What's the coldest weather you've experienced?

[Monttexan]

The cold weather is a big topic everywhere right now, and lots of folks are staying indoors because of the cold right now. I thought it might be fun/interesting to share stories of when we've been really cold.

Last night it got down to 31 briefly here outside of Corpus Christi. That was darn cold for here! We feel cold, but then laugh about what wusses we've become. Need to toughen back up. Here's my two "coldest" stories.

First was about when I was a senior in high school. Hunting elk with my dad in the South Fork of the Flathead. Thermometer read -40 F when we left the house at O dark-thirty. About mid morning dad gets the bright idea we should get out of the truck and go poke around in the brush and see if we find any critters hiding out. I'm spitting blood chewing threw my tongue thinking this is stupid. Not only cold, but it had snowed just before the bottom fell out of the thermometer so we had to strap on snowshoes. Yeah, 40 below, snowshoes, in the thick alder brush and Devil's club. I must have needed more "character." Took him about 45 minutes to realize it wasn't worth it and we headed back to the truck. Took over an hour for the truck heater to make us feel warm again.

Second. About 2005, I was a FedEx courier working out of Kalispell, MT. My route took me down the East shore of Flathead lake every day to Polson. I'd been complaining about the heater in my van for weeks, but the genius outside vendor mechanics kept telling me I didn't know what I was talking about. Night time temps were between 30 and 40 below. Daytime highs were "up" to -20. You guessed it, the heater in the van went out completely. 60 miles from the station, 20 below zero and no heat. I had to put on every scrap of clothing I had with me and drive back....and those big delivery vans you see driving around; those sliding side doors don't seal well at all. Gets a bit drafty. I almost got that vendor's contract with FedEx cancelled. I probably should have pushed a little harder to make it happen.

That's how cold I've been. What has anyone else got?

[9w1911]

I did my first avalanche school in Silverton Co at minus 35-38 in the daytime

[felix]

Pleasure driving looking at ice around Torrington CT highways at minus 15; drinking mint coolers at plus 115 here (2-3 PM) in Fort Smith AR for about 15 days in a row. ... felix

[DougGuy]

-37 in Minnesota, took the dog out and even he did a U turn and looked at me like ***? Glad I don't live there anymore!!

[Geppetto]

-24 ice fishing on Vieux Desert (Phelps, WI) a couple years ago. That was a chilly one. Caught about 19 northern between the whole crew that afternoon/evening.

[montana_charlie]

During our very first winter in Montana I found myself underneath our house on New Year's Day ... trying to thaw out frozen pipes with a propane torch. The actual temperature (not that phony 'wind chill factor') was minus 40, and I wasn't having much luck.

But, whenever I see a discussion of cold temperatures pop up, I am reminded of a couple of incidents that occurred during my growin' up years in the Texas Panhandle.



I remember that this happened in late December of 1950 because Daddy had said a few days earlier that his old '41 Pontiac Silver Streak would be ten years old in less than a month.

Now the Panhandle does see some chilly weather from time to time and people still remembered how the Potter County Hospital had froze up back in '46 right around George Washington's birthday (I was getting’ born at the time…). But even when one of those real frigid fronts dropped down out of Colorado, our west wind blowing in from Baja California most always kept the temperature up to zero or better.

Well, December had been a pretty tolerable month up to now and deer season was just about done. We had a man from Kansas staying with us who was an acquaintance of Daddy's. He had a seed and feed store in Topeka and had come down to hunt deer and talk a little business.

On this particular weekend, Daddy, my little brother Patrick, and I were camped out with Mr. Hinderager about twelve miles southeast of Muleshoe…and it was downright cold.
We were trying to find a real big whitetail for Mr. Hinderager so he could do some 'Texas-style braggin' back in Topeka. It had been dark about three hours and there was a light snow falling so we thought our luck would be good come daylight. We had a big ol’ fire going and had put up enough firewood to last a sane man a month. Since we only had two more nights to go, we weren't being stingy with the wood.
Then, just as Mr. Hinderager was saying how toasty things were...the wind stopped like somebody closed a door!

I guess Daddy had seen something like this when he was real young...back before he wore out the boots he was born in. He told Patrick and me to build two more fires so we could sit in the middle of a triangle of heat with Mr. Hinderager, and to keep them stoked up high. Then Daddy jumped in that old Pontiac and barreled off in the direction of Muleshoe.

Now, without that 'Baja Breeze' it started gettin' real cold...real fast. Nobody knows how cold it got in the Panhandle that night because the temperature dropped so quick it broke the bottom out of every outdoor thermometer north of Lubbock! And we were takin' turns feedin' our fires. What with the big fires and the exercise, we could convince ourselves that we didn't feel too miserable...but we did wonder what had become of Daddy. And so it went until about four in the morning. That’s when you get into the coldest time of the night.

We knew we were about to reach the end of our string when the campfires froze.
Yessir, the flames just started to flicker slower and slower until they just stopped...frozen fire!

Well, that was that...without heat from those fires we knew we were done. We were saying our goodbyes when that old Pontiac slid to a stop and broke one of the fires into a hundred pieces. That sight was one of the most amazing things that this Texan has ever seen. A hundred shattered pieces of frozen flame shining on a bed of new snow...Mr. Hinderager was so taken with it that he picked up a big chunk and put it in his pocket 'cause he knew that folks in Topeka would never believe it without proof.

