“Take care” goes without saying.

Sent a pic of DH out in far lesser extremes to his pal and got a scolding for not keeping a hat on him!

News said ——53* in Chicago today.

Many of us are thinking of you all.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2019 03:39PM by kathleen.

O my yes Chicago has been in the news! Hope you don't have to go outside at all!!!

Stay warm!!!

It's about -23F with wind chill where I am today. My work was cancelled. :D

Frigid cold. Was able to scrape off driveway and walkway. No driving ban in my area, but there is in other areas of the metro area. No tractor trailers are allowed on the thruway until further notice (it's a criminal violation for now.)

Or commercial buses. It's being called the Blizzard of 2019.

The wind chill is making the snow drift even after the lake effect snowfall came down. It's been several feet so far.

You finish plowing out the driveway. After the wind blows, voila! the snow is back !

Driving visibility is still very poor. I ventured out long enough to pick up some groceries at the local supermarket. Not too many traveling out on the roads because of the travel advisory in effect and bans elsewhere. The cold is so frigid even with layers of warm clothing it goes right through it.

It's dangerously cold, which is why so many businesses and schools are closed today.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2019 03:40PM by Amyjo.

West Coast warmest wishes to you, Amyjo....and to everyone in North America who is affected.

I cannot even imagine what all y'all are going through right now.

Yeah, this storm's a doozy. It's a Polar Vortex from the Arctic. Minnesota has had windchills of minus 70 since yesterday. Some people have frozen to death trying to clean off their driveway.

It's affecting app 75-90 million of the US population from the Mid-West to the south as far as Tennessee, and Northeast.

It seems to be breaking in Mpls, we are up to a mere -7 with a WC of -22. Vast improvement. Not that I have ventured out of the house since I got home from work on Monday. I've been at the dining room table working from home.

Venturing out tonight to go to dinner at my Bro's and then a concert with my SIL. This is about how cold it was last weekend and I was out and about all weekend.

School has been closed in most of the state since Monday. Kids are supposed to go back tomorrow at least in the cities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w35RgFs7Di8

Also, a hello to HockeyRat up in the Granite State. Maybe this weather will scare away the 2020 candidates!

I'm not much of a hat wearer. But going through my closet today I found a neat knit cap I purchased in Japan some years ago while visiting there - a nice bulky knit cap that I seldom wear - came in really handy today!

Made in Japan. For Siberian winters. ;)

Not hearing anything from Canadians about this weather. Are they tougher or just more used to such extremes?

Kentish Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not hearing anything from Canadians about this
> weather. Are they tougher or just more used to
> such extremes?

Hi Kentish. Yes. Tougher. :)

We get regular weather reports from "the rest of Canada" and shiver at the images of people in Winnipeg and worse, back East, as they slip and slide and scrape their way through winter.

Meanwhile, as I head outside here in BC, enjoying the sunny skies and pleasant almost-spring air, I think of my sister in Minnesota - yow!

We do sympathize and care that others are struggling. Sorry that we're skipping around the yard counting our flowers. I haven't seen a single flake of snow all winter. I wouldn't last in a snowy wintry clime - just not tough enough.

Take care all.

British Columbia has us beat in the states when it comes to winter.

It's a sub-tropical mediterranean climate. I loved the botanical gardens when visiting there. It is so beautiful. And the trees in foliage year round.

I lived in Montreal for two years and also two in Toronto. I can remember minus 45 wind chills in Toronto blowing up from the lake through the canyons of tall buildings in Toronto and days on end in Montreal where one or two degrees above zero was the high for the day. I don't miss it much. Here in Idaho it has been spring like for a week or more but due to end this weekend. Everything is relative I suppose.

We are too spoiled here on the West Coast. We whine if it dips below 40F! Snow is good for about 36 hrs at Christmas and then we cheer on spring or else consider it a bad year. At least we know we have it good. And we do genuinely feel for all those whose engines freeze or vehicles get stuck in ditches. Or worse. It's treacherous out there!

Did you like Montreal, Kentish? I lived in Quebec for a year, near Montreal. I was mostly in small towns. Really enjoyed the different scenery and trying to learn French. Nice people. I skipped out before winter though.

