Obviously, there has been some pretty cold weather recently in the Ozarks.
Temperatures spent a significant amount of time below or barely above zero during the region’s latest cold snap, and that’s just plain cold, no matter how you slice or dice it. Yep, we who live in the region know what cold is and are reminded about it almost every winter.
This time around, the lowest I saw the mercury dip was to minus 6. Last year, it made it down to 10 below, and pretty much every year it goes below zero at least a time or two.
For the record, the coldest temperature I’ve ever witnessed was here in the Show Me State when it went down to minus 14 in early January of 2014.
That’s dang cold. So cold that if you were to reduce it another 6 degrees, I’m not sure the average human body could tell.
Sure, the minus 35 stuff that can hit North Dakota and Canadian provinces north of that must feel noticeably colder, but as my wife and I like to say, there’s no denying that cold is cold, and it’s not hard to recognize it.
It’s also easy to recognize by some of the things that happen in conjunction with it.
The furnace has a hard time keeping up.
You discover several doors and windows in your house where cold air is getting in.
The dogs get bored because they don’t want to stay outside for more than a few minutes at a time.
Vehicles make odd sounds when they’re started up first thing in the morning.
And you simply have to put on an extra layer of clothing (or two).
But like many things, cold is relative. Can you imagine living somewhere where high temperatures rarely get above 10 in winter and lows are always below zero?
I’m OK not knowing what that’s like.
But that’s nothing. In fact, there are pockets of humanity in places where that would be kind of warm.
For example, a few of years ago, temperatures hit minus 60 Fahrenheit in the remote Siberian village of Oymyakon, and video posted online showed bundled-up youngsters braving the frigid situation and trudging to school through deep snow. Minus 60 and school’s in? The village reportedly closes schools for children 11-and-under if it drops to minus 62.
So I guess the 12-and-above students still have to attend when it’s minus 65, right?
Heck, schools around here are prone to closing when there’s a dusting of snow and the temperature might drop into the 20s! Not that there’s anything wrong with that; it just that there are clearly two extremely different mind sets at work here.
Question: Would a Toyota pickup or a Chevy SUV start when it’s minus 60? Actually, never mind; I don’t want to know.
Anyway, we might know what cold weather is all about in these parts, but the good news is we don’t have to endure very lengthy battles with brutally cold conditions. Nope, thankfully the mercury almost always gets back into the 40s or even higher after a relatively short brush with Arctic life.
I’ll very gladly take that to making sure my kid gets to school when it’s minus dozens of degrees outside.
I hear that spring is only about three months away. Bring it on.
Doug Davison is a writer, photographer and newsroom assistant for the Houston Herald. Email: ddavison@houstonherald.com.
