# So why is it so cold right now (in North America) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2018, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-is-it-so-cold-right-now-in-north-america/805764 "2018-01-02T20:01:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-is-it-so-cold-right-now-in-north-america/805764/41 "2018-01-04T00:58:32Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > If you ever visit the West Coast in summer, bring a jacket … For very SMALL values of “coast”. I had many a day where, at my house about two miles inland from the ocean near Watsonville, the temp was in the 60s and cloudy as heck. But if I went to my in-laws’ house five miles away to pick up my kids, the temp would be in the 80s, and if I went another five or so miles further inland (San Juan Bautista, for example), the temp would be in the mid-to-upper 90s. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-is-it-so-cold-right-now-in-north-america/805764/42 "2018-01-04T02:58:18Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > For very SMALL values of “coast”. > > I had many a day where, at my house about two miles inland from the ocean near Watsonville, the temp was in the 60s and cloudy as heck. But if I went to my in-laws’ house five miles away to pick up my kids, the temp would be in the 80s, and if I went another five or so miles further inland (San Juan Bautista, for example), the temp would be in the mid-to-upper 90s. What are the low temperatures first thing in the morning? … folks Back East would say 80ºF and 95% humidity … ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-is-it-so-cold-right-now-in-north-america/805764/43 "2018-01-08T23:51:49Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > If you ever visit the West Coast in summer, bring a jacket … “The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco.” - This quote has been attributed to Mark Twain, but until the attribution can be verified, the quote should not be regarded as authentic. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-is-it-so-cold-right-now-in-north-america/805764/44 "2018-01-09T00:58:47Z")
> [@split\_p\_j](#): > > I’m 46 and to me this more normal than anything else. I’m in upstate NY, and except for the last few years, remember it always getting really cold around this time of year. I remember being out on 12/31/99 into 01/01/2000 and it was about as cold as this. Yeah, this happens every few years. The polar vortex was all over the news just a handful of winters ago. It was cold like this ten or so years ago. The wind chill in both the winters of 1999 and 2000 was -40f or lower multiple days each January. When I was in high school (1991-1995) school districts in New England discovered that a new gas additive created on the west coast caused gas to gel at -20f and since the buses wouldn’t start we missed several days of school… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-is-it-so-cold-right-now-in-north-america/805764.md?page=2)