# What is the coldest weather you've ever been in? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 28, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348 "2008-01-28T19:11:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/101 "2008-01-29T14:19:32Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] Bring me stats for these claims before you ask me for an apology. We have a department called the National Weather Service that keeps these statisics and gives them out for free. Make a simple phone call to Fargo or Grand Forks or even Minot and show me one single time where the temperature stayed below zero for “weeks on end”. [/QUOTE] **Elfkin’s** link shows both an incident of the temps remaining “at or below zero” for 11 straight days, and the cold snap I remember from '96 where the windchills got below -100. I’m not going to go calling weather services to prove some point to you about a cold day. There has already been more than enough citation presented in this thread to show you that sub-zero temps are routine in ND during the winter and that extreme, arctic lows happen all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/102 "2008-01-29T14:20:45Z")
This stretch of weather, from my first year of University in Saskatoon, was some of the most miserable weather I’ve been through in my life. First column is the date, starting in January, second column hi temp, third column low temp, all in deg C: 14 -24.5 -29.1 15 -17.9 -26.5 16 -19.2 -26.4 17 -26 -38 18 -30.9 -41.5 19 -32.7 -40.8 20 -27.8 -37.9 21 -24.9 -38.1 22 -21.9 -31.8 23 -22 -34.5 24 -26.1 -36.3 25 -26.3 -37 26 -24.8 -35.7 27 -28.5 -38.9 28 -27.4 -32.3 29 -30 -41.2 30 -26.5 -38.6 31 -30.3 -42.1 1 -29.7 -42.8 2 -29.3 -38.7 3 -22 -37.8 4 -20.7 -28.2 Figures from Environment Canada. At least where I live now there’d have been at least one chinook in there to break things up. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/103 "2008-01-29T14:30:06Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] I’m getting the impression I haven’t lived. \. [/QUOTE] Yes, you really need to live someplace where making it out of winter alive is cause for celebration. WooHoo! Not dead yet! (In a way, that’s not really an exaggeration - you have never seen a bunch of people literally basking in the nice weather as Canadians when spring truly comes here). ---
**Author:** ![FarmerChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@FarmerChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FarmerChick)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/104 "2008-01-29T14:34:50Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] Yes, you really need to live someplace where making it out of winter alive is cause for celebration. WooHoo! Not dead yet! (In a way, that’s not really an exaggeration - you have never seen a bunch of people literally basking in the nice weather as Canadians when spring truly comes here). [/QUOTE] You got that right! One of the many pleasures if being “Canadian” is the sheer joy in celebrating the different seasons. I truly do love the progression of them all. I don’t think I could ever live there was no seasonal changes. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/105 "2008-01-29T14:46:57Z")
About -50F with windchill, in Minnesota around Christmas. Hoo, that was cold. We’d set a case of beer in the entryway (not outside, but the _entryway_) to chill, and it’d freeze solid in under an hour. I had one uncle who didn’t mind the cold; we would make him go outside and start everyone’s cars. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/106 "2008-01-29T16:52:00Z")
[QUOTE=SkipMagic] **Lamar Mundane** , this isn’t the Pit. Calling people stupid and telling them they’re liars (or lying) is pretty damn insulting. Knock it off. (Really? Over weather? People get this upset over temperatures? Who knew?) [/QUOTE] I guess I do. I’ll try to get over it. For a board dedicated to fighting ignorance, this topic brings out more bogus information than any other. There are at least a half dozen posts here that are flat out false and can be easily debunked with 20 seconds of googling. And yes, eleven days does not equal “weeks on end”. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/107 "2008-01-29T17:58:35Z")
I trust that my post proves that you needn’t head to Alaska to get almost a month of ass-bitingly cold weather in a stretch. You bit off more than you could chew as well. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/108 "2008-01-29T18:12:16Z")
[QUOTE=Raygun99] I trust that my post proves that you needn’t head to Alaska to get almost a month of ass-bitingly cold weather in a stretch. You bit off more than you could chew as well. [/QUOTE] No. Central Saskatchewan is hundreds of miles north of the US border. I’ve never said anything about the claims from the prairie provinces. They are colder than most of the inhabited parts of Alaska anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/109 "2008-01-29T18:19:07Z")
