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Or come to North Dakota where in 1936 we recorded our highest (121°F in Steele on July 6) and lowest (-60°F in Parshall on February 15) temperatures. I once ha
by protomyth 5y ago
Or come to North Dakota where in 1936 we recorded our highest (121°F in Steele on July 6) and lowest (-60°F in Parshall on February 15) temperatures.
I once had a grant that had data about the summer high and winter low effects on car maintenance of low income families. Its amazing what such a wide range of temps will do to the employment of rural low income families.
Last year's -35°F day before wind chill (which sent it down to truly horrific) was a pure pain in the butt.
https://www.weather.gov/bis/climate_EXT https://www.weather.gov/bis/climate_EXT
- netizen-936824 5y agoHow do we know that the employment is directly related to temperatures? What sort of relationship is it?
- robbedpeter 5y agoNegative, for sure. Cars don't start, accidents and illnesses are more common, carbon monoxide poisoning increases, heart attacks are more frequent with stress and snow shoveling. Throw in SAD and vitamin d deficiency - cold places throw a lot of shit at people.
- User23 5y agoMy father used to cross country ski to work on the worst winter days. Sometimes he’d go on a drift right over stuck cars. Unexcused absences just weren’t a thing back then.
- superkuh 5y agoPeople wait for the major river separating Minnesota and Wisconsin to freeze up so they can drive across the frozen surface to their respective jobs and save 15 minutes on the commute via the bridges. It's a popular thing to do especially for Andersen Windows workers.
- bombcar 5y agoI feel that’s much less common now that the new bridge is in place; the old Stillwater bridge would often be broken or jammed up with traffic.
- Tcepsa 5y agoFWIW it's the Mississippi, but your description is probably more valuable given your point. (Though I think it's wild that people drive across the Mississippi, and I grew up just southeast of there in Rochester!)
- protomyth 5y agoIt mostly had to do with cars needing more maintenance, low income folks buying used cars, not having backup transportation (i.e. one car per family) when problems arise, and not having the funds to fix them.
- pengaru 5y agoAutomobile use in the rust belt is so ridiculously wasteful, it no doubt generates heaps of jobs in the process. I used to work as a mechanic in IL back in the day. It became normal for myself and my gearhead buddies to keep winter beaters and leave the nicer cars/motorcycles parked until the roads stopped getting salted and rain could wash it all away for summer. I'd go through winter beaters like they were shoes, whole used cars! The amount of time and money I used to spend on automotive expenses back there is batshit crazy compared to what I spend in CA. And the yearly rebuilding of all the roads trashed by the salt+plows. I wonder if it's less of an issue now with climate change.
- boomboomsubban 5y ago>I wonder if it's less of an issue now with climate change It's roughly as bad, some years are worse than others. Climate change hasn't made winter better.
- patrick451 5y agoIf you live in California, climate change has made winters in the midwest _appear_ more mild.
- boomboomsubban 5y agoHow so? All I can figure is winter is supposed to be cold and snowy so California only hears about the extremes like a 60F day in January
- patrick451 5y ago
- kingcharles 5y agoIt's hard to imagine how cold those temperatures are. When they predicted record cold in Chicago in 2019 I scoffed at weakling Americans and how my rugged British constitution would protect me. All the bravado evaporated quickly when I had to step outside for a hospital appointment that day. IT WAS COLD. REALLY COLD. "In the Chicago area, temperatures plummeted as low as −23 °F (−31 °C) at O'Hare International Airport on January 30, with a windchill of −52 °F (−47 °C)" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January%E2%80%93February_2019_North_American_cold_wave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January%E2%80%93February_2019_... I was in jail at the time and shortly after I met a guy in physical therapy who's fingers were all black. I asked him what happened. He said he had a dope (heroin) habit and went out that day trying to find a dealer. He was outside in that temperature for _8 hours_. Of course, he never found a dealer. He went home and took a hot shower and realized something was wrong. The day after I met him they sawed off all his fingers.
- causi 5y agoNow I must know how you came to travel from the UK to the US only to end up in jail. Did you fail to clap when the plane landed?
- bumblebritches5 5y agoI've NEVER seen anyone clap on a plane...
- lb1lf 5y ago-This habit puzzles me no end; I'd be much more prone to expressing emotion in the case of the pilot NOT nailing the landing...
- fzzzy 5y agoYes, negative 23 Fahrenheit is very, very cold.
- devwastaken 5y agoYou could probably track extreme temps by how many new car batteries are bought. At those low of temps the batteri s freeze because they're not fully charged and/or their cars alternator is dying and only good enough to maintain maybe half a charge.
- doubled112 5y agoI'm in northeastern Ontario (usually see roughly -35 degC to 35 degC in a year). I've been super impressed by the battery in my car. 7 years old and left to die from lack of use (second car plus pandemic). I've boosted it back to life probably half a dozen times now, and it keeps going. We've all got bets going about when it leaves me stranded. There's no way it's very healthy, and there's no way my alternator hasn't been close to catching fire at some point. But if I replace them now I'm going to be in the same position before long. Hardly seems like the time.
- dayofthedaleks 5y agoWait, isn't 'before long' potentially 7 more years with a fresh battery? This kind of brinkmanship makes me nervous enough to price out capacitor jumpstarters.
- thizzbuzz 5y agoIn 1996 Minnesota hit -60F, and -75F with wind chill. That was a cold night.
- ransom1538 5y agoEh. I live in Florida, don't own a coat yet. I don't understand what "-60°F" means.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago>I once had a grant that had data about the summer high and winter low effects on car maintenance of low income families. I'd bet a lot of money that it kneecaps them less than road salt combined with vehicle inspections. You can afford a lot of batteries (and other stuff) when the state isn't trying to screw you over a rusty wheel arch.
- protomyth 5y agoI don't know, North Dakota really doesn't do vehicle inspections. Road salt is becoming less of an issue given the newer used cars and some changes by DOT. Yearly fees (e.g. registration) are always a big issue for low income people. That is why I oppose a mileage tax on electric vehicles. Paying at the charger is much fairer for low income people and not a once a year, intrusive mileage fee.