What is the coldest temp. day you have been in

[cogger]

I would love to hear and share some honest comments here on hearth forums. winter of 92' or 93' at my home we had a morning low of minus -52f. That is the lowest I recall. No wind. Dead calm. Did not seem too bad because no wind and a bright sun

Now each winter here we expect atleast 20 below a few times. 10 below pretty common in Jan. always and a day or two of 10 below in early March! Last year just after Thanksgiving we had two back mornings of 25 below. Waaaaaaayyyy toooooo early. But it turned out that was the coldest all season! The entire country warmed up! Yaaahoooo.

A few years ago we had a nasty polar blast in Jan. that lastest 6 days. The highs where in the minus teens with 35 - 45 below each night plus wind several of the days. This was the worst duration I can recall. Storefronts of glass in town ice over solid....... That is why I miss my old Priece Eastwood 3 foot log forced steam boiler in my old home (another thread will discuss boiler)

I stayed in Minneapolis in Jan of 96' in the cab of a freightliner. I do not know what the temp it ever did get down to that day perhaps minus 60. I will never know. It was so dam cold that when I un tarped my load in the receiving bay the tarp stood up solid like a solid egloo for 15 min. Wish I had pics.

If some can recall 10 years back the nasty cold spell of the mid and upper west that year

 

[slofr8]

ROF
I'm in Northern Maine and I have a picture some place of my thermometer at -46 F but like you said, no wind and sunny.
I have worked (logging 1980- 1990 and railroad since) and 20-30 below with wind chill came to -60 or -70 F. It's funny (not HA HA funny!!) what those temps. do to things. Laying in bed in a logging camp you would sometimes hear trees split from the cold that would sound like a gun shot. Or the skidder would back into a tree or stump with the butt plate and instead of bending, a piece if 1/2" steel would snap off like it was glass. Once the guy I was chopping for and I were horsing around. It was about -20 and we were trying to start his skidder. I knocked his hard hat off and when I kicked it, it broke in two. In the summer you can run over them with the skidder and it'll only bend. Equipment takes forever to warm up. The air hoses that we connect between rail cars that are nice and pliable this time of year are like trying to bend two pieces of 3/4" re-bar at -15. Air pressure for the train brakes takes for ever to build up before you can move.
It's a good thing I love it here!!
Dan.

 

[suematteva]

-46 no wind..

Slor I hear ya on what the cold does to stuff..We were up in the Upper Peninsula Michigan -40 with strong wind in 94, our driver had a Quebec based Kenworth, she froze while running..everything was winterized and then some! .the return lines looked like jello!

A couple winters back we had -35 around here and we had a pipe freeze..Lucky it did not burst...

 

[Todd]

-44 with a-96 wind chill when I lived in Duluth, MN back in the mid 1980's. I do remember -30's when I lived in upper Michigan, along with some bursted water mains. It seems to me when it dips below zero it is just plain too cold no matter if its -10 or -30.

 

[Todd]

I would love to hear and share some honest comments here on hearth forums. winter of 92' or 93' at my home we had a morning low of minus -52f. That is the lowest I recall. No wind. Dead calm. Did not seem too bad because no wind and a bright sun

Now each winter here we expect atleast 20 below a few times. 10 below pretty common in Jan. always and a day or two of 10 below in early March! Last year just after Thanksgiving we had two back mornings of 25 below. Waaaaaaayyyy toooooo early. But it turned out that was the coldest all season! The entire country warmed up! Yaaahoooo.

A few years ago we had a nasty polar blast in Jan. that lastest 6 days. The highs where in the minus teens with 35 - 45 below each night plus wind several of the days. This was the worst duration I can recall. Storefronts of glass in town ice over solid....... That is why I miss my old Priece Eastwood 3 foot log forced steam boiler in my old home (another thread will discuss boiler)

I stayed in Minneapolis in Jan of 96' in the cab of a freightliner. I do not know what the temp it ever did get down to that day perhaps minus 60. I will never know. It was so dam cold that when I un tarped my load in the receiving bay the tarp stood up solid like a solid egloo for 15 min. Wish I had pics.

