I've definitely spent too much time in Fairbanks (flying Alaska Airlines, natch), because when I read The temperature that evening was a brain-numbing minus 16

I've definitely spent too much time in Fairbanks (flying Alaska Airlines, natch), because when I read The temperature that evening was a brain-numbing minus 16 degrees Fahrenheit I thought, "Oh, 16 below isn't so bad. 40 below—now that's cold!" Fairbanks residents consider anything above -20 to be not so bad—and in fact elementary schools can hold recess outdoors down to that temperature—but even they will concede that -30 or -40 is too damn cold. That said, it's not like I embrace the cold. I mean, I live in Pasadena, California. We have a parade with fresh flowers every year in the dead of winter just to show off how warm it is. But it has been an interesting experience learning that there is an unambiguous difference between how -20 and -40 feel; despite appearances, they aren't both simply "arbitrarily cold".