7 ms·

Wind chill on Mt. Washington NH minus 108, temp -46, wind 98 gusting 107

35 points by wrycoder 4y ago

pikma 4y ago
Anybody here had experience dealing with that kind of cold? I'm curious how people deal with with. Is that something that good equipment can protect against or is it just too cold?
- amalcon 4y ago
  Not a ton, but I've done it. The basic approach: wool, wool, thinsulate if you're fancy, more wool, in layers. Something that effectively blocks the wind on top. No cotton. Good boots and gloves. Make sure you've got no exposed skin.
- ABeeSea 4y ago
  No experience, but this story of the “Maine hermit” who lived in a tent in central Maine for decades is still amazing to me. https://www.gq.com/story/the-last-true-hermit/ https://www.gq.com/story/the-last-true-hermit/
  - sound1 4y ago
    Wow thank you for sharing! This is incredible!
  - brewtide 4y ago
    There is a book about it as well, from now maybe a few years back. Goes Into far more details, and quite a nice read. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30687200-the-stranger-in-the-woods https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30687200-the-stranger-in...
    - toomuchtodo 4y ago
      https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20048389W/The_stranger_in_the_woods https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20048389W/The_stranger_in_th...
- grecy 4y ago
  I lived in the Yukon for 4 years, rode my bike to work every day of the year, it was often past -40C/F in winter. With good clothing that was perfectly fine, and I enjoyed it. Watching the steam and huge chunks of ice on the Yukon river is a sight to behold. Also seeing the northern lights on the way to work at 8am is great, as-is seeing the lights or stars again at 4pm. With far from the best gear I can stand around outside happily down to about -30C. Past that, I need to be near a fire, or moving (snowshoeing, riding, cutting wood) to stay warm to about -40C/F. After that I have to really move to stay warm enough for a long period of time. Once I was caribou hunting just below the Arctic Circle in late November (the sun only came up for about an hour) and it was something like -50C (-58F). Try as I might, I never did warm up even jogging on the spot, jumping jacks, etc. etc. In the north most people don't even really consider will chill, because it's kind of meaningless - it officially has no units and is an estimate at best. Northerns take pride in being "tough" and most people say stuff like "Wild Chill is for people who get cold", or something similar. So there were many days the actual temp was -46C (-50F), and if the wind was coming from the North it was stupid cold. The will chill would have been well past -60C (-76F), but nobody talks about it. On those days it's very hard to be outside for long, and exposed skin is an absolute no-no. If I took my two layers of gloves off to do anything I'd lose feeling in my fingers for hours and they really, really hurt. Interestingly, the temperature between night and day only changes a degree or two - the sun makes virtually no difference, even though the colder it gets the clearer it gets. I grew up in Australia, yet the most stunning blue sky days of my life were in the Yukon past -40C/F. I lived not too far from Snag, Yukon, the coldest ever recorded place in North America at -63C/-81F [1] I should also add that Yukon has no concept of "too cold for school" or work, or anything like that. It's perfectly normal to go to school or work when it's below -40C/F, everyone just deals with it. It's amusing when it warms up to -20C or -30C and it feels comparatively balmy! [1] https://www.gi.alaska.edu/alaska-science-forum/coldest-place-north-america https://www.gi.alaska.edu/alaska-science-forum/coldest-place...
  - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
    I saw the mercury drop from -25C to -35C on the bus from Changchun to Haerbin once (the buses, for some reason, had digital outside temperature thermometers up front). I was dressed for it well enough, but I didn’t keep my phone or camera warm enough, so I didn’t get many pictures of the ice sculptures I went to see. Too far south for northern lights though, weird it would get that cold at that latitude.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- colechristensen 4y ago
  I’d run across a courtyard in a tshirt when it was -40 for fun. Invigorating :) Yes, managing being outside in the -40s is doable with above average equipment but nothing crazy. Good insulation isn’t all that hard. I have a coat that I have to have unzipped at 0F because I get hot. 100 mph winds on the side of a mountain is a challenge at any temperature. When is that cold you just have to be careful or a mistake can lead to permanent damage in seconds or minutes, the cold will kill you easily and you’re just very aware of it when you’re out in it. Surviving isn’t hard but deadly mistakes are also easy. It also has a lot to do with attitude. If you think it’s the worst suffering it will be. You’ll want insulated boots, thick wool socks, insulated pants, a parka, layers under the parka, gloves with mittens over, face covering, hat. Keeping your face, head, and feet warm are the most important. Next is much torso insulation.
LesZedCB 4y ago