After that, we sat in the Pontiac with the engine running and the windows rolled up until everybody was comfortable. Then we piled out to grab the important things in camp and throw them in the trunk...we figured to come back later for the tent and so forth.

Mr. Hinderager had just picked up his rifle and binoculars when he discovered that it was a bad idea to pocket that frozen fire. While he was warming up...so was that big chunk of flame! He was wearin’ three pairs of gloves, and had his coat buttoned up so tight…well, he just couldn’t get it off fast enough when his pocket lit up. The man burned up so quick he never even hollered...leaving nothin’ but a greasy spot on the snow.

Well, Daddy mailed the rifle and binoculars back to Topeka, but we found out that Mrs. Hinderager had already run off with a veterinarian from Wichita. Their son was quite pleased to take over his pappy's store, and he had ideas about expanding the business...but that’s another story.

So those Kansas folks were relatively happy and Daddy made a nice profit. It seems he had got the owner of the Muleshoe general store out of bed and bought every thermometer in town. He took them in to Amarillo and sold every one at double the normal price. He used the profit to by some bird dogs to use in his new money makin' enterprise...and that's another story, too.

Charlie Maxwell

[square butte]

-39 below. Out to the east of Kalispell, Mt on Foothill Rd. in about 1982 or 83. Ice on the inside of the walls with the woodstove going full bore.

[whelenshooter]

For you more 'cold tough' northerners, Alaskans, Canadians, etc this is nothing but for a Bama boy living in Fort Wayne for 3 years it once got to -14f with a 30 mph wind and drifts up to my waist. That was cold and I don't miss it. However here in Tennessee last night it went below 0, but it doesn't last long.

David

[AKbushman49]

OK folks another AK story. Drove the alcan Feb 91. Not sure how damn cold it was, radiator almost completely blocked off, driving by the trucks temp gauge, Heater on high, to keep the windows from frosting (barely). Pulled into Tok. Said the(&*& )with this, pulled into a motel, mgr said yup it be cold out there, asked how cold, looked at his mercury thermometer well below -80 was as far as it could go. bushman
PS. Had a bottle of "medicinal purpose antifreeze" (WT) in the back, when we got to a warmer area, and pulled it out it was frozen solid!

[Crawdaddy]

-24 at my house in NM. -35 in PA as a teenager.

[Duckiller]

1964 , first time Lake Superior had frozen since invention of airplane. At noon for a month straight it was -20*F on the landing of an older school building at Michigan Tech, Houghton. That winter was why I took a job in So.Cal. That and the following year when we got over 300" of snow.

[M-Tecs]

Minus 53 is the coldest I've been in but I have been outside hunting all day starting at minus 27 with a high for the day at minus 16. This year was the coldest bow hunting I've done. Three day hunt with the high of minus 6. All of these are actual temperature (not that phony 'wind chill factor'). It's not a matter of being tough it's more a matter of being able to afford very good clothes. At these temps if you take a pop or a beer out of the "cooler" you have to drink it quick or it freezes solid. Eating a frozen Snicker at the normal freezer temp. of 0 is much less of a challenge than eating the same Snickers at minus 25.

[AkMike]

I was hauling up to Prudhoe Bay to the oil patch back in the late 90's and was outside during a cold snap that hit -74 with a breeze blowing on top of that. It hurt to breathe and if you didn't pay attention skin would freeze quickly.

I was fully suited up in all my Carharts and down gear in the truck just to stay cold. The engine would not get hot enough to warm the cab.

[Blacksmith]

A long time ago when I was in Tech School in Rantoul Ill. it never got above 20 below for a week straight. Scotch poured like maple syrup.

[sundog]

-42dF in Belgrade Lakes, Maine, circa 1961. We also had 217" of snow that year.

Believe it or not, Nowata, Oklahoma, hit -31dF last year (set a new record). IIRC we had about 14 below where I am between Tulsa and Muskogee.

[Monttexan]

-39 below. Out to the east of Kalispell, Mt on Foothill Rd. in about 1982 or 83. Ice on the inside of the walls with the woodstove going full bore.

VERY familiar! Moved from Evergreen out to Foothill Rd. in '79. Moving back there as soon as the place here in TX sells. I do remember having frost on the inside of windows a time or two!

In about '83 or '84 me and my dad were cross country skiing up Strawberry Lake Rd at about 20 - 25 degrees. About 5 miles from home when the temperature started to drop. We re-waxed our skis quick with Polar wax (good to -15) for the downhill trip home. When we got back home I chipped the wax off the bottom of my skis with my thumbnail. The coldest rated wax we had had frozen on the skis. Don't remember looking at how cold it actually was, but I remember the frozen wax and the mild frostbite on the toes of my right foot. Temperature drop of 40-ish degrees in about 30 minutes.

