What’s The Coldest You Remember?

It's not just the cold we're experiencing now that made me think back to cold weather in years gone by. I ran across this story of the winter storm on Sakhalin which is an island east of Russia. Snow and wind gusts as high as 93mph. I can't fathom wind that strong in a snow storm. Apparently a 65 year old woman just had to have a cigarette. She stepped out onto her 4th floor balcony and was promptly blown off. She suffered a concussion and numerous broken bones. She was transported to the hospital in the bucket of a construction truck.

This got me to thinking back to cold weather I've experienced. I remember January of 1977 there was an extremely cold spell in the Midwest. I was in Park Falls, Wisconsin at the time and it got to 40 below. That was actually warm compared to the town of Rice Lake to the west. They racked up a 60 below reading. It was said that the fuel oil of some folks actually froze..I remember Rice Lake made the National Enquirer for their weather feat.

January of 1982 I'm in Antigo, Wisconsin and we had just suffered through a weekend of almost 100 below wind chills. Our meteorologist told me it might even be worse the following weekend. I didn't really believe him, but sure enough back to back weekends with 100 below wind chills. What stands out in my mind is looking out my apartment window and seeing a guy riding a bike down the street! Unbelievable.

If memory serves me correct, we came close to 100 below wind chills in January of 1996 or 1997 in Southern Minnesota.

While we're not expecting anything as cold as the aforementioned, it's still gonna be mighty cold for the next week or so. Plan ahead and stay safe.