How Cold Is It?

How cold has this winter been?  

It's cold enough that this snowy scene has been the view of our city (from our favorite trailhead) for the last couple of months.   The snow will start to melt, only to have it snow all over again.   I think we've had measurable snow fall at least a few times a week for most weeks since November.  Thankfully, we have a snowblower now, which makes clearing out a little easier at least. There was about a month when we barely saw the sun, because the clouds just seemed to settle in the valley and stayed.  

 

 

 

Both of these pictures were taken on a morning walk within the last week.   One day we came back covered in snow.    

 

 

This morning we came back covered in frost from where our breath had condensed in our hair/fur (temperature 10* F).

 The good news is....is that Utah is not as cold as Rexburg, Idaho, which saw temps well into the -20's this past week.  Also,  it looks like we might see temps in the 40's later this week.  That's about as warm as we've seen since November and I may just break out my mid-weight winter jacket for the occasion! 

What are we up to? {January 8-14}

In continuing with my effort to take a picture a day, I'm discovering that it's not often as easy a task as I originally thought it would be.  Most of our days are rather routine and somewhat boring, and it's easy for me to forget to take any pictures until the end of the day when the lighting is poor and all of the "excitement"  (although that's a generous term for what we do around here) of the day is over.   Even still, it is fun to keep a daily record and remember what makes up the fabric of our days.    

January 8:
Ellie made her own cake today and was very, very excited about it!   It's a tropical orange cake with homemade marshmallow frosting and a mango/pineapple topping  which she made for our Mommy/Daughter book group.   And in case you're wondering, yes, it was as delicious as it looks!

January 9:   Our kids aren't doing any sports this season, so our Saturdays are actually more relaxed than they are in other parts of the year!    Today we got the kids going on their Saturday chores, then Glen and I bailed and went for an 8-mile hike on the CCT.  Our long hikes together are one of my favorite parts of the week!   Later we went to cheer on our  YW at a basketball game.     In the evening, Adam made a music video at a friend's house, Ellie had a jumping and junk food fest at her friend's house, and Emma had a friend over to watch Ant Man at our house.  Sadly this photo of Ellie and friend, Adelaide,  standing in the dark and the pouring rain is the only picture I took all day!    

January 10:  Today was the 4th year anniversary of Spencer's diagnosis with leukemia.   It could have been a hard day, but between this beautiful breakfast (a perk of having the 1:00 church schedule), the fact that Glen and I both taught lessons at church, a powerful experience I had at church, and the fact that I ended up with meetings from 11-5 and 7-9, meant we didn't have much time to dwell on the gravity of the fact.    

January 11:  A trip we've been dreaming about and saving for for years is finally in the very beginning stages of being planned!

January 12:  Adam and his friend, Andrew, are working on the Bird Study merit badge, so we decided a field trip to Mason Neck State Park was in order.   Right on Pohick Bay, eagles, ducks, geese, and swans are often plentiful there and we figured it would be a great way to see some more birds to fulfill the 20 species requirement for the badge.  It was a quiet day, but we did see a bald eagle from a distance.

January 13: You may be sensing a theme, but I love being outdoors and I pretty much need a good dose of fresh air and sunshine several times a week to maintain my mental health.  This year I was very excited to arrange Emma's voice lessons to be at the same time as Adam and Ellie's piano lessons.   I take this time that they're all occupied and  go on a walk by myself.   I treasure this solitude and built-in time in my schedule to get some exercise.  Today, Emma's voice teacher had to delay her lessons by an hour, which meant I had kids with me during my walk--first Emma while the kids were at piano, then the kids while Emma was at voice.   I actually very much enjoyed the company, although two straight hours for me out in the 29º weather meant that I was feeling  a little frosty by the end!    And I know that based on what Adam was wearing that it   looks like he must have a little of my Minnesotan blood in him, but I will tell you that he was actually shivering and was the first one to beg to go back to the car!

January 14:  Glen has perfectly straight teeth that never have needed orthodontic intervention.   I, however, was born with  a mess of crooked buck teeth that needed braces TWICE to correct.   While all five of our kids inherited Glen's beautiful brown eyes, unfortunately not a one of them inherited his teeth.  Here's kid #4 in braces, with one more to certainly follow him in a couple of years!

Colder than _________?

Quick name all the  cities in the world you can think of that are known for their cold weather and check out their temperatures from last night.    Here's the list I came up with:

Cold Cities Listed in Order by Latitude
for comparison's sake, Washington DC is 38.8951ºN

Fairbanks:   (64.8436ºN), 21ºF
North Pole, Alaska:   (64.7511ºN), 20ºF
Nome, Alaska:   (64.5039ºN), 17ºF
Reykjavik: (64.1333ºN),  30ºF
Anchorage: (61.2167º N), 32ºF
Helsinki:  (60.1708º N), 36ºF
Oslo:  (59.9500ºN), 41ºF
Saint Petersburg: (59.9500ºN),   37ºF
Stockholm:  (59.3294ºN),  41ºF
Glasgow: (55.8580ºN),  38ºF
Moscow:  ( 55.7500ºN), 30ºF
Copenhagen:  (55.6761ºN), 37ºF
Calgary:  (51.0486ºN), 45ºF
Bozeman:  (45.6778ºN), 46ºF
Boston:   ( 42.3601ºN), 17ºF


You'll notice that most of these cities  are 17º+ further North in latitude than Washington DC (with the exception of the American cities), which means at minimum most of the listed cities are 1200 miles further away (Moscow) from the equator than Washington DC  and the most northern cities listed (like Fairbanks) are 2200 miles further from the equator than we are!

But look at the temperature  here in the Washington DC area this morning:

0ºF!!!

That makes the temperature here more akin to these Siberian cities:
Perm, Russia (SIBERIA): (58.0000ºN),   -6ºF
Krasnoyarsk, Russia (SIBERIA): (56.0167ºN), -13ºF

and my frigid hometown:
Minneapolis:     (44.9778ºN), 5ºF

But thankfully not quite as cold
South Pole, Antarctica: (90ºS),    -48ºF


The Washington Post declared that "the Eastern US is by far the coldest place in the world compared to average today".   Another article declared that today's cold breaks a 120-year-old temperature record!

What can I say?   It feels like the winters of my childhood.  

Except that Minneapolis is slightly warmer today and  school here is canceled again for today (which is a very rare occasion in my home state).  Our county has literally had one single day of school all week (Thursday) and even though only 1/5 of my kids goes to public school, it seriously messes with our routine when school is canceled.

On the bright side though, my kids have figured out how to harness the  dry powdery snow and make a  cool sledding track.  The cold doesn't seem to keep them inside or slow them down a bit…

and you will probably not be surprised to hear, that despite it being the coldest day in 120+ years,  that Adam is still wearing shorts.