[Menner]

When I was in the Navy we got our Blue Nose which means you have been above the Artic Circle. It was in NOV. or DEC. and part of the Initiation was to run around above deck in shorts only and somebody happened to find a fire hose and use it I don't remember the temp but I can tell you it was flippin cold icebergs around us

Boiler Techs were standing watch with fowl weather jackets on and it was snowing in the boiler rooms

[waksupi]

-39 below. Out to the east of Kalispell, Mt on Foothill Rd. in about 1982 or 83. Ice on the inside of the walls with the woodstove going full bore.

I remember that winter. A few years ago I was working north of Kalispell, it was minus 32 that day, and at the boss' place up in Star Meadows it was minus 56. No wind, and sun though, and it wasn't uncomfortable working outside in just a sweater.

[shaper]

chill factor 72 below, Limestone Air Force base Maine 1968. It taught me a lesson. I got out and went back to Alabama.

[jonp]

-42 without windchill. That was cold but not as cold as sitting on 1/2 in of ice lining the toilet seat in the outhouse at -30. After that i kept it on the wall next to the woodstove and took it with me

[w5pv]

-44atnight heat wave during the day -20 1970 Leadville CO,working at around 13000 ft.

[square butte]

I think quite a bit of the Cherry trees on the east side of Flathead lake were lost that year as well. I had a small orchard and lost my cold weather apricots to that cold snap.

[opos]

I'm just going to be really quiet about current conditons as we are not affected by the stroms, except to say I wish the very best for everyone that is suffering..I lived in both Colorado and Nebraska...been gone for some time and do recall the cold and the wind (especially in Nebraska)..spent a lot of time in the mountains hunting deer and elk and recall one post season elk hunt that was well below 0 and the wind howling...not fun...again my sincere hope all get through what you are dealing with right now.

[Artful]

years ago -10 from canadian front that came south - Since in Arizona - low 20's above

[zuke]

Couple day's ago it was -40, but the wind made it feel like -53.Funny thing was there was no "cold weather advisory" warning people around here.

[shooter2]

A temp. Of -43 and a windchill of -100 in Minneapolis MN. Brutal!

[ktw]

51 below. Delta Junction, Alaska.

Although the coldest I can ever remember being was one night in California, on a motorcycle, on 247 between Victorville and Yucca Valley.

-ktw

[randyrat]

Coldest night= I told my wife she looked fat when she was pregnant.

[Shuz]

48 deg below zero in Limestone, Maine in the early 1960's. All work on the flight line at Loring AFB stopped, and had to be performed in the DC or Arch hangars! No fun being a bubble chaser; there was 5606A on the snow everywhere a bird went!
I have no idea what the wind chill was, I don't think it was invented yet, but the "Hawk" as we called the wind, was constantly blowing at about 20 MPH.

[Rick Hodges]

Stepped out on the deck for a smoke at the cabin in the Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. My ear wax froze solid with a squeak..... minus 34F .....not windchill...actual.

[dagger dog]

- 30 F, right here at Corydon Indiana with a couple foot of snow Jan.19 1994, thats 15 miles N of the Ohio River, it was almost frozen over.

[MtGun44]

-24F with honest 40 mph wind. That was a good time to stay indoors.

Bill

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I've Lived in MN all my life (48 years). In my youth I'm sure I've been out in -30º many times.
Here are two short stories:

The coldest I've ever felt was after breaking through the Ice on a shallow river (mostly 12 to 16 inches deep, But, I happened to find a 4 foot hole where the Ice broke. it was a 1/2 mile walk through the woods in 12" of fresh powder, to get to my friend's house, it Was Sunny and about -10º at the time. my Pants and Legs 'were' icicles.

my other story is about playing in the cold...
After I finished my two year college degree in electronics and got a Job in that field and accrued some Vac-time. My first Vacation, as an Adult, was skiing at Lutsen, MN near the Canadian border ...Lake Superior is in the background.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Lutsen+mountain+lake+images&espv=210&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&source=iu&imgil=-sbBXBbkuCaUWM%253A%253Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fencrypt ed-tbn1.gstatic.com%252Fimages%253Fq%253Dtbn%253AANd9 GcRCpu95lFMNlOE8gLeJiS7y6d5HeliJ70kGG1dbi3xPte-EqBW-FQ%253B800%253B533%253BakTGi9gwthnD5M%253Bhttp%252 53A%25252F%25252Fwww.firsttracksonline.com%25252F2 011%25252F11%25252F12%25252Flutsen-gets-permission-to-draw-snowmaking-water-from-stream%25252F&sa=X&ei=_4_MUu_mFaGE2gXy54HICg&ved=0CDIQ9QEwAg&biw=1366&bih=642#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=-sbBXBbkuCaUWM%3A%3BakTGi9gwthnD5M%3Bhttp%253A%252F %252Fwww.firsttracksonline.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2011%252F11%252F3862375552 _a58178b214_b1.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.firstt racksonline.com%252F2011%252F11%252F12%252Flutsen-gets-permission-to-draw-snowmaking-water-from-stream%252F%3B800%3B533
It was the winter of '86 or '87. I bought a 3 day lift ticket Pass during the weekdays so it wouldn't be busy. Well we had a cold spell, -30º or colder each night, But that's not the kicker. The first day, the High temp was -5º, the second day the high was -15º...and the last day, the High was -25º. I skied all three days, most all day long. I had the whole place to myself, it was the best skiing ever.
...when you're 22 and bullet proof, cold ain't cold. This monday, the High was around -15º here, I went to work, my 15 year old Buick with 200Kmi started just fine while it overnighted in the garage, at work, I started it three times (during work breaks) to keep it warm so It'd start when I wanted to leave.