Except your claim was “Arctic/Antarctic”, of which the prairies aren’t close to either. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/110 "2008-01-29T18:25:01Z")
[QUOTE=Raygun99] Except your claim was “Arctic/Antarctic”, of which the prairies aren’t close to either. [/QUOTE] And your statistics clearly and unequivocably show that it did not stay at -30 for a month at a time. In fact, there are only four days where the high was -30 or lower. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/111 "2008-01-29T18:53:37Z")
I never made that claim (though, temps did drop well below -30 on most of those days). It did, however, stay well below 0F for almost that entire period. ---
**Author:** ![FarmerChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@FarmerChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FarmerChick)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/112 "2008-01-29T19:00:22Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] No. Central Saskatchewan is hundreds of miles north of the US border. I’ve never said anything about the claims from the prairie provinces. They are colder than most of the inhabited parts of Alaska anyway. [/QUOTE] I hate to nitpick here, but since you are, Saskatoon is less then 300 miles to the Montana border. I would hardly call that “hundreds of miles”. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/113 "2008-01-29T19:04:35Z")
And [Estevan](http://www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climateData/dailydata_e.html?timeframe=2&Prov=SK&StationID=2896&Year=1996&Month=1&Day=28), just north of the US border, had much the same weather during the same period. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/114 "2008-01-29T19:15:34Z")
[QUOTE=FarmerChick] I hate to nitpick here, but since you are, Saskatoon is less then 300 miles to the Montana border. I would hardly call that “hundreds of miles”. [/QUOTE] You wouldn’t? What would you call it? “Tens?” “Dozens?” > [@](#): > > I never made that claim (though, temps did drop well below -30 on most of those days). It did, however, stay well below 0F for almost that entire period. The original claim which generated my response about the Arctic was post #2 in the thread, where it was claimed that the temperature in Vermont never rose above -30 for a month. I don’t understand why people keep posting statistics to rebut my claims when they serve to confirm my points. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/115 "2008-01-29T19:32:18Z")
From many years of experience, I can tell you that a week of negative temperatures in the -20 to -30 range can certainly feel like a month. There are places in Montana, ND, etc. that get consistently much colder than Anchorage in the winter, although our winters last longer. At 60 below in Fairbanks, nothing much was moving. There was ice fog so dense you couldn’t see 20 feet in front of you. At that temperature, oil turns to sludge and gasoline to jelly. I remember people trying to light fires under their oil pans to thaw things out, and the “square tire” effect of bitter cold. Weather discussions seem to bring out the “can you top this” stories, which don’t always jibe with historical fact. Another consideration is that historical weather data tends to be temperatures recorded at an airport or other fixed location. Within our own Anchorage bowl, temperatures can swing as much as 15 degrees. One of the coldest locations is called “The Science Center”, which is typically ten degrees colder than anywhere else in town. So in theory, while temps may swing from -10 to +5 at the airport, they’re staying below zero out there the entire time. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/116 "2008-01-29T19:41:45Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] From many years of experience, I can tell you that a week of negative temperatures in the -20 to -30 range can certainly feel like a month. [/QUOTE] Hey, there we go! Let’s call that “ **time chill** ”, then everybody’s right. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/117 "2008-01-29T19:42:29Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] The second claim isn’t even close to true, not in Vermont, not in Minnesota or North Dakota, not even in Fairbanks. That kind of consistent cold doesn’t happen outside of the Arctic/Antarctic circles. [/QUOTE] You said this after people started talking about the Canadian prairies. And many comments after that included the prairies, but now you are excluding them. I know you studied meteorology, but some of us with a grasp of geography know that much of Canada is in fact outside the Arctic circle. ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/118 "2008-01-29T19:47:29Z")