If some can recall 10 years back the nasty cold spell of the mid and upper west that year

Where?

 

[begreen]

We need Willhound to chime in. -35 is a warm day up north.

Me, coldest I've experienced is around -16F in Cornwall, CT. Couldn't believe how crystal sharp the air was. When it gets that cold there is a sound, everything sounds kind of crakcly and there are no birds sounds.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

-32F. Only 3 or 4 times a year. Thats the coldest i have seen it. and i tell you i woulndt want to be anywhere colder for any amount of time. Breathing becomes a challenge, and you better have good batteries.

 

[cogger]

Where?

White Mountains, NH. Had our 1st snow flakes last eve.

 

[cogger]

We need Willhound to chime in. -35 is a warm day up north.

AH. He must be way up there near santa

 

[Shane]

Actual coldest temp I've been in is somewhere around -40. When you count in wind chill though I'm sure it's much colder than that.

 

[Xena]

Saw -30 once. I was a kid -
it was the early 1970's,
and we were up at our
cabin in Lancaster, NH.

 

[fbelec]

-44 in canaan new hampshire

went from arlington mass to my friends in canaan to help with some work. it was trouble getting his vehicles started. and the day time high was a whopping 2 degrees that day.

 

[webbie]

Damn cold once in Saranac Lake, NY - but only -20 or so with some good winds coming off the water.....

But, also lived in a metal bread van in WV....and also an unheated house. Woke up in the morning to glass of water frozen solid on nightstand - probably only about 0 degrees, but in a metal box it feels colder. Also had no shower or bath, so took sponge baths in the winter....mid-day of course.

 

[DriftWood]

In the late 1970s on a trip back home from Niagara Falls, a storm (winter weather event) blew in, all roads shut between London Ontario and the bridge in Sarnia Ont. from drifting lake affect snow. With no cash left, just bridge toll money, a Texaco gas charge card, and work at 8am the same day we had to keep moving. We drove down to the bridge at Windsor Ont. on the express way at two in the morning in -32F. All deisel trucks were stopped because there fuel was jelled. It was just us in a 1968 VW Square Back with 1600 CC gas Bosh Fuel Injection engine, on the road. I think the Bosh Fuel Injection kept us going when every thing else was stopped. VW at that time had no windshield defroster blowers. And very little heat, I really mean NO HEAT. We were scraping frost off the inside of the windows. We did made it home in time for work.

 

[slofr8]

Hey, it's just me again.
I just got back from work and reread my last post. I don't want to sound like I hate the cold. If I did I'd move south. On the contrary. While I don't have much use for -20 F, when I was cutting wood we loved it any where from -15 to +10. At these temps. the limbs on the spruce and fir we were cutting would snap off on thier way to the road and all we had to do was cut the tops off. Big increase in production. I love being out on a cold calm moon lit night. When the only thing you hear is the snow squeaking under your boots, or skis, or snowshoes
As I said, -20 is a bit much but once the roads and everything freeze up solid, I want it to stay cold. Cold is dry. Dry is comfortable. When it warms up things start to melt and get slushy. Roads and driveways go to crap and you have to make sure you don't get wet.
Matter of fact I've been saving up for a canvas winter tent and stove to do some winter camping. (their not cheap!) I didn't have time last year with the new house and all but I plan to do it this year.
Later. Dan.

 

[Sandor]

Four years ago in WV it was about -20F with a stiff wind. Just got out of the shower and had my boxers on, thought I would go right out the door to grab another log to heave in the fire... the Regency 3100 was about 700 degrees and the living room almost 80.

I opened the side door, took one step and the door slammed behind me from a gust of wind. In the half second I thought about it, I was not sure whether the door was locked or not. Within a second, I was in shear panic and was looking for something to throw through the window. Luckily the door was not locked and I ran back inside. I don't think I could have made it for more than a minute out there in my boxers. Dumb ass.

 

[TedNH]

I woke up at a friends camp here in NH one winter am. Threw the dozen or so wool blankets off me to go stoke the fire only to find my boots frozen solid to the floor!
I got back in bed and went back to sleep.
2 years ago I saw -15 with windchill here at the house.