[shredder]

-40s for long weeks at a time living in a canvas wall tent in northern Canada while doing geophysical survey work. I spent my entire winter months from Dec to April for 5 years straight cutting survey lines (with an axe thank you!) in the far northern Manitoba bush. Always remote fly out jobs well paid, very hard work. You get used to the cold because you are working so hard!

On cold nights when I get into a warm bed, I feel very thankful that I am not back in a camp!

[MT Gianni]

-56 in Bancroft Idaho around 1982. We were trying to jump start a truck and it was only -42 i ntown [Soda Springs]. The good thing about that country is it rarely blows when it gets cold. Everywhere around it is warmer so a wind warms things up. 78-79 it never got above 0 for 3 weeks and lows were in the -40 every night. I was an apprentice plumber and spent most of my time under trailers trying to thaw out water lines. When you did it was tought to keep dry.

[Riverpigusmc]

-60
In Norway...living in a GP tent for three months. I swear the snow was BLUE it was so cold. I hate snow

[Boyscout]

-25 is the lowest I can remember here. However, I did camp out two nights straight where the temperature reached 5 each night. The sleeping part was easy getting out of the sleeping bag was a bear! My longsuffering wife also participated. The Boy Scouts gave her a Polar Bear Patch to commemorate the event. Once was enough for her.

We lost power for over 24 hrs the other day with night time temperatures down to -20. No problem; been there done that. Our house must be well insulated it never got below 50.

[Friends call me Pac]

-72 no wind at Eislson AFB near Fairbanks AK. I think it was '88 or '89. I was loading planes during a Brimfrost exercise.

[KYCaster]

Living here in the balmy Bluegrass State, there's no way I can hope to compete with your chilly stories. The only reason we put up with three or four weeks of winter here is so we can claim to have a change of seasons......Trouble is, we've already had three weeks of it and we're still a month away from Groundhog Day.

I do recall rabbit hunting with my younger brother one New Year's Day at -15 degrees......didn't seem to be too bad at the time, but we were young and foolish.

Anyhoooooo........

If it's degrees y'all want.....the National Weather Service says I have an even dozen of them here right now.

I know I can survive without most of them, so I'm willing to dispose of the excess here. I only need to keep a couple of them in case I need to heat my bath water Saturday night.

So.......as a public service to the members of this site I'm offering 10 of these degrees. I don't intend to profit from it, all I want is to recover the cost of packing and shipping. I think I can fit them into a large flat rate box with enough foam insulation and dry ice to keep them fresh. Lets say 60 bucks to cover my cost and you can have all 10 degrees delivered to your front door by the USPS.

First "I'll take it" gets it.

Don't thank me, I'm just tryin' to help.
Jerry

[Geraldo]

Coldest I recall was -28 in NE Ohio sometime in the early to mid '90s. Hottest was 104 in NC.

[472x1B/A]

-67 F at King Salmon AFB 86-87. IIRC there was a 20-25 mph wind out of the west, right off the Bering Sea. Only mission essential people were allowed out side for three days. There were rope barriers from the barraks to the chow hall. Ahh, the good ol days.

[Garyshome]

I was building a house up in northern Ohio about 25 years ago and it was -22. I had to put a kerosene heater in my van to be able to run the air compressor. I won't ever work in those kind of temps any more...too old.

[wantoutofca]

Coldest I've been in was -40 with 40mph wind. If I recall it warmed up to -35 with the same wind. Gotta love the Wyoming oil patch.

[firefly1957]

I was visiting friends at collage in Houghton Michigan when it was 40 below it did not seems bad at the time . I went ice fishing on the Saginaw river one night the only night that i had to go and it hit 15 below and the wind chill was 60 below it was a waste of time there were ten of us on the ice no ice shanties gale force winds the holes froze faster than i could clear the ice. I was dressed for it when i gave up and headed in the DNR was in the lot he rolled down the window and asked if anything was biting i took off a glove to retrieve my fishing license and he said that is okay it is to cold to check licenses! At the time i had a Eddie Bauer polar expedition parka it was very good in cold weather i forget who made the insulated overalls i had on my hands and feet did get cold that night.

[Katya Mullethov]

13. But that was up in Austin , which is practically in Canada . The MX track froze , but we endeavored to persevere . Too bad that was before there was a camera in every pocket , as the clips would still be coming up as "recommended for you" searches on yootoob .

[sljacob]

-56 here in my hometown in northern Utah (no wind). I can remember several mornings at or near -50 back in the late 70's and early 80's. minus 30 or 40 is not that uncommon here most winters.

Prudhoe Bay AK I think it was the winter of 88/89 it was -83 when we landed in Dead Horse with a stiff wind blowing (Somebody said that the wind chill was around -145), it lasted several more weeks with no change in the temperature or wind. We were working out on the tundra laying out seismic cable, it was nearly impossible to stay out in the cold for any amount of time.

