Weather Record Shattered

For those of you who are still on the Fahrenheit scale, that would be -51.0^oF and - 73.1^oF respectively.

We had those exact same temperatures here last week - except without those funny "-" signs.

Wow. I remember several years ago it got down to -25ºF. That was really really horribly cold. I can't even imagine -50ºF.

Things to do when it's cold out…….

1.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ny3hKUG-n0

2.) h2.ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFu7SjF7Hfg

3.) ....

I'm from North Dakota we are used to that level.

Around here an odd way we have to pass the time in the winter is to do the "100" or "110" or rarely the "120". That is to get a 100, 110, or 120 degree F or higher difference in temperature from inside the house to the outside not including wind chill. I have done the 110 a couple of times in my life. Thats where its below -40 F outside and greater than +70 F inside!

Last winter we had an estimated wind chill of around -83 F one night. The actual temperature was below -40 F which is all the lower my digital thermometer will read. It just said 'LO' and we had high winds on top of that which is rather rare at the temperature around here.

Officially I think the coldest recorded temperature for my area came from the Minot air force base at -35 F but they are located on a higher point than the city of Minot and the local populations living in the river valley below the air base regularly have 5 -10 colder readings than what the air base reports.

After a certain below zero temperature its all the same any way. Nothing works, every thing breaks, and you just cuss at the thought of being outside for any reason.

One evening about 15 years ago as I was driving between Minot and Powers Lake with the belly-pan & winter-front on the truck allowing a toasty interior when the drivers door warped due to the temperature differential. That door never would seal right afterwards. Was one of those freaky nights with the sticky fingers of fog like but frozen water crystals hanging and sticking to anything that passed through, funky prism like stuff.

I don't miss that stuff as now reside in the banana belt of the upper mid-west

Was one of those freaky nights with the sticky fingers of fog like but frozen water crystals hanging and sticking to anything that passed through

I saw that "Ice Fog" for 15 miles over the 7,000 ft Continental Divide just West of Rawlins, Wyoming back in 1999. My CB antennas grew to the size of fenceposts. Kept my right wheels on the "rumble bars" to maintain control in case I hit "black ice". Shut the truck down for several hours at the truck stop at Rawlins. Somebody tell Owl Gore we have the global warming under control for now.

My house is framed with 2X3 and insulated R-2000. But when it drops to -12 or below, the cold breeze off the doors and windows is enough to make you chilly even when the fire is roaring.

The prairies are famous for extreme low temps. We get a lot of high winds that add to the cold experience, but we never had anything like -50!!

I had to shoot sound outdoors once in -22 C. A bit challenging to maintain blood flow, since you have to be very still to avoid making any noise! Brrrrrrrr indeed. My sympathies to the Calgarians!

It's mighty cold here in Saskatoon as well. The temperature outside is -32 C right now, and the weather network won't display the windchill value, but it's something below -40 C according to the radio. Unfortunately we have 5 cars at home and only a 2-car (unheated) garage. I'm glad that my boys set up all the cords so that they can all be plugged in! Our house is one of the few in Saskatoon with solid concrete walls all the way to the roof. I'm not sure what the R-value is, but we don't have any problem keeping the house warm in winter and cool in summer, with much less heat duty than our neighbours who have a much smaller home. Yay concrete!!

As for feeling sorry for Calgarians - No way! The chinooks (warm wind off the mountains) in the area mean that they rarely get as cold as Edmonton or anywhere in Saskatchewan. It's positively balmy as prairie weather goes. When they do get even a brief cold snap, I just say "Welcome to life on the prairies!".

I hope your using the silicone rubber type cords rated to -40! I went to unplug in my vehicle and snapped my cheap plastic one in four places like it was made of glass just by tossing it to the side.

I think you may have an issue with the decimal point in your data. If your framing is, in fact, 2x3, the inner wall space would be about 2-1/2". If you have installed closed-cell foam insulation, which I believe offers the greatest "R" value per inch, ~6 in aged value, you could have an R-15. In order to have R-2000, you would not need any framing, as you would effectively have an "igloo" of foam with walls over 300" thick. Not very likely, practical, nor cost-effective.

Also, if you did have an R-2000, you would likely not feel, see, nor hear anything but your own breathing and voice.

Sorry badly worded and big typo - it's 2X6 not 2X3 (that wouldn't even be up to code!). The R-2000 standard is an energy efficiency standard, not insulation alone. The insulation needed to meet R-2000 depends on various factors, like climate, architectural design etc.. It's a Canadian thing.. http://www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal/new-homes/r-2000/energy-efficiency.cfm?attr=4

Ironically, if global warming kicks in, and the gulf stream: which keeps us (the UK) at the same temperature all year round, turns off, I guess we can look forward to similar temperatures.

Thanks for the info, I justed started on a job in Calgary (the job is being done out of our Edmonton office) and will be travelling up that way in the next couple of weeks. Lucky me.

Fear not, global warming is on the way.

My brother who lives along the Pacific in Alaska is averaging around 33 F right now. Last year they had some warm spells up around 60 F.

The things I have to live through to make the news. . Minus 40 is what we call half-cigarette weather, still going out for a smoke, but can't stay out there for a whole one. Last time my city made news was,

the 1998 Ice storm on the eastern edge of the continent.

And i moved across the country for this?

Sometimes I can't believe I lived through winters in Chicago, and Rochester and Toronto. Never quite as bad as this report. No wonder such a good number of Canadians move to Florida to retire.

Remember again now the time I had to walk across Rochester during a cold snowy night, and I wore my motorcycle helmet as it was the warmest "hat" I had.

Down here in central NC, it really is nice. It's been raining a good deal, more like normal. Couple of years ago had a drought so severe there was not even morning dew.

Was up in Maine once and noticed up that way they built the barn for the cows, and the house for the people together so as apparently to capture the heat of the animals.

P.S. I want to thank ba/ael for including in his post both temperature scales. Courteous of him in my opinion.

Building the barn, house, etc together also lets you go from one to another without going outside and, maybe, getting lost in a blizzard or buried in 12 ft of snow.

We also sometimes get cold weather , at least overnight, perhaps once or twice every few years.

Winter before last it got down to a little over 7C (about 45F).

Talk of the town for ages!

We always complain if it gets below 15C (about 60F), but it is always over 20C (68F) during the day.

Worst I had was commissioning a pumping station near Young (NSW). A tap had been dripping and had built an interesting ice stalactite which persisted most of the day.

Seriously, I can't even imagine what it would be like at the temps you fellows experience.

We always complain if it gets below 15C (about 60F), but it is always over 20C (68F) during the day.

That big a swing must not be no cloud cover?

Winter is usually fine, with little cloud.

My solar water heater works much better in winter than summer. In fact I oriented it towards the east to improve summer performance

Well, we had a few chilly days, but now the mercury has risen to -1^oC (30^oF) so it looks pretty good for the next couple of days. Time to take off my shirt and get a little sun tan.