It's currently up to -17°F here (7am). I say "up" because an hour ago it was -19°. When Dog and I scurried outside this morning (she wouldn't go out the door unless I went with her) there was, thankfully, no wind [yet].

Tonight's supposed to be 5-6 degrees colder along with wind to rearrange the 6.5" of snow we got Tuesday night. Then more snow Friday night, but the high temp Saturday is rumoured to be 24°-25° with sun and the weatherguy claims it might get as high as 39° by the middle of next week. I know it must be pretty much the same for rbrady, since she's just across the river from me, and jmc7104, too. How is it up in the 'burbs, Doris?

WooHoo! It's 32 degrees here with an expected high of 36. Tonight in the upper teens and won't break freezing on Friday. Friday night is going to be our coldest night at 11. I know, Doris is looking for her swimsuit with those temperatures, but we're not used to it here. My poor cat is daring me not to build a fire in the fireplace.

bout the same, cold, the numbers you quoted sound about right, Im trying not to pay attention to them and stay in my "happy place", ya know what I mean?

rofl!

Oh well, I gotta drive the kid to the bus stop (3 doors away) so I dont find a kid-sicle at lunch time.

:)

"kid-sicle" *snicker* Good one. Doris, maybe you could do what my grandma did when my mom was a kid; stick hot potatoes in their pockets to keep them warm plus, it takes care of lunch!

School's cancelled here today - at least most, if not all, that have rural bus routes. Probably will be tomorrow, too, unless a weather miracle occurs. The country roads have been absolute crap since the first ice storm (mid-December), allegedly because there's no money for salt, cinders, sand, or overtime. A ridiculous number of roads are still under 3" of ice. It's crazy. I imagine they can't take a chance of a schoolbus going in the ditch when it's this cold.

-7 tonight in Columbus, Ohio. wowser.

Wow, Doris! I thought every school in the state was closed today! I'm so glad I didn't have to drive my little bugger to school today. I've got -10 degrees right now.... I don't even want to know the freaky wind chill temps!

my thermometer shows -3 /North suburb of Chicago/ but we are close to the lake so our numbers are often different. Nice and sunny but my cats are not eager to go out....
thankfully we have more than a foot of snow in the garden so all my plants have nice blankie to warm themselves- am not worried...

I dont remember school ever closing just because it was cold? Do you guys remember that? Usually its only cuz of snow.

Doris, our schools close here in NC if they see more than 12 flakes of snow. If the temps drop below 10, they close them too. At least in my county.

Went outside to spread some bird seed (I'm doing Project Feeder Watch) to make sure my bird buddies don't starve/freeze and nose hairs froze. Not as nice a picture as hair freezing after a workout, but it applies. I grew up on the "nort-west" side of Chgo in the early 50's and (here it comes, kids) walked a mile to school, home and back at LUNCH, and home and those NUNS NEVER closed school. Remember, your thighs were so frozen, red, chapped it took until lunch to thaw out. And that if you wore "leggins".

We became "urban refugees" @ 6 years ago and moved to the country, where the wind makes Chicago's wind look like a puff of sweet perfume. WHEW! Anyhoo....stay warm and watch the birdies, it passes some time. If you get a channel on cable/dish called Veria...there's a great 1hr flow yoga class on every day, it keeps me movin' and I don't have to go outside to exercise. Our schools were on 2 hr delay, but the next county over closed all schools. It's because of rural kids and buses having to deal with the wind and ice on dark roads. No NUNS out here, obviously :)

I was joking with the kids once when we went for a walk when it was cold, I said I my face froze and I had eyes-cubes.

Some years back when it was -50F wind chill our govenor called off school statewide. -14F now; wind chill -30s and -40s. Some schools are closed today, others started late, others open as usual. Coldest air has passed to southern MN so watch out you IA & IL people.

One year DH and I decided to drive south until we thought it was warm. We stopped in Tulsa OK. As we were driving around the next day we heard weather announcedments to stay inside and keep your kids inside. We LOL because it was 30F and we thought it was great. Listening to the TV that night we heard 17" snow in MN. The next night heard 18" snow in MN. Thought they were reporting on the same snowfall. Returned home to 35" of snow. Thankfully, neighbor had brought his tractor & scoop and cleared our long gravel driveway. (Small town/pre-snowblower).

Oregon,Illinois:
It got down to 17 below last night,calling for 21 below tonight,wind chill 45 below tonight.It is cold,cold,cold.Even wirh our woodburner,it is cold in the house,ya just wanna stay under your covies all day.
Carol

Our schools don't usually close because of cold, but there are wind chills of -26 and severe weather warnings. There are hundreds of schools closed today.

Here is a link that might be useful: Chgo area school closings 01/15

I think ours ARE the only ones open. geez.

It's very cold here...so cold that my ski boots froze to the bindings. You could say I was in an awkward situation.

Good story, mnwsgal!

Nope, school was never called off on account of the cold when I was a kid, only snow - and there either had to be lot of it or the wind had to be blowing so hard you couldn't see to drive. And no matter how cold it was, we all still suited up and went outside for recess, too!


