The Cold

[metalspinner]

I don't know how you guys do it.  Live in the cold, that is.

It was 25 degrees this morning.  My wife is out of town this week, so it is on me to bring the boys to school in the morning.  The car didn't warm up until I was pulling back into the driveway.  I suppose tomorrow morning I'll send one of the boys out to start the car 15 minutes early. :D

When is March going to get here?!?

[WH_Conley]

I feel your pain, 16 with a wind chill of 0. Them northern boys don't have to worry about looking at me in the winter.

[Chuck White]

Got up at 5:00 this morning, checked the temp and it was +15°f, I opened the blind on the front door window and,  a foot and a half of new fluffy snow in the driveway.

Extended all the way from the house to the road.  The wind was blowing at about 10-15 mph.

But....I went out and got on the tractor (lawn tractor) with a blower on it and within about 30 minutes the drive way was cleared.

I guess it boils down to "if you live in the north, you take what you get"!

[WDH]

Sheesh!  Supposed to be in the high teens/low 20's here tomorrow morning.  Much too cold.  Much too cold.  Really hampers the woodworking for us without climate controlled shops.

[tyb525]

14 here, went out to cut firewood but changed my mind when I stepped into the wind :D

[Tom]

I don't have a snow blower.  Don't know what I'm going to do with all of the snow.  :-\

[paul case]

March will get here in about 83 days!

cold here too. yesterday's high was 39. night before was a low of 14. last night 19. today in the 40's. here in ne ok we dont always even have snow in the winter but the last few years we have had 2 or 3 snow fall events that were 10'' or more each winter that stayed on for 7 to10 days each. 2 years out of the last 10 we had a snow that was 18'' that stayed on for a month. thats obviuosly global warming taking effect. :D not nice in my book but as has been said before you take what you get. that kind of weather is good for folks like me who always seem to have hay and firewood for sale.
good for the propane dealers too,who i have come to despise.

with that being said i will quit for now and leave you this to think about.

if you wait till its cold to cut your firewood, it will get you warm twice.  pc

[Sprucegum]

"There is no such thing as bad weather - only bad clothing."

A quote from a Swedish promotor during the winter olympic games   

-10C or +10F is just right; the snow is too cold to stick to everything so you don't get wet. Wet is cold  ;)

[Warbird]

We are supposed to have colder than average temps this entire week.  It's currently -21 F.  The low for tonight is -32 F, and for tomorrow night is -39 F.  We don't normally see sustained cold snaps like this until Jan/Feb and this is our second one this winter.  Paul, 'global warming', indeed.   :

Them northern boys don't have to worry about looking at me in the winter.

WH, you are welcome here anytime.  We have a nice wood stove you can sit in front of.  ;)

[Magicman]

At least this cool weather is finally turning my Red Oak leaves.



Cherrybark Red Oak, beginning to see a little color.

[DonT]

You get used to the cold.It was only -14C  here last night.Almost time to find my toque.For outdoor work dress in layers and peel them off as you warm up and put them on as you slow down.I worked in a woodlot last year that we had to go in about 1km by atv,the coldest part of the day was coming out at night.Late season archery season is here and i find it hard sitting still for long periods of time below -20.

[WH_Conley]

Thanks Warbird, at -21 I would be sitting on top of the stove.

[fuzzybear]

we just got a little brake in the cold. But it's going to drop back to -40 tomorrow. When it's cold you have to have a hobby. ;)

[pigman]

fuzzybear, is your hobby keeping warm?

[SwampDonkey]

How many cold temperature threads are we going to have this winter? :D . The whiners in here don't know what cold is.  ;D  : 15, 20 F degrees, and it hasn't gotten near cold. We are at 25 degrees here, we are going to have one night or two this week around zero, and "warmer" again....25 F or so. :D :D

Insulation keeps heat out in the summer as well as heat in, in the winter. Trust me. :D :D A little shop stove is nice, very few corners of the continent can be without one even if it's a short while....chances are jack frost will bite you just when you thought it can't happen. I figure most of you fellers have a short memory span, oh of about 10 years or less, when it comes to how warm your winter is. :D :D

Time to celebrate winter and suck it up. :D

[Jeff]

Time to celebrate winter and suck it up. :D

This may be the closest I've come to considering banning you. ;)

[Warbird]

Hah! You tell him, Jeff. 

