It’s chilly

My challenge car near Charleston SC (Summerville).

Friend of mine in Pensacola, Florida has nine inches of snow last night. I was shocked at the photos and videos he sent.

David S. Wallens said:

Loving my long johns today. :) 

In the forties ? Really, David?

Edit: Do you guys wear long johns with your shorts and sandals, or do you actually own long pants? I have this image in my head now.

I'm in Michigan so this is just what happens sooner or later every year.  But my boiler from 1958 can barely keep up now that my house has been added on to.  It was fine until last night, it has been running non stop for 12 hours just to maintain the temp, has not gone up one degree.

I knew a guy who got drunk in Saskatchewan one winter night, and stopped to take a leak on his way home. He collapsed, fell, passed out...whatever, and they found his body later that night , outside the still running truck. Temperatures well below freezing can be lethal very quickly if you aren't prepared for it. While snow down south can be a bit humorous to us who grew up with it, I can also empathize with people who haven't the tools, or experience to deal with it.

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Nice snow Dorito on the hood!

DrBoost said:

The biggest sucky thing is when I get my electric bill for the heat running for a few days.

Yup. One of my requirements when I got this house 14 years ago was it having gas heat. I'm in coastal SC, and while it doesn't get cold often (and being from Pennsylvania I actually enjoy the snow and cold), the expense of an electric heater trying to work is ridiculous and it's not very effective.

ShawnG said:

-37c at my house a couple days ago.

That's not wind chill either.

That's around where your Canadian measurement methods and our freedom units equalize.  (-34 F vs. -37 C) That's wicked cold on either scale!

We were a balmy 3 F here this morning and topped out at 18 F in eastern MA.  North and west of us were well below 0 this morning. This is the coldest stretch we've had in years around here.

-8F at my place this AM the coldest it has been around here in 31 years. The snow evaporated.

In Montana, when I was 5, i went Trick or Treating...in -30. Not wind chill, actual temperature. I made it 4 houses before my vinyl costume shattered. Mom took us to the Lutheran church for some indoor activities. You know, so we wouldn't die.

Good times.

It's no fun, digging through 6" of clothes to find 4" of.... when you need to pee.

In reply to ShawnG :

Bragging is unbecoming. 

Roads are still a little screwed up down here. Major roads have at least one passable lane. Minor roads still have a layer of ice and snow anywhere there is shade. We don't have the equipment to clear them properly.

The city of North Charleston spread rock salt 24 hours before the ice started and traffic had blown 100% of it off the road before the snow started. They probably should have called Michigan or Ohio about the timing for spreading salt. 

The Falken Rubitrek A/T tires on the Touareg work very well on ice and snow. If there is any surface to grab besides polished ice, they grab it. Falken A/T tires may be the best all-around tire I've ever owned. 

In reply to Toyman! :

Major roads and highways up here get treated with a brine ahead of a weather event so it sticks to the surface. Once the snow starts flying and the plows are out then the salt starts on the wet roads to keep the ice from forming.

In reply to adam525i :

Rots cars more efficiently, too.

Just reffed an outdoor hockey game, it was a balmy 10°F (Feels like 1° according to the accuweather forecast).
 

I had on Old navy long underwear, smartwool long underwear over that, shin pads and my ref pants, 6 layers on top including 1 wool, 1 fleece, 1 windbreaker and the ref sweater, and a fleece "hood" under the helmet. Hand warmers and having put vaseline and icy hot on my nose and the parts of my face not covered by beard meant that overall I was quite comfortable, if not less mobile than I'd like to be. Except for my toes. Despite having toe warmers, my toes were pretty berking cold. I need to find some wool socks that don't give me a rash when I skate. 

Appleseed said:

In Montana, when I was 5, i went Trick or Treating...in -30. Not wind chill, actual temperature. I made it 4 houses before my vinyl costume shattered. Mom took us to the Lutheran church for some indoor activities. You know, so we wouldn't die.

Good times.

It wasn't that cold, but long time Minnesotans still talk about the Halloween blizzard of 1991.  By the time it was over we had 29" of snow in Minneapolis, Duluth had 37".  I was at a Halloween party that night, and people were too busy partying to pay attention to what was going on outside.  it was quite a surprise when it was time to go home; I remember a couple women were wearing sexy nurse type costumes, they didn't enjoy slogging through the snow to their cars.   

You have to experience "Florida cold" to appreciate the difference. 
 

I trained horses in Canada in the winter. The most miserably cold I've ever been was in Pompano Beach, Florida. 

I was dressed in all of the same outerwear that kept me comfortable in Canada. The temperature was about 37f, 25-30 mph wind out of the northeast, five miles from the ocean. Add to the windchill, another 20-25 mph when we're training each horse. No going back to the barn either. We were getting off one cart and right on the next one for three hours. 
 

I couldn't stop shivering when I finally got back to the barn. 
 

The coldest I've ever experienced was -20. It was in the glue freezer at Boeing Charleston. I was replacing the inside sensor on the forklift door. I was dress for South Carolina winter so I had on a heavy long-sleeved shirt. No jacket, no gloves, no hat. The evaporator in the freezer was blowing even colder air on the back of my head and neck. 

I have never been so cold in my life. It made the 40-degree outside temp feel warm. 

In reply to Toyman! :

I grew up about 50 miles NW of Montreal. I've seen -40 several times in my life. You ought to try starting a 60s , or 70s MOPAR in that temperature.

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

I like the cold. I can work outside into the 20s with a long-sleeved shirt and pants as long as I have decent gloves and a hat. But minus numbers can berk right the hell off. I don't own clothes warm enough for that kind of weather. 

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

You have to experience "Florida cold" to appreciate the difference. 
 

I trained horses in Canada in the winter. The most miserably cold I've ever been was in Pompano Beach, Florida. 

I was dressed in all of the same outerwear that kept me comfortable in Canada. The temperature was about 37f, 25-30 mph wind out of the northeast, five miles from the ocean. Add to the windchill, another 20-25 mph when we're training each horse. No going back to the barn either. We were getting off one cart and right on the next one for three hours. 
 

I couldn't stop shivering when I finally got back to the barn. 
 

 

My BIL, who's lived in Chicagoland most of his life, said the same thing about New Orleans. It is the humidity. Normally cold weather is dry, but in Florida and New Orleans, it is wet. Wet is dangerous. Wet is what kills you. Also the reason that I prefer wool over other materials. 

We burst a pipe yesterday. Well, it may have been days ago when it was ultra cold, and then it thawed yesterday and and started flowing.

My house has two outdoor spigots, and a really clever shutoff valve with a drain so I can winterize them. I used that a few weeks ago, well in advance of the cold snap. 

Ha ha. Just kidding. No such shutoff valves here. I did disconnect hoses and prepare everything as well as I could.

To handle the emergency, I had to turn off the water to the whole house and install a ball valve upstream of the break, in the basement. Thankfully, that spigot was the only thing left on that circuit.

The pipe broke in this bizarre spot under my foyer which is apparently not above the basement. It's "outside" under the floor. Inside a brick wall. I have no idea how to get to it, or how it survived since the late 1990s when we have had cooler weather since then.

My house was 59 degrees this morning. A couple days ago we hit 55. 

1890 built and my windows are thicker on the bottom than on top. Look it up...