Whew! Having since left the north east for bigger mountains, there is still a special place for the 6288' mountain with The Most Extreme Weather. :)
- icpmacdo 4y ago
  Where did you go?
  - LesZedCB 4y ago
    Seattle. Climbing, mtb, skiing, volcanos, ocean, it's got everything! And all in half the time it took to get from Boston to the white mountains.
    - worldmerge 4y ago
      Oh wow, that sounds perfect for me. I’m looking for a new job right now.
      - galleywest200 4y ago
        It really is a place where you can drive 45 minutes away from the city and be in the "sticks". Come check it out.
        worldmerge 4y ago
        I'll have to! Are there any tech communities you'd recommend checking out so I can network with people in the area? Are there synth/creative tech groups?
rudyfink 4y ago
-46 f (-43.4c) actual temperature. The rest is just the fact that it's a windy mountain and wind chill values wind speed. If you were also curious, the lowest actual recorded temperature without windchill was -128 (https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-lowest-temperature https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-lowest-temperature), so this temperature is about 80 degrees higher than that.
- pengaru 4y ago
  > If you were also curious, the lowest actual recorded temperature without windchill was -128 (https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-lowest-temperature https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-lowest-temperature), so this temperature is about 80 degrees higher than that. For anyone reading, that isn't a Mt. Washington temperature - just world lowest record. According to wikipedia Mt. Washington's record low for Jan/Feb is -47/-46F, respectively. So tonight's -46F is on par for the Feb record low @ Mt. Washington.
  - wrycoder 4y ago
    It got down to -47.1, a record. The -108 windchill was an all time US record.[0][1] [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/04/nyregion/mount-washington-cold-new-hampshire.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/04/nyregion/mount-washington... https://web.archive.org/web/20230204183149/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/04/nyregion/mount-washington-cold-new-hampshire.html/ https://web.archive.org/web/20230204183149/https://www.nytim... [1] https://www.mountwashington.org/experience-the-weather/mount-washington-weather.aspx https://www.mountwashington.org/experience-the-weather/mount...
- samcheng 4y ago
  This particular mountain is notoriously windy, though - it has the highest recorded wind speed not associated with a tornado or cyclone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Washington https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Washington
slackfan 4y ago
Yes, it is winter here. Not quite as cold as back towards the tail end of global cooling in the 90s when we'd rock -40c down in the valleys. Now Residents of Boston from back around 2003-2005 will remember that one winter when we had -36 in that city for like a week.
- drewcoo 4y ago
  -40C is also -40F, so -46 in whichever is colder.
- daydream 4y ago
  > Now Residents of Boston from back around 2003-2005 will remember that one winter when we had -36 in that city for like a week. I don’t remember it being quite that cold in the city. But I clearly remember -40 with wind chill in central MA. Good times.
  - slackfan 4y ago
    It got down to -60 and change with windchill. The Atlantic winds were absolutely brutal.
blackflame7000 4y ago
will this create more ice caps or less? Also were the ice caps always ice? Pretty sure they weren’t.
gregf 4y ago
I woke up at 4am, and it was -61F in northern Maine with the windchill. I'm tempted to take my garbage out in a t-shirt and see what happens :)
- brewtide 4y ago
  I woke up at 4am realizing I missed the whole 'put wood in the woodstove' moment around midnight in midcoast area. 45 in the kitchen, heatpump cranked. We had -38f with wind-chill, -18f actual it seems like. Builds character, right fellow mainer?
  - gregf 4y ago
    Ouch, hope your pipes are fine!
    - brewtide 4y ago
      Left a tap barely running and have the furnace on fan only mode dumping some lackluster upstairs heat into the basement. 170 year old house, knock on wood, no explosions yet! (Naturally I've been gung go about the whole no oil since last March!) -- life test? Probably should put some in tank for moments like these, but we don't ever seem to take the easy way out. Didn't bother try to start a car yet, no need, another days worry! (And thank you!)
  - igetspam 4y ago
    I've had the pellet stove running all night. Baseboard heaters can't keep up. Suited up like it was the Arctic, to feed pigs and chickens. The pigs have been locked in their shed for two days with a radiant heater. The chickens won't eat in the coop, which also has a heater. I'm hoping no one dies. I pulled two eggs out of the coop last night and they cracked as soon as they hit the cold air. Wild stuff. -12F when I woke up with a wind chill putting it at "feels like -35F." Looking forward to the nearly 50F tomorrow. (Southeast NH)
    - brewtide 4y ago
b_mc2 4y ago
Here's a tweet with some pretty cool footage from the cameras on Mt. Washington yesterday. https://twitter.com/forecaster25/status/1621598650022363142 https://twitter.com/forecaster25/status/1621598650022363142