[SwampDonkey]

Shoulda known better than try and stem the tide of warm climate seekers.  Kinda like running from a tidal wave, some of you fellas. :D

[WH_Conley]

Watch it SD, he might put it to a vote. ;D

[SwampDonkey]

You mean go before the tribal council? 

[red oaks lumber]

2 things winter up north does. 1) don't have any poisonous critters.  2)don't get many southern visitors.

[WDH]

Watch it, SD, or the tribe will speak  ;D.

[isawlogs]

Who is it ... quit while your ahead ..  ;)    ;D

[DanG]

2 things winter up north does. 1) don't have any poisonous critters.  2)don't get many southern visitors.

Yabbut we sure get a lot of those "tough" northern visitors down here! :D

[fishpharmer]

 :D :D :D

[Magicman]

Right DanG, and I read in today's newspaper where Florida ships about 50 per day back North.  That's over 18,800 per year that don't make it through the Winter.

[Jeff]

Yabbut we sure get a lot of those "tough" northern visitors down here! :D

And I about froze to death down there. I've spent the winters since up here where I can stay warm.

[Tom]

it's the global warming, Jeff.  We are having a bad time of it.  It's all Al Gore's fault.

[isawlogs]

 I like looking at this from the inside ...  ;D

  I just took these a few minutes ago, looking at the barn from my chair here. Nice to have a fire on tonight   

[SwampDonkey]

Jeff, they just haven't learned the heating value of insulation and wood down there yet. Well, when this 169 year old cold record reaches them, it will be like the "Silence of Winter" has taken it's grip. :D :D


The weatherman sure was way off on our storm prediction. We got rain!! Followed by 2" of snow in the night on Monday. Not enough to sled on.

[Peter Drouin]

Ya cooling down a little , ill have to put on my T shirt.   :D :D :D

[Stephen1]

Time to celebrate winter and suck it up. :D

This may be the closest I've come to considering banning you. ;)

Ban him! any one else agree...lol

[SwampDonkey]

We're missing that cold, the jet stream is west and southward bound. You guys need a little jolt once in awhile, and not from the bottle. ;)

[metalspinner]

OK.  It's all working out just fine now. 

I gave the boys a lesson on starting the mini van.  I told them the first one to get up, get dressed, and eat their breakfast gets to start it in the morning.  So now it's nice and toasty when we get in to head to school. ;)

[Magicman]

That's a sneaky but effective way of getting it cranked.  ;)

[WH_Conley]

That's OK, Donkey, I will take mine from a bottle.

Anybody for votin him off the island, with out a canoe?

[john_boylan]

 SwampDonkey, some of us down here are quickly learning the cost (if not the value) of good insulation; so far this week, $140 (and counting) of new long-john underwear and $134 for 800 gram Thinsulate boots.  Neck gaiter when I find a decent one in camo, and I'm ordering a couple of those ball cap ear warmers from Duluth Trading here in a few minutes.  Still looking for a good wool and/or Thinsulate ball cap to top things off.   

So yeah, this ol' boy is really learning quickly.  I welcome any foreign subsidies from those fortunate souls who have a real appreciation of good insulation. ;D  I'll hold my vote for a while...but not for a long while.no_no

[SwampDonkey]

Need some Stanfield's? ;D



Can't wear it out and I guarantee you won't be cold. I had it on this morning sledding up the road with just a set of cotton Dickie work clothes over it and a fleece hat and thinsulate gloves. 6 degrees this morning. The steam was rolling me off like a horse yarding logs in winter. :D

[WDH]

You and your underwear paint quite the picture all steamed up  .