To quote one of my favorite movies of all time (Grumpy Old Men)
"It's butt cold out here and I'm FRESH outa beer."

 

[MALogger]

Back in the late 80's when I lived in Maine I made snow at a ski resort. Worked the midnight til 8am shift, we had a 4 night stretch it was 25 to 30 below each night. I like the cold but not too cold (skidder takes a while to warm up)!

Craig

 

[BrotherBart]

Coldest I have ever seen was a measly minus 10 and I don't want to ever see it again. I lay under every blanket in the house that night and listened to the aluminum gutters pop and groan. By the time I got home from work the stove had cooled down and it never could catch back up.

The next day a guy I worked with came out to find all four tires on his Nissan Maxima flat. The alloy wheels had contracted and broken the beads letting the air out.

 

[AKFireMan]

I have lived in Fairbanks, Alaska for 16 years. Our average mid winter temperatures hover around -20 for highs during the day and dip to -28 or -30 for overnight lows. When we get an average cold snap (normally lasting around 10-14 days) the temp's will dip to the mid -40's. Every once and awhile we get a real nasty cold front move through and it will dip down to around -50 for 5 to 7 days. I think the coldest day I have personally experienced is -56. When it gets that cold nothing really works, tires get flat spots from sitting, belts on autos tend to snap ect. ect. All you really can do is sit at home and watch the stove.

Ron

 

[Roospike]

This is interesting about cold and snow and thought i would share.

#1 My birthdays is October 9th 1970 here in Nebraska.
Earliest snow storm recorder in Nebraska

#2 I lived Nebraska until i was 15 than moved to NC
New snow storm record

#3 North Carolina 1986
New snow storm record with record early snow of 12"

#4 Moved from NC and off to a few other states and then back to Nebraska 1997
New snow storm record & early snow.

I'm thinking Mr. Winter is following me around.
The coldest i have seen is -34° and wind chill of -75°

Columbus Day snowstorm, 1970.
October 9, 1970, with its 6.6 inches of snow was, until 1997, the earliest ever observed October snowfall in Lincoln . It still remains as the earliest observed significant snowfall and brought extensive damage to the trees of Lincoln all of which were in full leaf at the time. With many of the power lines above ground, Lincoln suffered its most extensive loss of electrical power in its history (even greater than 1997) as falling tree branches landed on these power lines.

January 12, 1974. The coldest morning ever observed in Lincoln.
The low temperature on this morning reached, -34 F. Not only was it the coldest ever recorded in Lincoln, but we were the "climate national champions" on that morning having the nation's coldest observed temperature, colder than even Alaska. This is one championship that Lincoln residents don't want to see us repeat! This cold wave produced 17 mornings of sub-zero temperatures and one of the deepest snow covers in Lincoln's history.

 

[BrotherBart]

Well Spike. I was going to invite you and Roo down for dinner.

Forget it!

 

[Roospike]

Well Spike. I was going to invite you and Roo down for dinner.

Forget it!

LOL ;-P But , but ........... I had a "gift" to bring you ! ( and your whole state )

 

[cogger]

I have lived in Fairbanks, Alaska for 16 years. Our average mid winter temperatures hover around -20 for highs during the day and dip to -28 or -30 for overnight lows. When we get an average cold snap (normally lasting around 10-14 days) the temp's will dip to the mid -40's. Every once and awhile we get a real nasty cold front move through and it will dip down to around -50 for 5 to 7 days. I think the coldest day I have personally experienced is -56. When it gets that cold nothing really works, tires get flat spots from sitting, belts on autos tend to snap ect. ect. All you really can do is sit at home and watch the stove.

Ron

If I recall up your way 17 years or so ago was the coldest reported since modern instruments where recording them. I remember watching news stories about this. The mercury at some spots went to -80f and beyond measurable. Folks running cars 24/7. Diesels forgot it.

(broken link removed to http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF9/912.html)

 

[cogger]

Good link here: http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/YongLiLiang.shtml

"Antarctica has the coldest average annual temperatures, and the lowest temperature ever recorded on earth (-129 °F) was at Vostok on July 21, 1983."