Desolation Flats Wyo. I was operating a workover rig at -40s with the wind howling (new wind chill records were set) we were snowed in and could not go home for days off. That is by far the most cold and miserable I have ever been.

[Chihuahua Floyd]

I hate cold. Lowest I have ever experienced was -8dF. First time truly on my own, in Raleigh, NC. If I remember correctly that would have been the winter of 1984/85.
CF

[tommag]

-52, winter of 64-65. I was just a tyke, but I remember it because Mom wouldn't let me go out to play until it got up to 30 below.

It got so cold that year that the antelope moved into town. They were everywhere, must have been several hundred took up residence in town.

[jaystuw]

Winter warfare training at what I believe was ft. wainwright (it was a long time ago) in Alaska was really cold. I also spent more that a few cold days and nights at my cabin in the high sierras of California before it was knocked down by a huge tree. It was a very tough environment. Jay

[singleshot]

1997 -44F ambient near Livingston, Mt -88F with wind chill, and 1986(?) -35F ambient in Stowe, Vt and -109F with wind chill. Had dangerous situations both times, in Vt we were skiing and took our Navy Ice-breaker masks off and got instant frost-bite. In MT, I was working with a partner who underdressed and I had to help him get inside and spent 18 hours "nursing" him back to health.

[Col4570]

Going up the St Lawrence River January 1957.Do,nt know what the Temp was but we where breaking Ice and the deck crew where de icing the cables etc.We blocked all the Engine Room Vents to keep warm down there.

[plmitch]

-46 in Phillips, Maine December 1987 building a auditorium roof on a school. That day. I decided, my boss( my father) was someone I didn't want to work for anymore . Left Maine for warmer time.

[MaryB]

-54 ice fishing in Northern MN, windchill was below -100 with a 40mph sweeping across the lake. Left the truck running to get back to the cabin each day. Most miserable was hunting pheasants in IA... -22 with windchill's around -50, every walk into the wind was miserable but we kept jumping pheasants in clumps of trees.

[Lead Fred]

-53 Crystal Mn early 1960s.

Now they close the schools at 50 below

WHIMPs!

[pdawg_shooter]

-24 ice fishing on Vieux Desert (Phelps, WI) a couple years ago. That was a chilly one. Caught about 19 northern between the whole crew that afternoon/evening.

Fishing at -24...thats not fishing, that's self abuse.

[dale2242]

-42F air temp, no wind, in November 1962 at Dillon , Montana.
WAY too cold for a southern Orygun boy....dale

[Col4570]

News Item here says that Half the U.S population effected by the Polar Vortex now sweeping over your country.If possible stay safe in those Arctic conditions.Do not venture into the wilderness,stay near habitation.

[savagetactical]

Winter in Korea is a mighty cold thing.

[MT Gianni]

Fishing at -24...thats not fishing, that's self abuse.

Not if the bite is on.

[Bret4207]

Early 90's living in Long Lake NY we had -52F on our thermometer, neighbor had -54. And both these were after the sun had been up a while. Local guy said at 4AM he had -58 that day. Never got above 0F for more than a month straight.

Coldest I've been had to have been in NYC the winter after 9/11. Winds off the ocean at 40-50mph and carrying water with it, or in Korea in the same type of set up on the ocean front guarding a bunch of empty flatbed trailers that the NK's had no intention of ever stealing. Cold and wet, don't know how the old sailors ever stood it.

[winchester85]

i for one think the hype over this recent cold is just ridiculous. the news is telling people that they should stay inside, that if they go out they have to put on extra clothes. what a joke, are people in this country really that stupid that they have to be told to put on more clothes? there are plenty of people in this country that live in areas where these sub-zero temperatures are a daily occurence. i live at higher elevation and see temps below zero probably about 30 days a year. while i decided years ago that i don't work if it is below -10, that is just because i have the ability to do that. i have worked and hunted well into the double digits below zero. yeah, its cold, and body parts get cold, but so what.

the fact that people are unable to "survive" when it is below zero shows me that personal responsibility is all but gone in metropolitan areas. just like the woman i read about in the aspen paper today, she has filed suit against a restaurant because she drank too much!

[winchester85]

but then, my thermostats are all set below 60. if i want it warmer i build a fire in the woodstove.

[w5pv]

Read all the post again and I am still shivering from the cold

[jonp]

Winter warfare training at what I believe was ft. wainwright (it was a long time ago) in Alaska was really cold. I also spent more that a few cold days and nights at my cabin in the high sierras of California before it was knocked down by a huge tree. It was a very tough environment. Jay

That would explain SoCal and Hawaii

[jonp]

Fishing at -24...thats not fishing, that's self abuse.

When I was in Junior High School they called off school one day because it was too cold for the buses to run. It was in the -30's if I remember right and in Northern VT it has to be that cold to call off school at least when I was going. So what did my buddy and I decide to do when school was off due to cold? Go ice fishing of course.

We packed up the stuff and headed off on the ski doo with the sled in tow. Got up the lake and dug some holes and ran into problems almost at the gitgo.

Problem one was keeping the holes open as they froze over as fast as we could get to them and break the ice.

The perch were biting like crazy but we ran into the second problem which was that the minnow buckets froze solid. No worries as we popped the eyes out of the perch and used those for bait keeping the eyes in our lower lips like Skoal to keep them from freezing.

