cut it, and our one tiny bar radiator is struggling to warm even one room. \*\* This is what it’s like in my home state of California. Actually, there are places in California where it snows seven months out of the year, but that’s in the mountains where approximately eight people live. Anyway. I’m from the SF Bay Area, where winter brings cold and constant rain, with unpleasant Pacific winds. It sits around 10 C (50 F) for months at a time, and…ah, heck, we sit on the sofa and drink cocoa and watch the rain. It’s great! Who am I kidding? I grew up in drought. We had a drought in California that lasted _fifteen years_. The drought has been over for years now, but water remains a precious enough commodity that rain just raises my spirits like nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173/34 "2003-01-02T20:37:55Z")
Just got back from my friend’s summer cottage. It was -32 Celsius outside. Most of our time was spent feeding the fire. My friend, while venturing outside from the sauna to roll in the snow, decided to keep her socks on; subsequently, she froze to the porch. We had such fun. 🙂 **mattmcl** , I think it’s not so much plagiarism as it is a joke that goes around the world and gets assigned different nationalities. Kind of like how I once heard a Norwegian tell a joke about a Finn that I recognized as a joke that Finns tell about Swedes. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-freakishly-cold-outside/145173.md?page=1)