Disclaimer!!! I am no expert, but this is just some stuff I've learned since living here.
This post is only for people that are curious about our frigid temps. Back a couple of weeks ago, my mom called to ask if I could call my Great Aunt Loyce to tell her about our weather up here. Apparently Loyce had been watching the news and was hearing all the talk about the Polar Vortex and the cold temperatures up here and she was very curious. So, in case anyone else is wondering what it's like...here ya go.
Let's start with our past Winters here. Our first one was the "mildest" one in recent years. Everyone we met and talked to since we lived here told us they couldn't believe how mild it was...yada yada.
The second Winter here was...snowy...to say the least. I think we ended up with 80-something inches last year. I believe for 6 weeks through March and April we had a 3-5 inch "clipper" every week. Things had started to settle down then we got 17 inches on May 5th. The good thing was that it melted fast, so we were able to put that behind us.
Now we've come to this Winter. It started to get cold the first few days of January. The Governor of Minnesota actually closed school throughout the state because of the temperatures on January 6th. The Wind Chill in the morning was -40 with a temperature of -25. We had 3 other days that were closed due to the temperatures. I can not imagine sending my child to stand out and wait for the school bus in those temperatures. Even though it was a big inconvenience for everyone, I think they made the right call. I had to go to work that day, but I wore my wool socks, snow boots, and layers on top with my parka, scarf, hat, and mittens.
Some questions that I've been asked before...
"Why are you wearing snow boots when you're not going to be outside?"
Answer: It's all about being prepared, if I have car trouble I would have to be on the side of the road and if I didn't have wool socks or snow boots on and it's -25 outside, I could get frost bite. One of my kids at the High School got frost bite on his thumb because he was outside for 30 minutes without gloves (in December). I have a blanket, kitty litter, shovel, snow brush, bottled water, and AAA.
"Do your cars do okay in that weather?"
Answer: We all went out at lunch and started our cars and let them run for 15-20 minutes. And yes, we all bundled up to walked 20 feet to start out cars. You don't mess around. You do have to let your car warm up before you drive it or it will scream at you. My car dashboard actually said, "Put in Park!!" when I tried to drive home from work before it was warm enough. I did have to fill up my tires after those really really cold days. My coworker could only drive 20 mph to get to work because something froze in her engine and it couldn't move properly.
"Do people get out and about in that weather?"
Answer: Yes, although when we were having the major "polar vortex" temperatures a lot of small business, gift shops, grocery stores, etc. closed early so that people would not be out driving to run errands and their workers could get home and stay home. The roads were very very slick because any moisture that had been on the road was immediately frozen into it including the exhaust from cars in front of you.
"What does it feel like when it's that cold?"
Answer: It slaps you in the face. Your nose hairs freeze, so your nostrils slam shut. Your eyes start to water, and then you have icicles on your face. If there's a part of your skin exposed, you will know it immediately. It's amazing what clothing can do!! It's not bad unless the wind is blowing directly at you.
All that to say, even though it takes time and effort to get out and about, and you're ready for it to warm up, it's not that bad.
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