Wow, I remember the chapped, white skin. I also remember how it would itch and burn as it warmed up. We were probably on the verge of frostbite and just didn't know it. When it was really cold (like today) my mom would force me to wear the dreaded, balloon-like snowpants. Oh my God but I hated those things. In first grade she pinned a note to my coat that instructed the teacher to not let me go outside without them (I had no idea what it said or of course I would've pitched it) and that sealed my fate until I finally outgrew the wretched things. Funny.

teequiltbarbie, I didn't have to walk to school but I did have to ride the bus, and it was always so horribly cold I'm pretty sure it didn't have a heater. haha

Tosser, it's beautiful out there right now, isn't it? NOT! Anyone up for a road trip to Alaska? I hear Anchorage is 45 degrees right now, Juneau is 35. I can not believe I am jealous of people in Alaska.

I don't understand why they cancel school because of the cold, either. It is not like they don't have any heat, and most of the kids ride the bus or are dropped off. We use to stand at the bus stop and freeze (our eyelashes and boogers would freeze) our butts off, and also freeze our butts off in class because they didn't have the heat high enough. Another thing, they let the kids out of school early because it is hot out. Most of the schools around here have air conditioning now so what is the sense? When some of us were young, we were lucky to have 1 fan running in the classroom when it was 90 degrees.

Rhonda

Rhonda, have you seen today's Journal? The front page has a pic of Community Bank's sign that reads -28F at 7:20 this morning. Ack! Was it really that cold, or was the thermometer off a bit, do you think? Holy moly.

It's dang cold here too, although not as bad as the mid-west - it was 4 degrees F this morning, 14 at the moment. I think we're going below zero tonight. Trying to keep energy bills down, the thermostats are set to 62-63, and using a space heater near the computer. Ugh, feels like my feet and hands have been cold for weeks, and I am crabby and miserable. Where's our January thaw?

I feed the birds too, and the sweet flock of Bluebirds waits for me to fill the suet nuggets in the morning. I'm not even 10 feet away and they're on the feeder and munching. No doubt they'd be FAR south of here if it weren't for the supplemental food they get at feeders this time of year. If I were smarter, I'd be far south of here...:(

The sky sure is blue.

kinda pretty out actually.

:)

rbrady, it isn't just because of the cold, it's the blowing and drifting snow, over the black ice on the roads. With the very low temps the salt isn't working. I heard some people have started a pool, to see who can come closest to the official count, of cars off the road during rush hour tonight! My guess is LOTS!

Yesterday, during morning rush hour, the expressway my husband uses to get into the city, usually a 20 minute drive, was over 3 hours.

tosser,that is probley right,it's -17 here,i am just south west of you,about 1 hour.
Carol

9 degrees here now, low of -1F tonight with wind chill -20, up to a sultry 16 tomorrow. Weather guy said this is our coldest air in 5 years.

They also predicted several days with several inches of snow each day. Didn't happen, but we got a whopping 1/2" snow last night, barely a dusting. Didn't cover the ground.

Lots of schools closed here too, apparently due to cold. I agree... never saw this when I was a kid. I went to a Catholic school in Pgh, there was no school bus, we walked to school. To show my age- There was the option of taking a public streetcar. Yes, streetcar, not a bus.

Karen

14 forecast for tonight. Now they're saying that Friday will be 9 degrees for us. I wish they would stop saying that. Every time they say it's going to be that cold, it's actually colder.

"Yes, streetcar, not a bus. "

My Dad took a streetcar to school, always seemed like it was kinda of a kewl thing.

:)

Hah! Come on. :-) You folks are chicken. lol. Cold chicken. :-) It's not as cold as where mnwsgal is.

I went ice skating yesterday during my lunch hour..... Been skating practically everyday this winter. :-)
Didn't go today because of a meeting....Will see if I can do it tomorrow. :-)
I am cheating a little bit. I cover my boots to keep my toes warm. :-)
{{gwi:345071}}

Ugh! I hate winter.

It's 18 now, and going down to 7 tonight, and 3 tomorrow night. I had to shovel about 3" off the driveway today, but it was like fine dust. I could have used a leaf blower on it, but it would have taken longer to get it out.

The dog loves it. She lowers her nose into the show and dashes around making a wake. 10 years old, and she still acts like a kid.

Donn@!! You're back!! :0)

Carrie

Its so cold here right now,,,,even the internet is sluggish, and......my screen froze!!

-28 degrees, holy cow. Just think, it is supposed to be colder tonight! I must be crazy, I was outside at about that time smoking a cigarette (I know it's a nasty habit). I am surprised I didn't freeze!

Rhonda

12 degrees this am in NJ. I remember once 8 degrees in the am some years ago.

It doesn't feel that cold to me, cuz I'm only out for a few seconds going to and fro car.

64 days to Spring !
Let's see.. how many hours is that?

I am going to a demonstration Monday nite - brrr.This will be a test of my dedication as an activist. :)

Hey Donn...Welcome back!