We then ran into the third problem when we started hauling the perch out of the holes our monofiliment line froze and shattered on the ice. That sucked.

4th problem: went to get some hot coffee and the thermos had froze and split open.

5th problem: my friend wore glasses and started to get frostbite in his cheeks from the frames.
We then called it a day and went home.

[captaint]

You guys are making me feel like a girl. We were out in -23 up in Potter county bout 12 years ago. I made it 30 mins and went back to the cabin. I didn't even WANT to shoot a deer, warm guts or not. Mike

[KCSO]

I don't pay much attention when it drops below 15-20 below but IIRR the coldest I ever recorded here was -28. The worst temp drop we ever had was on Dec. 20 somthing about 20 years ago when it went from mid 60's to 20 below in 32 hours.

[shooter2]

You know it's cold when the Finns in northern MN complain that the holes in the ice freeze up and they have to keep chopping them open so they can jump in the lake after their Sauna.

[wallenba]

Coldest was in Michigan's U.P. about 1964 where we lived when I was a kid. But what affected me the most happened in S.E. Michigan in the early nineties. It was the last day of work before Christmas vacation. I was working afternoon shift. We got out at about 1AM. I was last to leave, as usual. My Bronco II would not start. I went back inside, the lone security guard and I got a battery cart from maintenance to jump start it. Got it to the truck. The hood's weatherstrip was frozen to the hood, would not open. It's 22 below, winds gusting to thirty mph. Guard says the front gate is on a timer and will close soon. He could override it, but would have to go to the front guard shack. I ended up jumping on the hood until it unlatched. It took a while to get started, but I got home to find no heat in my home.
Dog was glad to see me. Put him on electric blanket and covered him with towels. I had one of those fancy battery powered programmable thermostats. Figuring the battery was dead, I opened it up. The battery had leaked and was a real mess. I pulled it and all the terminals came out with it. This thing was not going to get fixed. Luckily I'm a sort of pack rat when it comes to things that still work, even if I replace them. The old one was in the garage somewhere.
Yep, the garage door was frozen to the driveway. I have a side door, but lots of junk blocking it. I finally got inside and found the old thermostat, a trusty infallible mercury switch type. Got it wired up, heat comes on, water not flowing in the kitchen. Work on that, got to bed as the sun came up.

[MUSTANG]

Coldest on the thermometer :
-78 degrees at the USMC Mountain Warfare Base in the sierras, a few miles from Sonora Pass. Only vehicle that would start on the entire base (private or govt) was a road grader.


Coldest feeling weather I have experienced:
Any of several winters in Korea when temps drop into the -10 to +20 degree range.

I was in Norway (above the Arctic Circle) on several week-to-2 week excursions where the temps were in the -30 range. Norway felt warmer than Korean winters despite what the Temp Guages said.


Coldest in the pit of my stomach:

On a return trip from Norway to CONUS via KC-130 with 3,600 gallon fuel tank carried inside the cargo compartment for aerial refueling. While in Norway the Air Crew had touched down to drop some items off, take on fuel, and to pick myself and a couple of others up to return to CONUS. It was about -40 degrees outside according to the Crew Chief I spoke with at the time (Heaters from the engines were going and nice and toasty inside) Over the North Sea we lost an engine so the crew turned toward Great Britain and began jettisoning fuel to lighten the aircraft. A we approached English Coast, we lost another engine. The temp inside the aircraft started dropping as the Air Crew continued to work the problem/s, keep as much altitude as possible and stretch the powered glide slope, obviously declaring a flight emergency to the Air Controllers. We lined up on the runway and just before reaching the runway lost a third engine, but the Pilot and Co-Pilot had everything well in hand and we touched down with one of the smoothest landings I can remember. The Air Crew Chief (Young Sergeant) had kept me informed on each and every action throughout the event. Reason for the Engine Failures, contaminated fuel.

As I said, coldest pit in the stomach I ever had because all along the way I knew exactly what was happening, what the risks were, and not a D*** thing I could do to affect the outcome. This along with many other memories serves to remind me that we walk amongst hero's that are seldom recognized.

[montana_charlie]

i decided years ago that i don't work if it is below -10, that is just because i have the ability to do that. i have worked and hunted well into the double digits below zero. yeah, its cold, and body parts get cold, but so what.
In most respects, I'm with you. I may be able to tell about a particularly cold temperature reading, but that doesn't mean I went out in it ... or stayed longer than I felt was useful.
So, my 'coldest day' wasn't the coldest I've ever seen, but it holds it's place in 'my record book' because I wasn't at liberty to avoid it.
This was in November of '86 or '87, and it was a remarkably cold November.

I was out at the Evers Ranch on Shonkin Creek to visit for a few days and shoot a deer. While there I would, naturally, 'help out' with any chores I was qualified for. The main project for that week was to gather the bulls and put them in their winter pasture. The ranch runs about 500 head, so there were about 25 bulls to be found, and brought in.
I kept my own horse at the ranch, so I was 'qualified' for this job.

Four of us left the house when it was full daylight, spent the day in the saddle in wind running about 10 mph, and got back to the ranch house thirty minutes before dark.

