How is the cold and snow in your area? No smart-aleck warm weather birds welcome here...lol

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
It is 14 degrees in our neck of Wisconsin and I think it snowed a little more. Yes, Wisconsin is a cold state. Nobody would argue that. However, this is braking records. CALGON, TAKE ME AWAY!!!!!!!!

You?

For you smart alecks who live in warm climates, have a heart!!! ;)
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Today we are warmer at 20. The past few days have been bitter. The worst was yesterday when they had to turn our boiler down at school to night mode (meaning pretty much no heat). I taught with my long winter coat on for a bit!
 

Origami

Active Member
I'm right with you, MWM, as am in northern Illinois. The wind chill yesterday was -5 and it was just miserable. I was out commuting to work on the bus for 90 minutes which seemed like forever. Fortunately, it's much warmer today, about 28 right now. Feels balmy!
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
The polar vortex visits us too. We're starting to warm up a bit, but the trend is down... and down... and darker and darker.
 

cubsgirl

Well-Known Member
We are up to 28 degrees in the Chicago 'burbs. I took the garbage out and it was definitely warmer than the last two days. I don't like winter - I hope April arrives quickly :)
 

dstc_99

Well-Known Member
We are at 39 degrees today after several days in the 20's. But supposedly it is going to warm up around 10 degrees during the day. I know it sounds crazy but high 40's is pretty cold here since we have so much wet weather. It's weird but the wet cold is so much colder than the dry cold I am used to in the midwest.

It also doesn't help that I work in a government building built on a concrete slab. My feet feel like ice cubes when I get home. Thankfully I work in an office full of men who wear steel toed work boots so they don't notice I am not wearing girly shoes. I have been tempted to just bring the snow boots in and keep them under my desk.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Single digits the last few days with an inch of snow here and there. Supposed to get down to ten below tonight, then up to twenty tomorrow and into the thirties for the weekend. Of course, we will have rain, snow, freezing rain, and who knows what other koi falling out of the sky for the weekend.

Should be sloppy as the 18" of snow we got last weekend starts to melt, but at least it'll be warmer. It'll cool off again next week, but so far only into the teens, which isn't too bad, and they aren't calling for "big" snow (so far)
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Five below here and we still have some snow and slippery spots on the road here. Yeah, you're so right. Good ole Wisconsin. Warmer and rain on the weekend, which will freeze and cause sleet and icy roads, which is worse than cold weather...lolol.

At least we aren't in the East. SIX FEET OF SNOW!

Wowza!!!!!!!! ;)
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
We're about to get worse than "6 feet of snow". I'd take that any day. We're in for... three days of freezing rain. And THEN... down to deep-freeze again, probably with snow as the mercury goes down. Lovely. Snow over ice.
 

nlj

Well-Known Member
It's just rain, rain and more rain here in Wales.

Lots of amazing footage of snow drifts in the US on BBC news. Hope you're all keeping warm and safe.
 

SuZir

Well-Known Member
We are actually having very typical late November weather (and how untypical is that?!?) Has been around zero C for some time now, dipped under more constantly last week and we just got some mild or moderate snowfall (about 4 inches I think.) Our first snow has come and gone while back, but this will hopefully stick. Could of course be, that this will still melt and we have to wait permanent snow couple more weeks.

Snow is more than welcomed. We are in quite North remember. Daylight hours are laughable this time of a year. And I don't think I have actually seen the sun in a month. When I go to work, sunrise is still far away and when I come from work, sundown is already gone (and I do work 7,5-8 hours a day.) And even if I happened to be outside at noon, it is permanently deeply cloudy this time of a year. In fact I don't really expect seeing sun again before late January or even early february. However snow really changes everything. It makes pitch blackness to permanent twilight with beautiful blue hues. Just a huge change for better.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Suzir, sound really pretty. Can just imagine glistening snow under a darkening or darkened sky.

But I'm not sure I could deal with no sun for so long. I get depressed without sunlight. I actually have a lamp in my house for the winter months when we really have a lot of overcast days here in Ice Age Land :)
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Is this unusual for you this early in the year?
I hope you own a snowblower!!!!
Well... yes, we own a snowblower, but we only use it if we get a heavy snowfall... i.e. if the 4 of us can dig out, we don't use it... it's faster by shovel and a good workout. Or we shovel it into a couple of piles and use the blower to send it much farther, faster.

Around here... we haven't had "usual" weather for quite a few years. Last year, we were buried in snow and freezing cold before Nov 1. This year, it's still relatively mild, but wet snow... Mild being a very relative term of course. -10C (about +10F) means wet snow = icy roads. Plows can't keep ahead of it, so... we learn to drive on ice. :D
 

SuZir

Well-Known Member
But I'm not sure I could deal with no sun for so long. I get depressed without sunlight.

Well, for the exchange we get plenty of sun during summer. It never really get dark then. I don't live above polar circle, so no actual midnight sun, but at the midsummer last hue of red from sundown is still there when sun starts to rise again. And it never really gets dark then.

As a general we around here are very light dependant. It's totally different country and lifestyle for summer and winter and we are still enough pagans that we have two big celebrations during a year, winter and summer solstice. Hard work of the Church for closer to thousand year has managed to mask our winter solstice celebrations somewhat Christian, though we still celebrate 'coming of light' (and as much in literal sense as religious) and use the Holiday to also look back (one of the most pervasive tradition of our Christmas is remembering those who are gone, everyone goes to cemetery to light the candles to their deceased loved ones even if not buried to a cemetery close to you, there is a place to land a candle for the memory of those who are not buried there.) Midsummer, the other real biggie to us, on the other hand is quite openly pagan and all about worshipping the light and sun. We even perform pagan magic rituals then, as a joke or because of sense of tradition though, but still we do.

We have had few thousand years to get used to extreme light variations and we mostly get by. Accept that we need more sleep and chocolate during the dark period and are half hypomanic during the summer, but for foreigners it tends to be tough. Last winter we had that Californian guy (difficult child's former flat mate, who came to play in Souther Europe but ended here middle of the darkest fall) first living with us for couple weeks and then spending a night or two a week with us visiting. For the poor boy the darkness and lack of sun was really tough. Of course he did know he came to north to live and play and knew it would be dark, and he had spent quite a lot of time in northern USA for years (college and so on), so the winter was something he was already used to, but the reality of it was still a huge shock to him. Coupled with terrible home sickness the poor boy was ready to give up quite often. He did brave it out though, but made sure to stay in souther parts of the world for this season. We do hope he will be able to visit us next summer though, so we can at least show him the other side of the coin too :D
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I suppose one would get used to it. Heck, lots of people down South can't understand how we, here in the Northern US, can handle, as they say, "Living in a refrigerator when you don't have to." I'm sure that California kid who is your son's friend would not like it here much better! :)
 

SuZir

Well-Known Member
I'm sure that California kid who is your son's friend would not like it here much better! :)

In fact he did like that. He had spent winters in Northern Midwest (Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota if I remember correctly, quite close to Canadian boarder) and New England. He does like winter, but darkness was too much for him :D
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Wow. I'm surprised anyone from California liked our winters!!!

That makes one ;)

I do get the darkness if you aren't used to it. It would take some adjustment. I think it is similar in Alaska, but I have never been there.
 
Top