There's cold, and then there's EFFING cold!

AggieMike88

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The original "I don't know it all" of aviation.
@flyingcheesehead .... I wonder if you're gonna change your moniker to "Frozen Cheese Head"

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This is one week I won't be griping about Texas winter weather.
 
I wonder how this is going to affect flying around the affected areas, especially KORD.

And if any, ANY, GA is going to be flying.
 
Calling for record cold here Wednesday. Wind chill around -50. After like -30 do you even notice the difference?
 
Are we expecting super high barometric pressures? I recall certain airliners not being able to fly because there were no performance charts for a given temperature/barometric pressure.
 
Are we expecting super high barometric pressures? I recall certain airliners not being able to fly because there were no performance charts for a given temperature/barometric pressure.

This raises a question. Boeing, Airbus... all provide performance charts up to a specific temp; I think it was around 117F to 119F.
Is there a bottom end of the scale? If yes, does it block airlines from flying?
 
Calling for record cold here Wednesday. Wind chill around -50. After like -30 do you even notice the difference?

Not if you're comparing Celsius to Fahrenheit, lol. The coldest I've been was AB, Canada with -20 temps, wind chill to -35. It's always fun when the moisture in your breath freezes to your beard/mustache and melts when you walk back inside after 20-30 minutes outside, leaving you with a wet chest. Good times.
 
some place in Wisconsin this morning was -51.
we saw frost this morning. tulips are up. :)
 
@flyingcheesehead .... I wonder if you're gonna change your moniker to "Frozen Cheese Head"

This is one week I won't be griping about Texas winter weather.

Yeah, I might have to be FrozenCheesehead on Wednesday. I hope this is our coldest day of the winter, it's really pretty unusual to be that cold and sometimes we'll go a decade without a day like that. Really kinda prefer my winter highs in the +20s.

I wonder how this is going to affect flying around the affected areas, especially KORD.

And if any, ANY, GA is going to be flying.

I wouldn't hesitate to fly if I had a mission... But I won't go flying just to fly, like I used to. I've already pegged the VSI at +2000 fpm on a cold day in the 182, I don't need to do it again in the Mooney, 'cuz I could probably do that any day this week. :D

Calling for record cold here Wednesday. Wind chill around -50. After like -30 do you even notice the difference?

Well, yes, maybe... I do remember my freshman year in college, there were two days where the wind chill was -90. The dorms were built in the 60s so not particularly well insulated. There was about an inch of ice on the *inside* of the windows, our room was maybe 55ºF... You could see your breath in the lounges at the center of the towers, and in the "commons" area that connected the three towers, the outside walls were all glass and it was below freezing *inside*.

I think I still had to work (elsewhere on campus, in a server room) so I went out... Holy crap. I was bundled up in everything I had. Big fat winter coat, long underwear, jeans, windbreaker pants, etc... But as soon as I stepped out the door, it felt like someone had dumped a 5-gallon bucket of ice right down my back.

Not a fun time on the farm.

I remember you posting about a similar day a few years ago, and all the stuff you had to do. Definitely did not sound fun.

Not if you're comparing Celsius to Fahrenheit, lol. The coldest I've been was AB, Canada with -20 temps, wind chill to -35. It's always fun when the moisture in your breath freezes to your beard/mustache and melts when you walk back inside after 20-30 minutes outside, leaving you with a wet chest. Good times.

Yep... And when the boogers freeze inside your nose too.

At least it should stay in the high single digits long enough this afternoon to clear 8-10" of snow off the driveway before the temperature begins to plummet tonight. Current forecast shows the low tonight at -4ºF, and tomorrow's high of 0 will be at 6 AM before it continues to plummet throughout the day. Tomorrow night's low is forecast to be -25, Wednesday's high will be -14, and Wednesday night's low -29! :eek:

And then it's going to be above freezing this weekend... Probably long enough to melt everything, get everything wet, and then freeze it again Sunday night. That should be fun.

What's that, you say? Move south? Hell no! Our weather can be a pain in the ass, but at least it's not boring! :D
 
As long as the car starts I'm happy. The old 98 Lumina was having some passkey issues intermittently making me sit for ~9 minutes before it would start, but $50 replaced the worn out key and its been doing great since.
 
They would ground cancel the Buffs in Minot when it got to those ludicrous wind chill levels (-40C..which incidentally is -40F too LOL) . Since most are cold soaking all day and night outside on the ramp, the fuel would start gellin' up and wreak havoc on the pumps. Air Force has the same mentality I do: If it's cheap enough to be paid for, it's too cheap to hangar! :D
 
At this timestamp, it’s 24 F at Denver, Co and at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. McM is on the coast. Of course at Amundsen-Scott (official South Pole) it’s -37F and middle of summer down there,

Just swell.
 
I know of a few salvage yards based in Fon du Lac and Green Bay.

Likely a safe bet that there won't be much outdoor parts pulling this week.
 
I've never been a big fan of the heat index or wind chill factors. If it's 100 degrees outside it's hot. You don't have to exaggerate it and say with the sun shining on you it feels like it's 110. I kinda feel the same about wind chill. It's going to be friggin cold here tomorrow at zero degrees. I don't think the weather girl needs to exaggerate it by telling me that the wind will be blowing so it's going to feel colder. I guess it would be different if I was planning on working outside all day. I'm not. Because it's going to be cold.
 
I've never been a big fan of the heat index or wind chill factors. If it's 100 degrees outside it's hot. You don't have to exaggerate it and say with the sun shining on you it feels like it's 110. I kinda feel the same about wind chill. It's going to be friggin cold here tomorrow at zero degrees. I don't think the weather girl needs to exaggerate it by telling me that the wind will be blowing so it's going to feel colder. I guess it would be different if I was planning on working outside all day. I'm not. Because it's going to be cold.