35 points by wrycoder 4y ago

Anybody here had experience dealing with that kind of cold? I'm curious how people deal with with. Is that something that good equipment can protect against or is it just too cold?

amalcon 4y ago
Not a ton, but I've done it. The basic approach: wool, wool, thinsulate if you're fancy, more wool, in layers. Something that effectively blocks the wind on top. No cotton. Good boots and gloves. Make sure you've got no exposed skin.
ABeeSea 4y ago
No experience, but this story of the “Maine hermit” who lived in a tent in central Maine for decades is still amazing to me. https://www.gq.com/story/the-last-true-hermit/ https://www.gq.com/story/the-last-true-hermit/
- sound1 4y ago
  Wow thank you for sharing! This is incredible!
- brewtide 4y ago
  There is a book about it as well, from now maybe a few years back. Goes Into far more details, and quite a nice read. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30687200-the-stranger-in-the-woods https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30687200-the-stranger-in...
  - toomuchtodo 4y ago
    https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20048389W/The_stranger_in_the_woods https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20048389W/The_stranger_in_th...
grecy 4y ago
I lived in the Yukon for 4 years, rode my bike to work every day of the year, it was often past -40C/F in winter. With good clothing that was perfectly fine, and I enjoyed it. Watching the steam and huge chunks of ice on the Yukon river is a sight to behold. Also seeing the northern lights on the way to work at 8am is great, as-is seeing the lights or stars again at 4pm. With far from the best gear I can stand around outside happily down to about -30C. Past that, I need to be near a fire, or moving (snowshoeing, riding, cutting wood) to stay warm to about -40C/F. After that I have to really move to stay warm enough for a long period of time. Once I was caribou hunting just below the Arctic Circle in late November (the sun only came up for about an hour) and it was something like -50C (-58F). Try as I might, I never did warm up even jogging on the spot, jumping jacks, etc. etc. In the north most people don't even really consider will chill, because it's kind of meaningless - it officially has no units and is an estimate at best. Northerns take pride in being "tough" and most people say stuff like "Wild Chill is for people who get cold", or something similar. So there were many days the actual temp was -46C (-50F), and if the wind was coming from the North it was stupid cold. The will chill would have been well past -60C (-76F), but nobody talks about it. On those days it's very hard to be outside for long, and exposed skin is an absolute no-no. If I took my two layers of gloves off to do anything I'd lose feeling in my fingers for hours and they really, really hurt. Interestingly, the temperature between night and day only changes a degree or two - the sun makes virtually no difference, even though the colder it gets the clearer it gets. I grew up in Australia, yet the most stunning blue sky days of my life were in the Yukon past -40C/F. I lived not too far from Snag, Yukon, the coldest ever recorded place in North America at -63C/-81F [1] I should also add that Yukon has no concept of "too cold for school" or work, or anything like that. It's perfectly normal to go to school or work when it's below -40C/F, everyone just deals with it. It's amusing when it warms up to -20C or -30C and it feels comparatively balmy! [1] https://www.gi.alaska.edu/alaska-science-forum/coldest-place-north-america https://www.gi.alaska.edu/alaska-science-forum/coldest-place...
- seanmcdirmid 4y ago
  I saw the mercury drop from -25C to -35C on the bus from Changchun to Haerbin once (the buses, for some reason, had digital outside temperature thermometers up front). I was dressed for it well enough, but I didn’t keep my phone or camera warm enough, so I didn’t get many pictures of the ice sculptures I went to see. Too far south for northern lights though, weird it would get that cold at that latitude.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
colechristensen 4y ago
I’d run across a courtyard in a tshirt when it was -40 for fun. Invigorating :) Yes, managing being outside in the -40s is doable with above average equipment but nothing crazy. Good insulation isn’t all that hard. I have a coat that I have to have unzipped at 0F because I get hot. 100 mph winds on the side of a mountain is a challenge at any temperature. When is that cold you just have to be careful or a mistake can lead to permanent damage in seconds or minutes, the cold will kill you easily and you’re just very aware of it when you’re out in it. Surviving isn’t hard but deadly mistakes are also easy. It also has a lot to do with attitude. If you think it’s the worst suffering it will be. You’ll want insulated boots, thick wool socks, insulated pants, a parka, layers under the parka, gloves with mittens over, face covering, hat. Keeping your face, head, and feet warm are the most important. Next is much torso insulation.