Yep i saw another person using the leafblower for the snow yesterday, me I tried to shovel but it was Champagne snow, so just swept the sidewalks to the carport.

-3 here right now and predicted a high of 11 degrees

Burning the "good" wood as we call it here, big chunks of red oak and cherry. I don't want froze water lines.

Was at WallyWorld last night, they have No bags of soil out yet, grr thought this weekend a good weekend to Ws, after I clean these hardwood floors, what a mess they are getting with snow tracking it.

-7 F degrees right now west of Boston, it was -10 earlier this morning. They are saying tonight is supposed to be even colder! 8-O

Forget the "zone creep", temps like this put me in zone 5b, even if they occur infrequently.

The bears have the right idea, I just want to hibernate.

-13 right now in Columbus.

WOOHOO! 14 degrees at 8:30am in sunny NC.

The fire in the basement is out. I need to go bring in some more wood. But I'm gonna have my coffee first and thing about warmer weather. I think I can, I think I can.

Coldest spot in the US right now is -39F in MN....many spots in MN is between -36 and - 38F
Brrrrrrrrr. Colder than Alaska........

-7 in Cincinnati

Karen

Those awful Minnesota temps make me feel better. It got to -28°F here last night, with the "official" low pegged as -27°F. According to the weatherlady this breaks the record low that was set in 1888. She's really excited about it.

Currently, at 8:30am, it's -26°F with a windchill factor of -40°.Coincidentally, -40° is the only temp that's the same in both Fahrenheit and Celsius (just a bit of trivia there in case anyone ever gets on Jeopardy!).

Temps are forecast to rise all the way above 0°F by tonight! When I shoved Dog out the door this morning at about 4:30 I had to heat the lock up before it would give. Never had that happen before, but I guess it's better to be locked in than locked out. Oh wow - the temp just kicked over to a balmy -20°F! If the sun stays out maybe it actually will crawl over the 0° mark.

"Glenview School District 34 is closed today since many of our buses will not start because of the extremely cold weather"

Dang! Its COLD!

Never had a problem with busses starting when Iwas a kid!!!

hee!

D

Wow Doris! My Grandfather used to work on the streetcars! For years and years.... until he couldn't take the COLD any longer and his doctor took him off the street.

Hundreds of schools are closed again today. It's -14 out there now and we're out of food! Yikes.... I really, really don't want to go shopping!!

John said "Im going play outside"

I said" NO you're NOT your going on the computer!!"

See you guys later!

We have "Good Wood" also,todya we are buring red elm with the bark off,it is a hard wood and makes a really hot fire,one needed for this last week,it is -14 right now,i have not been out of the house in 7 days,goung crazy over here,because i have been out of soil and i have nothing fun to do.
Carol

It's been so cold outside, I have put my first 10 WS containers inside the garage, where it has been the perfect refrigerator temperature for the past couple weeks (33-39 F). These seeds really NEED the cold stratification, 60+ days of it, and from what I've read they won't properly stratify when they are a frozen solid chunk of ice outside! Not sure about that, but figure there's no harm done with them sitting in the garage till it warms up a bit.

Isn't it weird how the snow "squeaks" when it's this cold outside?

6 degrees above F right now! On our way up to 20 tomorrow and low 30s next week. I will miss the warm up though as I'm headed for Phoenix for vacation next week. Hope the cold air has moved out of there before we arrive.

Ok. How about 9 degrees and falling and it's been snowing an inch an hour all day?
No matter how many times it happens here, I cannot seem to get it to register in my head that "persistent snow band" is a Persitent Snow Band! (and I live in one of them).

I don't know when it's going to stop. The Lake Effect Snow Warning is on until 3pm tomorrow.

I have to wait until my husband can get out to clear a path in order to WS my tomatoes. I can't even get out the door without full winter gear on.

And THIS is a reason why I Winter Sow!!

L

brrrrrrr...ahhhhh finally thawing out here a little. Just got above zero here today for the first time this week! Wahoooo!

Actually, they cancel school so kids aren't out waiting for the bus (at these temps you can get frostbite in less than 8 minutes) AND the bus companies have a tough time keeping the buses running (and the liability of them breaking down with a load of kids).

Just a little trivia for ya.

Oh, and about those seeds that haven't sprouted....no worries. I have seeds out, did last year before our "deep freeze" and everything was fine (perennials and annuals).

Thank you guys for making me feel better! I have been complaining about cold weather. As kqcrna has said it was -7 F in the Cincinnati area last night. It is supposed to be 0 degrees F tonight. I thought that was cold. You made me realize just how warm that is! -17, -39 etc! LOL, I would never survive! So thanks for making me feel better.

Sweetkountry who hates the winter.

It's a sweet +19°F here at 5:00 am and is allegedly supposed to reach 29° for a high. When I went to bed last night the temp had only risen to 5°, so things are really looking up. Hallelujah!

I woke up to +7 degrees this a.m., better than the -7 I woke up to yesterday. All things are relative I guess. High of around 30 today, but with the 25-30 mph wind I guess it won't feel too warm. Sure wish I didn't have to do my Mom's grocery shopping today.

Karen