Montreal was okay but not the favorite place I have lived. I actually lived on the west side of the island in Lachine. It worked for Canada's then largest publishing company gathering news in Quebec for a fortnightly home furnishings industry newspaper. Since I worked in a regional office I was essentially my own boss with no to answer to. I did quite a bit of travel up to Quebec City and to what are called the Eastern Townships. Quebec has quite a number of small family owned furniture manufacturing companies and it was interesting to keep up with furniture trends. This was 68 and 69 so I assume things have changed quite a bit since then. The well known company I worked for has since sold out to another and only their signature magazine McCleans is left, I think, to remind us of the name. I didn't like the lashings of snow typical of a Montreal winter.

It's even extremely cold for Maryland. We've had school closings, delays, and early dismissals this week. My district had a delay today, with many parents choosing to keep their kids at home. I can't say that I blame them.

Hey, I stayed in Lachine for a while. Met my best friend of my life there, except tragically lost touch with her when I left the JWs, as happens with them. :(

Quebec City is where we used to go for a big treat. Playing around on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. Lovely old architecture. Of course, nothing like Britain!

I always went west in winter. Too chicken to tough it out back East when the temperatures dipped.

I didn't know you were in publishing, Kentish. How interesting.

Many years in publishing but moved out of the business after I left the Deseret News 1972. Too many years ago to think about much. The most fun was working on some well known children's weeklies in the UK.

IMG_4114.jpeg

Sorry, pictures didn’t take

I've spent 20 years in and near Manitoba. Wind chill is brutal. Still air, no matter how cold, can be dealt with. Lack of visibility in blizzards is dangerous, as is extreme wind chill (-30 or worse).

Basic rule was stay in town. You can always get out of the weather there, even if it is a gas station or building lobby. And everybody has jumper cables, and knows how to use them!! You see somebody stuck in a snow drift, you stop and help them. If you can't get them unstuck, you take them to shelter, period. This is a non-negotiable part of the social contract.

Schools rarely cancelled for cold, but often delayed opening until 10 am, and/or let out early, so students would leave home or get home during full daylight.

This cold snap can be dangerous. It is definitely unpleasant/miserable. It will pass.

Three people died in my metro area from the frigid cold.

Now it's going to warm up over the weekend, and it's feared that flooding will be next as the snow has nowhere to melt there's so much.

This Iowa woman's hair froze straight up on top of her head @ -20F from wind chill standing outside her door for just a moment.

https://nypost.com/2019/01/31/polar-vortex-freezes-womans-hair-in-place/

That's impressively cold, Amyjo! (I clicked on the Twitter link in the article.) I've never seen anything like that before.

We got out of school early again today. It's snowing in Maryland, somewhat more than expected. There is currently a bird convention at my birdfeeder. They are chowing down while it is still light. I left extra food out for them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2019 04:49PM by summer.

I had never seen anything quite like that before either (the frozen hair standing up.) I like the idea of a bird convention lol. :)

I'm watching "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," on TCM for the first time ever. I was nine years old when it first came out in 1968. I'm quite sure that is why my parents didn't take us to see it back then. It's mature theme.

It's like Grapes of Wrath quality. Wish I'd have seen it sooner. Alan Arkin in one of his first starring roles. A young Stacy Keach. And Sondra Locke as a teenager. Well before she and Clint Eastwood were an item.

I can see why he became smitten by her. She was a classic beauty! A bit unorthodox which adds to her appeal.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2019 05:00PM by Amyjo.

Well that was a crappy ending.

:(

Two years in the Canada Montreal Mission. Coldest day was, IIRC, -65° with windchill.

One December wasted in Val-d'Or, up in the Abitibi region. We were about 280 miles away from any other missionaries, meaning we were on our own with no chance of help from anyone else. At least we had a car.

It was Arctic frigid the entire month, and I doubt the temp ever got above -30° *excluding* windchill. We had no central heating, only a single electric space heater that we ran on maximum 24/7 to get some of the living area into the low 50s. We remained fully dressed (including thermals) at all times while inside, and still felt the cold.

Our shower provided hot water for only 3-5 minutes. After that, ice cold, and this area was outside the space heater's limited effects.

We were both transferred in January, and the area closed until spring, because it was literally too dangerous to stay. It was also impossible (and insane) to tract in temps that low. We tried it once and lasted for maybe 20 minutes, when our lips became too numb to form words.

When nose hairs freeze the instant you step outside, maybe it's time to stay indoors.

That is some of the extremest weather ever. I don't know how anyone could manage in that kind of extreme cold.

Last summer during a heat wave, of all the unlikeliest places you'd think a heat wave would hit was: Montreal. Dozens of people died in the Montreal heatwave. I swear this global warming is effecting every corner of the world.