I grew up in Chicago in the 60’s and 70’s, can remember days so cold it hurt to breathe in, hurt in the lungs actually.

But man, believe in it or not, wind chill is a real thing, and it’s important. Chicago has a lot of windy days. It makes a huge difference on the temperature you actually are exposed to. Wind blows the protective thermal layer of your skin away. I have a healthy respect for wind chill factor.
 
I have friends that work up at Artic Cat and Digikey...talk about cold. Pretty much the same in Fargo (@WannFly). I'm not flying. Check out their daytime temps and wind chills:

NastyCold.png
 
Wind chill matters. Anyone who says it doesn't hasn't experienced how quickly your face, fingers, etc will get freeze damage when the wind and cold get you at the same time. Nothing hurts like your skin thawing after being frostbitten.
 
And if any, ANY, GA is going to be flying.

Quantify what you mean by “GA”. There will be some flying, but likely little to no recreational flights being made. Right now the biggest damper on things is the wind and keeping the runways clear enough to use them.

This weather reminds me of what it was like when I lived in northern Minnesota. It’s no big deal, you get accustomed to it after a while.
 
I spent a few minutes (maybe 3 minutes) in a -40F flash freezer on a facility tour once upon a time. I was in a lightweight suit, IIRC.

I wouldn't have wanted to be in there much longer.
 
I remember a Dirty Job's episode filmed in Alaska where Mike Rowe said it was really weird to step into a meat freezer to get warm.
 
4 and 6 seat propeller

I assume you’re meaning piston aircraft. There will likely be some activity, but probably minimal. People in at least part of the affected area really don’t understand what kinds of precautions to take to have an airplane successfully start in those temperatures, so that will slow them down some.
 
I saw some -60s F in Alaska. Not wind chill. That was cold enough even for me. Hate it when the eyelids freeze shut every time I blink.

Most companies I worked for in Alaska stopped operations at -38f. Not because it is hard on the pilots and passengers, but because it is hard on the planes. Little parts get brittle and break. Plastic interiors shatter like peanut brittle.

On the other side I landed at Phoenix Sky Harbor one night around midnight. I pulled up to Cutter Aviation and the sign said "Welcome to Phoenix, the wind chill is 109...''
 
and it kills the chiggers, but not the mosquitoes

Well, it does kill mosquitoes, just not their eggs.

The good news is, it also kills the poisonous snakes, alligators, scorpions, fire ants, and other associated nasty critters you find down south. We don't have any pests that get very big, 'cuz we kill 'em all once a year. About the worst thing we have is mosquitoes and deer ticks.

I've never been a big fan of the heat index or wind chill factors. If it's 100 degrees outside it's hot. You don't have to exaggerate it and say with the sun shining on you it feels like it's 110. I kinda feel the same about wind chill. It's going to be friggin cold here tomorrow at zero degrees.

Sometimes, I joke that the heat index was invented so that Wisconsinites could ***** about the weather 365 days a year... But these things are important. 100º and 25% RH like you might find in Phoenix is completely different than 100º and 95% relative humidity that you might find in Houston. One will allow you to keep your body cool via sweating, the other can be incredibly dangerous. Same thing with the wind chill - It's not there to "exaggerate", even though the weather people love to do that. It's there because, at the -53ºF wind chill we're forecast to have on Wednesday, you have three minutes until frostbite on exposed skin. -20ºF and calm is one thing, but -20ºF with winds at 15 knots is actually quite a bit different. This stuff matters.

Wind chill matters. Anyone who says it doesn't hasn't experienced how quickly your face, fingers, etc will get freeze damage when the wind and cold get you at the same time. Nothing hurts like your skin thawing after being frostbitten.

Bingo.

I spent a few minutes (maybe 3 minutes) in a -40F flash freezer on a facility tour once upon a time. I was in a lightweight suit, IIRC.

I wouldn't have wanted to be in there much longer.

And that was with "winds" calm! ;)
 
Wind chills of -57 are expected. These are the coldest temps we've seen in Minnesota in twenty years. We're praying for Global Warming!! On the plus side, they're saying these temps should kill the majority of the larvae for the Emerald Ash Bore which has been a growing problem here.

So, looking for silver (frozen) lining. Wreaking havoc on flight instructing...going to be doing a LOT of ground this week!
 
All that I know about it being that cold is that it causes extreme phugoid shrinkage.
 
This raises a question. Boeing, Airbus... all provide performance charts up to a specific temp; I think it was around 117F to 119F.
Is there a bottom end of the scale? If yes, does it block airlines from flying?
The 737s I fly have a -45C limitation for the fuel temp. Not OAT. However, I don't think we've flown in much below -38. Just too damnded cold on the equipment that hauls the cargo in and out of the tube, and the wimpy pilots. Sure fun to take off with a DA of -7000. No, I don't know what the climb rate is with an empty plane, the VSI stops at 6k fpm.

All that I know about it being that cold is that it causes extreme phugoid shrinkage.
Mine got bigger. Is that because of the chemtrail work? Wife not happy.
 
Sorta like 120F during AZ summer, only different. :crazy:

Actually, kind of. I always hear people say Arizona heat is a “dry heat”. This cold is a “dry cold”. As long as there isn’t a ton of wind with the cold it really isn’t too bad. I’d take northern winters and summers over the miserable, wet winters and summers here in Iowa. :)
 
Yes, it is a dry heat. But it gets so blasted hot that a person may burst into flames. But not to worry, they are ''dry'' flames....

Do they require a fire extinguisher with a dry agent?
 
Calling for record cold here Wednesday. Wind chill around -50. After like -30 do you even notice the difference?

I flew last night, though it was cold outside, it was nice and toasty in the airplane. The biggest hazard would be surviving the cold in case of an off-airport landing.
 
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