Between Christmas and the New Year, the winter of 1981 - 1982. We were at Lone Butte in the Cariboo, staying with some friends who lived in an old log house. The thermometer on their woodshed read -53 C. It was a record-setting winter all over the Cariboo that year, and since they were up higher than 100 Mile (where the official temperature was taken) the temperature was lower. We were warm in bed, with blankets and coats and rugs over us. In the mornings our host would go around the kitchen and bathroom with a “tiger torch”, taking the worst of the chill off. They had a woodburning stove in the kitchen and a woodburning furnace with an elaborate boiler/radiator system, so the the house was bearable although we wore jackets or vests all day, and warm boots, too. But outside! There was no wind, but things felt just weird. What was weirder was to see their cattle at the (heated) water trough, with their pink udders bare to the cold - I think cattle must have wonderful natural anti-freeze in there. You do see the odd cow missing a teat due to the cold, but not as many as you would think. Cattle winter outdoors up there all the time. It is at -40 C and 40 below zero F that the temperatures of those two scales coincide. That is COLD, no matter which scale you use. We were once in Fort Churchill, Manitoba, in February. It was cold and very windy, I recall the “windchill” was supposedly -60 or -70 C, and we got frostbite on our cheeks and noses walking 1/4 mile. An awful place. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/119 "2008-01-29T20:07:01Z")
I lived in Saranac Lake, NY for the winter of 2005. From [here.](http://www.nature-blog.com/2008/01/weather-extremes.html) > [@](#): > > Why is Saranac Lake, N.Y., consistently one of the coldest spots in the contiguous USA ? > To be one of the coldest locations in the contiguous USA requires several physical attributes, each of which Saranac Lake possesses. Temperatures decrease with both latitude and elevation, so cold locations such as Saranac Lake tend to be located in mountainous regions of the northern USA. Saranac Lake’s inland location, away from the moderating effects of the Atlantic Ocean, also contributes to its coldness. > > Two other features make Saranac Lake stand out from any number of northern inland mountainous locations. The first is meteorological. The town lies in a high-elevation valley. Thus cold air, which is more dense, flows down the surrounding mountain slopes and accumulates over Saranac Lake. The second is serendipitous. There happens to be an airport weather station that reports daily temperatures at Saranac Lake. Relatively few airports are located in this type of topography. I don’t recall the absolute lowest, but I do know I had mornings at at least -20 F, and windchill in the -30 to -40 range. Ahh, found some more info. I have had -31 before windchill (from [here,](http://asp.usatoday.com/weather/news/extremes/2005-01-extremes.htm) Jan.27th.) Of course, that was just the day that Saranac Lake had the lowest temp of the day for the lower 48 states, so the few days before and after were pretty damn cold, too (I think they were almost all at least -10.) There’s also this: > [@](#): > > Based on USA TODAY’s archive of U.S. daily national temperature extremes since April 1995, which are provided by the National Weather Service, Stanley, Idaho, has been the nation’s cold spot (outside of Alaska) more often than any other location, having recorded or tied for the lowest temperature in the contiguous USA a total of 478 days. This is followed by West Yellowstone, Mont. (385 days), Gunnison, Colo. (208 days), Truckee, Calif. (184 days), and Saranac Lake, N.Y. (143 days). Needless to say, I was NOT sad to bid farewell to that town. 😛 (Although I’m amused that one of the coldest spots in the US outside of Alaska is in California…I know they have northern mountains and all, but c’mon, you think California, you think sun!) ---
**Author:** ![FarmerChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@FarmerChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FarmerChick)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348/120 "2008-01-29T20:11:36Z")
One winter, it was so cold that the dawn froze solid. The sun got caught between two ice blocks, and the earth iced up so much that it couldn’t turn. The first rays of sunlight froze halfway over the mountain tops. They looked like yellow icicles dripping towards the ground. ``` Now Davy Crockett was headed home after a successful night hunting when the dawn froze up so solid. Being a smart man, he knew he had to do something quick or the earth was a goner. He had a freshly killed bear on his back, so he whipped it off, climbed right up on those rays of sunlight and began beating the hot bear carcass against the ice blocks which were squashing the sun. Soon a gush of hot oil burst out of the bear and it melted the ice. Davy gave the sun a good hard kick to get it started, and the sun's heat unfroze the earth and started it spinning again. So Davy lit his pipe on the sun, shouldered the bear, slid himself down the sun rays before they melted and took a bit of sunrise home in his pocket. ``` [Cite](http://www.americanfolklore.net/folktales/tn1.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-coldest-weather-youve-ever-been-in/435348.md?page=7)