Dang! It's Cold Outside...

[Steve Scott]

Too bad we don't have those local temperature graphics under our user ID anymore 'cuz...

Air temperature @ 10:30am in the Twin Cities is -11º F with effective windchills of -25º to -30º.  Luckily I get a 3 day weekend but wifey has to work all 3 days.

"If" I get the house cleaned up I may start on a new project - or simply finish any of the half dozen models "in progress".

There's a big arcee swap meet today but it's simply too cold for me to venture outside for any length of time today.  I went across the street this morning to get the paper but... dang.

[minnesotamodeler]

Eloquently said.

Weatherman calls it "window weather"...the kind you want to be looking at through a window.

Hibernation time.

--Ray

[Steve Scott]

They are predicting -20º F for tonight.  That's cold even for Minnesota.  Hooray for 'lectric blankets and flannel jammies!

[john e. holliday]

3 degrees when I left for the KCRC Swap & Shop this AM.  Finally got rid of the Fazer.  Very low attendance in a much bigger room made it look like nobody was there.  There was flying in the adjoining room.  Also got to meet Chris Edinger and talk to some guys about flying locally instead of driving a hundred miles.  Oh, it did warm up to 14 according to my Ford.  Later, DOC H0lliday

[Bob Reeves]

Just watched the weather... Tomorrow the wind speed and temperature are withen 5 points of each other.. Doesn't matter what the numbers are if the two are that close it ain't a good flying day.

[Dick Byron]

 17 years ago my wife and I moved to Texas. What a good idea. The weather does get hot, sometimes, LOL, but we love it. When we decided to move from Des Moines it was 26 below zero, not wind chill , actual temp. I always tell my customers "it was so cold they were advertising for workers to break dogs off fire hydrants"  Man thats cold!!!!!!!!!!!!

[don Burke]

Sorry guys, in the SOCAL desert it got all the way down to 32 this AM, then up to 65 this PM, with 15 mph wind .  Too darn cold to go out in the AM!   But that's relative, I guess.

[Rudy Taube]

Hi Steve,

I too had to wear my flannel jammies last night. It was a bone chilling 51F at 4AM. My wife had to turn up her 1/2 of the electric blanket. I'm not kidding, we are real wimps out here! ..... Thankfully, we recovered during the day. It was 74F, sunny, light winds. If I had to live in your temps and WX again, I would need an electric heated coat and pants just to get to a heated car, in the heated garage!! 

But I do still envy your long building season. Out here it takes us 3 months just to build (assemble?) an ARF. 

I hope you all thaw out soon and can get back to flying CL.

Regards,   

[Larry Cunningham]

Here I am in Las Cruces, whining about 19F this morning..

You guys are reminding me of my time in Anchorage, you'll need some
engine oil heaters to get your cars started.

L.

"The great tragedy of Science - the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly truth." -Thomas Huxley

[Steve Scott]

Story tonight on the news about how many folks find their cars unable to start during these arctic cold snaps.  My son wanted to go over to a friend's house at noon.  My 16 year old imported pickup sits outside since the 15 year old Camry and 7 month old Camry Hybrid get to live in the garage.

Not a terribly big worry since the PU has a fairly new battery.  I do have problems with the transmission shift interlock not disengaging in frigid temps.  I have to pry the little door off the side of the floor-mounted shifter and flip the little interlock lever forward to manually disengage it.  Bad thing is the tires are pretty well on their last legs.  The roads are dry and bear so traction is not the main problem.  The older Camry has much better tires but an "iffy" battery.  I have it one of those Battery Tender gizmos to keep it fully charged.

Wife uses the Hybrid and had to work today.  When I was shopping for one last spring one of the service managers was telling me the engineering team from Japan came over to brief everyone on the technology used.  The TCH (Toyota Camry Hybrid) doesn't have a conventional starter motor.  The gasoline engine starts via one of the two motor/generators (MG) directly through the Power Split Device CVT transmission.  One of the service reps asked the Japan team what would happen to an owner in Minnesota who backs out of his garage when it's 30 below.  "Will it start?"  The first few minutes after you "energize" the hybrid system you're on the electric motor.  The gasoline motor will then kick in later as you're cruising down the road.  "Absolutely no chance of the TCH failing to start in extreme cold," the engineers assured.  The TCH uses a smart key system where you only have to have the fob in your pocket (or purse) then you simply hit a big button on the dash to light everything up.

The wife got off work at 6pm and had to go out to run some errands before coming home.  I got a call from the grocery store - her saying an error message of "security key not found".  TCH won't light up.  These electronic keys have a lithium battery which is supposed to be good for 5-7 years.  Supposedly if the Li battery does poop out you can touch the the logo on the fob directly to the start button and it will start.  I assured her I was on my way with my electronic key.  I told her how to do the emergency procedure.

The grocery store is only 5 minutes away and when I rolled in she was in the car with it running.  I gave her my key then I left to pick up the boy.

Our garage is unheated and uninsulated but we've only had problems with cars which sit outside.  We use a 5-20W straight synthetic oil in the TCH.  Pretty thin stuff.   She does have to leave at noon to work tomorrow so we'll see what issues crop up then.

Until then it's a definite 'lectric blankie and flannel jammie night.

[Leo Mehl]

Too bad we don't have those local temperature graphics under our user ID anymore 'cuz...

Air temperature @ 10:30am in the Twin Cities is -11º F with effective windchills of -25º to -30º.  Luckily I get a 3 day weekend but wifey has to work all 3 days.

"If" I get the house cleaned up I may start on a new project - or simply finish any of the half dozen models "in progress".

There's a big arcee swap meet today but it's simply too cold for me to venture outside for any length of time today.  I went across the street this morning to get the paper but... dang.

I lived near Bermidji for a while so know what you are talking about. The problem is it stays that way most of the winter. That is the reason the Damn building season is so long in Minnesota and the women are all pregnate in the spring.

[Randy Powell]

Steve,

Hey, you were the one that wanted to move from cloudy and cold Puget Sound to the frozen tundra.

Here's it racing up to a balmy 40 degrees tomorrow after an overnight temp of 24. It's the constant overcast that's depressing though. Snow predicted for tomorrow, but we may see actual sun on Monday. Man, promises, promises.

[Leo Mehl]

Steve,

Hey, you were the one that wanted to move from cloudy and cold Puget Sound to the frozen tundra.

Here's it racing up to a balmy 40 degrees tomorrow after an overnight temp of 24. It's the constant overcast that's depressing though. Snow predicted for tomorrow, but we may see actual sun on Monday. Man, promises, promises.

In Portland we take bets on how close the weather forcast is. I wish we could get the forcasters to bet!

[Brett Buck]

In Portland we take bets on how close the weather forcast is. I wish we could get the forcasters to bet!

   Yeah, but the bet is between "2 inches of rain today" and "4 inches or rain today"!

     Brett

[frank carlisle]

It's 5 degrees in Detroit today. Being born and raised in Michigan I don't mind it at all. At night I shut the furnace off at around 9. By 11 when I curl up under the blanket and comforter with just my nose sticking out it's pretty cold and I fall into a deep peaceful sleep. In the morning I kick the furnace up to 70 and watch the morning news under the covers for the half hour or so it takes the house to warm up. I wouldn't have it any other way. During the winter I contract interior renovations. Summer I build decks and do exterior repairs.