I can't remember a time I was happier to step down from a horse, and Patch couldn't wait to be fed and stabled for the night.
The thermometer by the door said thirty below ... and none of us had any signs of life below the waist.

[smokeywolf]

Compared to most of ya'll, I haven't experienced cold weather yet.

Back in '78, my buddy and I loaded up the horses and headed for the Tehachapi Mountains to do a little hunting. We parked the truck and horse trailer up Lone Tree Canyon and unloaded the horses and gear. By 3:00 PM we were mounted and on our way to the deserted ranch house on the 13,000 acre property. My buddy had been there several times and was acquainted with the owner. It was supposed to be about a 3 hour ride to the ranch house. As we climbed out of the canyon and about 40 minutes into the ride, we began seeing snow on the ground. Never having seen the terrain under snow, my partner started having trouble recognizing landmarks. In another hour we were in blizzard conditions and lost. Darkness drove the temps down and we found ourselves in a white-out. My pack came apart and I had to dismount, retrieve some articles that had fallen in the snow and place them in one of my saddlebags. When I tried to undo the strap on my saddlebag I had to take a glove off. When I had gotten my gear re-secured and was back in the saddle I realized I had no feeling whatsoever in the fingers of the hand I had bared in order to undo and redo the saddlebag straps.
It wasn't much longer before my partner began showing signs of hypothermia. Not only was he unsure of which way to go, but he was having trouble forming thoughts. I told him it was time to abandon our efforts to find the trail to the ranch house and just focus on losing altitude. I told him to stay close and I began leading us downhill. In a matter of 20 or 30 minutes we found ourselves in a stream bed that had been partially fenced off with 14 foot tall chain-link fencing. My partner said that he knew this place. Just a few years earlier, efforts had been made to make a large part of the ranch a game preserve. An enclosure had been built to house a small number of elk; we were in it. My partner thought that the ranch house was upstream of the elk pens. I decided to risk a 25 minute ride upstream. If we didn't find the ranch house by then, we would turn around and follow the stream downhill and continue losing altitude. In just under 25 minutes we rode into the front yard of the ranch house.
My best guess would put the temp somewhere between 0 and 10* F with winds at 20 to 40 mph. Not at all severe compared to what many of you have seen, but it was c-c-c-cold enough to make an impression on me and cold and ugly enough to p!$$ off our 2 horses who couldn't understand how or why the 2 humans on their backs had put them in such a miserable situation.

We struck out on our hunt.

smokeywolf

[AK Caster]

-63F in North Pole Alaska in 1979 IIRC. Truck was plugged in and battery blanket was on. Went to start the truck and the belt shattered.
Went back inside the house and waited till it warmed up to -40F then put a new belt on.

[M-Tecs]

Compared to most of ya'll, I haven't experienced cold weather yet.

Smokeywolf you have experienced cold. Cold is relative to how you stay warm. I play a lot outdoors in minus 20 temps but I have very good clothes and I never feel cold. As a teenager I was caught outside in a wind and rain storm. The temp was in the mid-30's above but after three or four hours being wet and exposed to the wind hypothermia was making the idea of just curling up and taking a nap seem like a good idea. If I had done that I don't believe I would have ever woke up. That is been by far the "coldest" I have ever been. Just a mild mid-30's above with some wind and rain but I was totally unprepared and underdressed. Today I have the proper clothes to stay outside at minus 30 in a 30 mph wind and be comfortable.

[winchester85]

when i was in my 20's i decided that i needed to be tougher. so i practiced sleeping in cold. i got so i could actually sleep with a t-shirt and shorts down to 30 degrees. not so say i wasnt cold, but i could get good rest and be productive. i also got to where i dont shiver anymore, even when i fell through the ice a couple of weeks ago in single digit temps.

problem was, that after a year or two of toughening up, i had trouble feeling warm. i could work all day in the cold but i could run the heater in the truck full blast with the seat heater on high all the way home (over an hour) and i still didnt feel warmed up. after nearly 20 years, i can still sit in front of the woodstove for a long time before i get too warm.

[JWFilips]

Well for me it was in the 1970's when I was younger and primary interest was in large format "Art" photography. I remember venturing out into the northern parts of PA carry an 8x10 wooden field camera on my shoulders into the wilds @ -12 temps ( Stupid lad!) Did get some nice stuff along the Southern branch of the Tunkhannock creek....beard froze to the point of breaking off! ( talk about a close shave)
Sure did love those times

[redneckdan]

Last week I was up on a rig tower trying to figure out why two consecutive bearings failed prematurely. Was -45f and the wind was ripping out of the north. I was warm enough in my cold weather gear but one hook on my safety lanyard frozen and I couldn't reach the hook on my back. Ended up having to cut the lanyard to get down. That was a nervous 40' climb down an icy ladder in pac boots.

[CLAYPOOL]

I've seen a -38 CHILL factor on Rend Lake while goose hunting. Not very smart.