[WH_Conley]

A picture I am not sure I want to see.

[SwampDonkey]

You be careful, if jack frost bites a little harder down there, you may well find yourself in the same situation. :D :D

16 F here this morning, snowing tomorrow a little, rain and 40's into Monday. :

Rain
                 Rain
                                       Rain   
                                                      sighhhhhhhh!

[barbender]

-12°F and dropping here, it's gonna be cold the next few days :(

[beenthere]

Heavy snow in southern WI, and a bit over 4 hours with the power off. Hope it stays on now, but the sticky heavy snow might change that before daylight.

Hope all the best getting through any tough weather.

[SwampDonkey]

Flood warnings for parts of Maine and New Brunswick. Is it spring already? :D :D

[Norm]

Ours turned out to be more wind and cold than snow thankfully. Looks like on the radar folks to the east of us are getting hammered.

[Chuck White]

Here, it's +34°F and light rain right now.

We went to town Friday and filled up the truck and also three 5-gallon gas cans for the generator, so we'll be set for a while if the power goes out!

I hate the up and down temperatures.  That's what makes most of us sick.

[northwoods1]

Ours turned out to be more wind and cold than snow thankfully. Looks like on the radar folks to the east of us are getting hammered.

Yah that would be folks around these parts for sure.... hammered is a good word :D

It is just downright nasty outside. Dangerous. Have a friend suppose to be flying into Ohare today and then driving here but that isn't going to happen.

We only got about 12" to 14" of snow in 36 hrs. but it is a very hard pack, not light and fluffy snow. Wind are blowing sustained 30-40mph now. Just like last year winter came all at once the 1st storm of the year was a real bad one it set all time records for total snowfall in 24 hrs. That was about exactly this time last year.

[Roxie]

There needs to be some kind of warning or disclaimer on this thread.  There I was, eating my oatmeal and paging through the posts, and BAM!  SwampDonkey's underwear!  Gracious sakes alive boy!  You don't need to share it all!   

I'm actually getting a little concerned for my Florida friends, because it's 52 degrees here and the weather station said Florida is gonna be colder than Denver Colorado.  When you aren't prepared for that, it can be awful. 

Stay warm y'all! 

[Patty]

Yea, that long underwear shot burned a whole in my brain that will live on forever.....thanks Donk. 

[SwampDonkey]

Say what? That picture was of a brand new pair just pulled out of the packaging. It's been floating around the forum for a couple years now I think.  ;D

We were.......comparing underware I think, I'm pretty sure that's as far as it went. :D

[Roxie]

Anybody for votin him off the island, with out a canoe?

Yes!  And, I don't want anyone that shows their undergotchies on the jury either!  

Swamp, the operative word in your response should be discussing...they were discussing not showing.  BIG difference!

Note to self:  I'm beginning to think some folks may be trying to take advantage of the boss man being laid up....verrrry interesting.

[Chris Burchfield]

Twenty seven °F in Memphis this morning going down to 15°F in the morning with a wind chill of one °F.  I have no doubt if Al Gore came to town and opened his mouth things would warm up.  Then again if he were to shut his mouth more often, Global Warming would no longer be an issue.   :D :D :D  I do hope the admins consider the last two sentences a joke as they were meant.  I don't want to go to the wood shed.  :-\

[beenthere]

.......We only got about 12" to 14" of snow in 36 hrs. but it is a very hard pack, not light and fluffy snow. Wind are blowing sustained 30-40mph now. ..........

Where in northern WI are you?

