I’m pretty certain it was 1982 because we were off of James Madison Park and I lived near there at the time. Our house was south of the park and when the wind would blow from the NW (the cold wind) I could put a piece of paper on the floor and it would ride the cold air sinking off the north wall all across the room.
ETA: On January 17th, 1982, it was -30 in Madison.
I frostbit both ears in Fairbanks in 1965 or '66, when I was going to college there. It was -63 F, and like a dumbshit, I went outside with no ear protection or gloves. I sucked my hands up into my sleeves, but my ears took a hit.
20 below 0 F on 12/14-25/80 just north of Boston. The Montreal Express came in on Christmas Eve and dropped the temp from +30 to -20 in 6 hours, along with a strong windstorm that blew out the central gas heat pilot light iin the folks’ house and it didn’t get relit by the gas company until later Christmas afternoon, and it was done that that early only because Dad had just gotten out of the hospital. The demand for gas heat depleted the supply leaving the eastern Massachusetts region without enough to heat thousands of homes. I happily returned to NC the next week and haven’t seen it below -4 since then. Oh, we kept warm around the kitchen gas stove which fortunately still worked and allowed Mom to cook a nice Christmas dindin. I did have to wipe the unheated cellar pipes with hot cloths to melt the slush in them.
I saw -52 on the thermometer in Green River, Wyoming one time. I’ve worked outside in -30ish temps.
One time a friend and myselft decided to do a winter climb in the Wind River mountains just east of Pinedale, WY. We gave it up on the second day out due to the cold. Don’t know how cold it was where we were but 3,000 feet lower in Pinedale it was -45ish both nights. Froze my toes a bit but didn’t lose any.
-45 Fahrenheit, in Cable Wisconsin, January 1994. A medical/ski conference.
Winds were well over 50 MPH at times.
The ski hills closed down.
And I was out in it, every 3 hours, for 3 days, starting the car in the parking lot of the resort, because I didn’t want the car to die. (It didn’t die, but the head gasket blew, which meant we lost all heat on the drive home, until we topped off the radiator with fresh fluid. That was fun.)
DAMN that was cold. When we headed south, and the temperature rose to zero near Madison, we tore off our jackets to bask in the warmth.
My last winter in Champaign/Urbana was a record tying cold spell (back 100 years). Temps hit -25F to -35F and the windchill was -55F to -65F (per the weather report). I had never heard phrases such as “Exposed flesh will freeze in 60 seconds” and “Potentially fatal” on the forecast before.
My housemates, midwesterners, stayed inside. I went for a long walk with about four layers on. I’ve got a photo someplace, I look like the Invisible Man all dressed up - including sunglasses and a neoprene face mask; no exposed skin. It was a wonderful crisp day, very quiet (everyone else had the good sense to stay indoors). Moisture from my breath crystallized on my mask immediately and even through the mask my nostrils froze quickly. Hey, I like the cold.
I’ll try and get a description from my friend Darryn of his worst winters at his research job in Antarctica, I’m pretty sure he’ll win this contest. I remember one story of his from a few years back where he landed during a record HIGH of -30C and got frostbite inside his mouth while moving his bags from the plane into the base.
okay, the first claim was definitely with wind chill, sorry
the second claim is true, we had temps that were in the -30’s for a month, I was there, there may have been some “warmer” days, (-20 or so), but it was subzero for a month
I was in that weather on a motorcycle in the rain. But the baby seals made it all worth it! That trip was the coldest I’ve ever felt, but I know I’ve experienced colder living in the Colorado high country. Probably -20s-30s with the windchill, and only a woodstove to keep warm. It makes me feel pathetic for curling up in my 55 degree house wearing my footie polarfleece jammies today.
Quoting windchill is for wusses. 
I don’t mean to pick on you - this is my own pet peeve, I admit.
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.
In January 1971, the avearage (mean) temperature in Fairbanks was -31.7 F. That’s not the norm, but it does indeed happen outside the arctic circle.
-40C in Norilsk, Siberia
Ah, those wonderful Canadian/Northern States locations… my coldest exposures? Vermont and Maine. Balmy single-digits-F highs, negative-teens lows in both trips.
Quite sufficient for me, honestly. You guys can keep the minus forties and such all for yourselves and hug them dearly, I could not tell you what salary offer would make me consider moving to some of the locations you have described…
The coldest weather I’ve ever been in was a winter I spent in The Pas in Northern Manitoba. If I recall correctly (and I probably don’t), it got down to -40ºC and stayed there for a couple of weeks, at least. Just freakin’ stupid cold - I can run out to my car and quickly grab something out of it without bundling up in -20 weather, but you don’t do that in -40. I used to go for walks even in that cold, though, and I’ve been on hikes in -30 - if you’re dressed for it and you keep moving, your body does a good job keeping you warm. Mine does, anyway.
I’m pretty sure we got whole months of at least -15 to -20C weather in the prairies growing up. I don’t have any statistics, but from people I know who still live there I know that while it has gotten a bit milder since the 80s, weeks of extreme cold are not so unusual.
I seem to recall that, too, from my Saskatchewanian childhood. And no school closures just for cold, either - you were expected to put a damned toque on!
Yeah, when I was a kid and school closure came up on TV shows (in the plot of kids movies, etc.) I thought it was a myth invented to progress the plot. I really can’t remember school ever being closed, but now that I am in university out East the uni is closed at least once or twice a year for weather.
I remember about 12 years ago, the wind chill reached -40 in the Detroit area. I was just blown away at how much colder than my previous understanding of cold it could be.
I knew I shouldn’t have included Fairbanks. I originally wrote “probably not even in Fairbanks” but changed it at the last minute. Even so, that month likely included days at or near zero along with days at -50F.
Actually, with a little research I find that on January 5th of 1971 the high was 35F, the record high for that day.
I grew up in Southern Alberta, and lived in Yellowknife, NWT (with frequent forays North for business) for many years. I could not even begin to tell you the coldest weather I’ve ever been in, because the Arctic is kinda cold all winter. I am of the opinion that after -20c it doesn’t really matter anymore. Cold is cold.
I can tell you, the first time I heard about a school closure due to winter weather here (Baltimore, Maryland, where I live now), I thought it was a joke when I checked the weather. I never, EVER had a snow day or a day off due to weather while I was growing up.