[Bret4207]

i for one think the hype over this recent cold is just ridiculous. the news is telling people that they should stay inside, that if they go out they have to put on extra clothes. what a joke, are people in this country really that stupid that they have to be told to put on more clothes? there are plenty of people in this country that live in areas where these sub-zero temperatures are a daily occurence. i live at higher elevation and see temps below zero probably about 30 days a year. while i decided years ago that i don't work if it is below -10, that is just because i have the ability to do that. i have worked and hunted well into the double digits below zero. yeah, its cold, and body parts get cold, but so what.

the fact that people are unable to "survive" when it is below zero shows me that personal responsibility is all but gone in metropolitan areas. just like the woman i read about in the aspen paper today, she has filed suit against a restaurant because she drank too much!

We have a population that stays cool in summer and warm in winter because they don't go outside. They live inside, they work inside, they get their recreation inside- often on a computer screen. What should we expect? I hate the cold, but I work in it, I have no choice.

[km101]

Jan. of 2009, Bismarck, ND the low was -44 F with about a 30mph wind. Really made me wish I was back in Texas. It gets cold in TX, but not like that! I don't envy the folks who have to do that every year!

[quilbilly]

12 below in Ely Nevada when I was out coyote calling but I will say that 25 degrees above on the Olympic Peninsula feels colder than 5 below due to the dampness. That is why Roosevelt elk have bigger bodies to hold heat better in damp cold.

[firefly1957]

Here is a interesting website you can look at historical weather data http://www.wunderground.com/history i am not sure of it's limits . Last summer our local weather was saying how hot it was hotter than the 1930's i sent them a link to show the summer of 1988 was worse i never got a response.

[Ozarki]

-30 in the parking lot trying to get Chevy Luv started. This was in n Iowa on the Missippi with the wind ahowling about 1979

[AlaskanGuy]

I did one of them brimfrost exercises about a trillion years ago.. But coldest i ever been in was a meager -69 north of the Arctic circle on the haul road.... Freaking cold.. Very hard to breathe... No windchill factored in....

[nicholst55]

On the flightline at Ft. Wainwright, AK one fine morning; -45 ambient temp, working in the rotor wash of a CH-47 Chinook helo sling loading a trailer. I have no idea how cold it was factoring in the wind chill from them two big egg-beater rotors, but it was C-O-LD!

[jonp]

I got to thinking back and it seems to me that about 10yrs ago I was running from New England to California and went through Iowa during a cold snap where it was -46 without windchill. I parked the truck at a truckstop so it was not facing the wind, left it on high idle and went inside. The seat near the window was so cold I wore a jacket when I ate. That was kinda chilly.

[Dframe]

I had to work an accident on I-74 one midnight shift. Actual air temp was -25 and wind chill -75. Brutal wind coming out of the west that night. They actually closed I-74, mostly due to badly drifting snow.

[history@mts.net]

BTW, -40 C = -40F

We've had that temperature a lot this winter, thou not for some time in the past few years. It had been -50C (-60F) with the windchill for about 3 weeks around Christmas.

The coldest temperature I was ever in was at the Pelly Bay, NWT airport back in '85. -58 C (~-70F) & -93 C (-134 F) with the windchill. The 737's door ladder assembly had to be thawed with a tiger torch to get it to close after only being open for 10 minutes.

When I lived in Yellowknife, NWT back in the mid-80's, we used to hope the temperature would drop to below -40, as then at least the wind would calm down. The winter of '85-'86 it never got above -40 (either plain temperature or with the windchill) from Halloween until Easter. Dark 'til 9:30 in the morning, dark again by 3:00 in the afternoon. You don't know what cabin fever is!

Ah, those were the good old days. BS!!!

The OP, I think, though, is right on the money. It's getting a lot harder to put up with as I age. You can only do so much reloading, gun cleaning (for the umpteenth time), hunting book reading, online gun buying and movie watching. I don't cast inside anymore (a month of headaches the last time kind of finished that idea for me), so there's not a heck of a lot else to do. It's too darned cold to sled or ice-fish or sit out in a blind to nail a timber wolf, so what else is there to occupy the body, mind & spirit, til the crocuses start pokin' their heads up?

Going through the wood-pile pretty fast, too.

Stay warm!

Jim

[Ed Barrett]

I spent a winter in Minnesota in the 1960's when the high for two weeks was -20. When it got up to zero it was like spring. Spent the next four winters below the equator or in Florida so I could warm up.

[wlc]

About -36 actual air temp is the coldest I've seen. Not too bad if dressed for it, but did burn the lungs a bit. Sure wouldn't want to have to work out in it for any length of time.

[TheDoctor]

Being from outside of Houston, I grew up thinking freezing was cold. 20 was really cold. We spend the majority of the winter above 40. Then I did a winter in Korea. OMG. Unusually cold winter that year. Only snowed twice. Too cold the rest of the time. -20 was a daily norm. One night, it was -45. Not counting what was around a 40 mph wind. Would have to rotate starting all our vehicles, running them 20 minutes each hour, so the fluids wouldn't freeze. THAT was a long night. About a week later, took a bus down to Seoul to pick up and drive a "new" deuce back up. Someone had switched the canvas on the cab, and it was ripped across, right behind the windshield. And the flipping heater did not work. -30 that morning. By the time I got that sucker up to Camp Casey, I almost needed help getting out of the truck, so cold I couldn't move very well. And I still squall when it gets down to 30 here, now... I really hate the cold.