[Cedarman]

The weather doesn't stop some folks.  Last night at about 10 pm I hear a truck at the sawmill.  Wind is blowing snow and about 20F.  I was out earlier piddling in the mill thinking that it seems too cold to be doing this for fun.  Anyway, he unloads about 4500 feet of tree length cedar with his KB.  I would not have wanted to unload with my loader.
I understand though.  He grew up and did a lot of logging in Maine and said this was nice weather to work in.  Looking at the weather report, he is going to have a lot of nice weather to work in for the next few weeks.  This morning it is 14F and the mill is starting at 7AM as usual.  I have a good bit of logs to buck up today.
At least THERE IS NO MUD!!! :D :D

[SwampDonkey]

Call me when it's -14, then we'll discuss fun. :D

It's about 50 F this morning and wind driven rain. Not much for snow I'm afraid. Must be time to tap trees again. ;)

[Burlkraft]

+1° here this morning  ;D  ;D  ;D    >:(  >:(  >:(

I still have to clean up some of the snow that fell.
I'm gonna drink my coffee and build up to going outside slowly so as not to shock the system!

I think all I have on my plate today is snow clean up. It may take all day   :  :

(I'm not gonna pull out my new underwear!)

[isawlogs]

 It is raining here also, all that nice snow is melting away, I had my logging trail all packed down and started to freeze  >:(  

[barbender]

-20°F here this morning, anybody that calls that nice is nuts!

[barbender]

It is nice for freezing down our swamp/ winter access jobs though ;)

[Gary_C]

It's not even winter yet and everyone is complaining. Winter comes tomorrow.  : 

If you are feeling bad about your weather, consider Winona, MN where they got 26 inches of snow last Saturday down in that river valley.

And the worst part of that storm is the Metrodome roof went down again. Now the state leaders will probably take some more money they take from us poor taxpayers to build the Vikings a new stadium.  :(

[beenthere]

It's not even winter yet and everyone is complaining.

So after tomorrow, we can't complain as it will be winter 

[Cedarman]

Did I miss a week or is winter starting a week early this year?

[Shotgun]

Winter starts on Dec. 21, 2010. You must be lookin' at a Wisconsin calendar.   :D

[SwampDonkey]

 :D :D :D LMAO!!!!


I think it's April, them calenders lie. It's 54 degrees out.

[Gary_C]

I can't believe how time does not fly by this year.   :

Yep, I just tried to skip a week.  :D :D

[jander3]

-15 degrees, 22" of snow over the weekend.  Won't be long now and the ice on the lakes will be just right for fishing.

[SwampDonkey]

The main river here was just beginning to chill a little last week, but that's all gone now.

[paul case]

i dunno what  youall are complaining about, its 65 here right now.

well i am inside by the fire.
outside its something more like 20 and we have had 2 nights with lows in the low teens. plenty cold but at least the wind has stopped blowing so hard. pc

[Carpenter]

     I don't think the cold has started yet.  We've had one mild blizzard and days in the teens and twentys but some days in the high 40's last week.  I just double up the long jons on the cold days and it doesn't bother me much.  Chopping ice at 30 below isn't so bad.  The water freezes before it gets to you, as long as the wind isn't blowing too bad you can stay warm.  When the high is below zero for a couple of weeks it starts to bother me. 
     Sunday it was 9 degrees outside.  I hand split some firewood while the kids played in the snow.  I had to shed some layers because I was getting too hot.  I've always been a summer person really.  But, I spent a few years in the mountains in Wyoming and Colorado and I guess got use to the cold.  Around Walden Colorado we only had 2 months of summer and there were several days of 40 below.  I guess I just got used to it.  But, dressing in layers helps, and a good hat, (stocking hat, elmer fud hat, etc.) don't be afraid to double, or triple up those long jons.  Keep your body core warm and that will help with your hands and feet.  Thats the biggest problem I have.  Sometimes at 40 degrees I loose feeling in my hands, but other times at zero I have good circulation.  Most of the time when its cold I can't feel my feet, but I know theyre still there since I'm still standing and everything's fine. 
     Seriously though, mittens are a lot better than gloves.  When we lived in the mountains, I made a pair of mittens out of chap leather that went over my insulated gloves.  They looked like oven mits and it was difficult to do anything with them, but they sure kept my hands warm.