LesZedCB 4y ago

Whew! Having since left the north east for bigger mountains, there is still a special place for the 6288' mountain with The Most Extreme Weather. :)

icpmacdo 4y ago
Where did you go?
- LesZedCB 4y ago
  Seattle. Climbing, mtb, skiing, volcanos, ocean, it's got everything! And all in half the time it took to get from Boston to the white mountains.
  - worldmerge 4y ago
    Oh wow, that sounds perfect for me. I’m looking for a new job right now.
    - galleywest200 4y ago
      It really is a place where you can drive 45 minutes away from the city and be in the "sticks". Come check it out.
      - worldmerge 4y ago
        I'll have to! Are there any tech communities you'd recommend checking out so I can network with people in the area? Are there synth/creative tech groups?

rudyfink 4y ago

-46 f (-43.4c) actual temperature. The rest is just the fact that it's a windy mountain and wind chill values wind speed. If you were also curious, the lowest actual recorded temperature without windchill was -128 (https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-lowest-temperature https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-lowest-temperature), so this temperature is about 80 degrees higher than that.

pengaru 4y ago
> If you were also curious, the lowest actual recorded temperature without windchill was -128 (https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-lowest-temperature https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-lowest-temperature), so this temperature is about 80 degrees higher than that. For anyone reading, that isn't a Mt. Washington temperature - just world lowest record. According to wikipedia Mt. Washington's record low for Jan/Feb is -47/-46F, respectively. So tonight's -46F is on par for the Feb record low @ Mt. Washington.
- wrycoder 4y ago
  It got down to -47.1, a record. The -108 windchill was an all time US record.[0][1] [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/04/nyregion/mount-washington-cold-new-hampshire.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/04/nyregion/mount-washington... https://web.archive.org/web/20230204183149/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/04/nyregion/mount-washington-cold-new-hampshire.html/ https://web.archive.org/web/20230204183149/https://www.nytim... [1] https://www.mountwashington.org/experience-the-weather/mount-washington-weather.aspx https://www.mountwashington.org/experience-the-weather/mount...
samcheng 4y ago
This particular mountain is notoriously windy, though - it has the highest recorded wind speed not associated with a tornado or cyclone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Washington https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Washington

slackfan 4y ago

Yes, it is winter here. Not quite as cold as back towards the tail end of global cooling in the 90s when we'd rock -40c down in the valleys. Now Residents of Boston from back around 2003-2005 will remember that one winter when we had -36 in that city for like a week.

drewcoo 4y ago
-40C is also -40F, so -46 in whichever is colder.
daydream 4y ago
> Now Residents of Boston from back around 2003-2005 will remember that one winter when we had -36 in that city for like a week. I don’t remember it being quite that cold in the city. But I clearly remember -40 with wind chill in central MA. Good times.
- slackfan 4y ago
  It got down to -60 and change with windchill. The Atlantic winds were absolutely brutal.

blackflame7000 4y ago

will this create more ice caps or less? Also were the ice caps always ice? Pretty sure they weren’t.

gregf 4y ago

I woke up at 4am, and it was -61F in northern Maine with the windchill. I'm tempted to take my garbage out in a t-shirt and see what happens :)

brewtide 4y ago
I woke up at 4am realizing I missed the whole 'put wood in the woodstove' moment around midnight in midcoast area. 45 in the kitchen, heatpump cranked. We had -38f with wind-chill, -18f actual it seems like. Builds character, right fellow mainer?
- gregf 4y ago
  Ouch, hope your pipes are fine!
  - brewtide 4y ago
    Left a tap barely running and have the furnace on fan only mode dumping some lackluster upstairs heat into the basement. 170 year old house, knock on wood, no explosions yet! (Naturally I've been gung go about the whole no oil since last March!) -- life test? Probably should put some in tank for moments like these, but we don't ever seem to take the easy way out. Didn't bother try to start a car yet, no need, another days worry! (And thank you!)
- igetspam 4y ago
  I've had the pellet stove running all night. Baseboard heaters can't keep up. Suited up like it was the Arctic, to feed pigs and chickens. The pigs have been locked in their shed for two days with a radiant heater. The chickens won't eat in the coop, which also has a heater. I'm hoping no one dies. I pulled two eggs out of the coop last night and they cracked as soon as they hit the cold air. Wild stuff. -12F when I woke up with a wind chill putting it at "feels like -35F." Looking forward to the nearly 50F tomorrow. (Southeast NH)
  - brewtide 4y ago

b_mc2 4y ago

Here's a tweet with some pretty cool footage from the cameras on Mt. Washington yesterday. https://twitter.com/forecaster25/status/1621598650022363142 https://twitter.com/forecaster25/status/1621598650022363142