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Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

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Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

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Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Baby, It’s COLD Outside

Reader Interactions

96Comments

  2. 2.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: I’m trying to talk my dogs into NOT going for a walk. So far, they’re still staring at me expectantly…

  4. 4.

    Rob

    It’s 19 degrees in my DC suburb. That’s plenty cold for November!

    @Betty #2, that image is making me laugh. @Baud #1 & 3: Maybe your dogs will come to their senses and sit tight for a couple of days.

  6. 6.

    ThresherK

    I love PBS history efforts, but is anyone else wondering about their 3-parter of recreating the expedition of Shackleton? Part of me wanted to tune in to see if they were going to get their ship icebound on purpose.

    It has been officially too cold in the Nutmeg State to read “Iceblink”, a great book about the big, failed John Franklin expedition to the Northwest Passage, for a couple weeks now. Sounds like Florida is cold on our heels.

  7. 7.

    Morzer

    So, will snow and ice wipe out the python population in the Everglades, or is that asking nature to do too much of a clean up job?

  8. 8.

    Mustang Bobby

    I don’t know how cold it was here in Miami when I got to the office, but it was misty and cloudy; as one of my friends would say, “It’s a slithy day.” I’m in shirtsleeves, but then I grew up in the north, so a low of 50 is summer in Michigan. The guard opening the door at the office was in full winter mode: jacket and stocking cap. I learned long ago not to mock Floridians who shiver; it’s just rude.

    ETA: Just checked: it’s 56 F. now.

  9. 9.

    Tinare

    The corner of my TV says it’s 13 degrees. The person on the TV is talking about sub-zero windchills. But I’m thankful I don’t live in Buffalo. The people who live there are a heartier stock than I could ever hope to be.

  10. 10.

    Morzer

    @Tinare:

    15 years without the playoffs and counting. Hardy stock or masochistic fools who don’t know when to cut their losses? We report, you decide and they stay where they are for one more year to give things a chance to turn around.

  11. 11.

    Schlemazel

    20 here on the frozen tundra, we got an unexpected dusting of snow overnight. It is supposed to be FLorida level warm (in the 40s) by the weekend so that should clear the snow.

    Had a short discussion with a nice guy at work, average, not really paying attention sort – “A NASA scientist said the earth is getting cooler because of sun cycles” And “So the scientists don’t agree”. That is the sort of person who will aid in the climate denial battle till it is beyond too late. A good guy, honest, kind, well intentioned and eating a line of bullshit he does not understand.

  12. 12.

    JPL

    It was 19 when I got up. brrrrrr Last year I lost dozens of radican gardenias. This year, I’ll probably lose the rest.

  14. 14.

    MattF

    Cold. It’s predicted that it’ll get 20 degrees warmer by the weekend, and that will still be cold. Brr.

  16. 16.

    satby

    Hells, we’re expecting a heat wave, it’s going all the way up to 30 here in SW MI. With gusts up to 30mph, bringing the windchill down to around 18, which was close to the high temperature yesterday. I still haven’t needed to break out a coat, but then I am a native Chicagoan.

  17. 17.

    PaulW

    34,000 words on NaNoWriMo.

    Here in Florida it IS jacket time.

    I cannot understand why Buffalo exists as a town. If they had that lake effect all these years, I mean, why build there?! Build somewhere out the way of extreme snowing! SHEESH…

  18. 18.

    Betty Cracker

    Holy shit, Buffalo got six feet of snow in 24 hours!

    My hubby is from Buffalo, and he still tells the story of a blizzard when he was a kid (1977, I think) that shut the city down for days. He says the plows piled snow into a nearby park and that the mountain of snow created didn’t completely melt until JULY.

  19. 19.

    Morzer

    @PaulW:

    Back in the day, if you wanted to have any sort of commercial success, you built your town by a lake or, better, a river. Transport by road tended to be slow (if there even was a road), whereas water transport was faster and allowed you to move more goods. The same was true in Europe and China until the development of modern road and rail systems. I imagine Buffalo was ideally placed as part of the trade network through the Lakes/Niagara connection.

  20. 20.

    JCT

    Spent the past week freezing in Chicago – happy to be heading back to AZ today, should get into the low 70’s.

    It’s been cold in the desert in the AM, though- our doggies have perfected the quick AM walk!

  22. 22.

    Psmith

    It’s in the low 40s here in Clearwater, and wimpy old me feels like I’m freezing. So I’m rereading ‘The worst journey in the world’ by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, now that was cold, it’s a terrific book with one of the best opening lines ever. “Polar exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time which has been devised”

  26. 26.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    17 degrees in Detroit with wind chill -1. I’m at the airport headed to Charlotte NC for a day or 2. It’s 45 there.
    The nice thing about traveling for work and living in MI is almost everywhere is warmer in the winter. I could use a nice long posting on the Sea of Cortez right now.
    Last winter I missed 100% of Michigan’s record snowfall by being somewhere else.
    Note to travelers: when your spouse if shifting 20″ of snow by hand back home do not Facebook pictures of palm trees by the pool and complain it’s breezy.

  29. 29.

    Napoleon

    @Morzer:

    I imagine Buffalo was ideally placed as part of the trade network through the Lakes/Niagara connection.

    It was (is?) the terminus of the Erie Canal. (Edit, and of course on the Great Lakes, right on the Canadian border, etc.)

  30. 30.

    Napoleon

    @Betty Cracker:

    My hubby is from Buffalo, and he still tells the story of a blizzard when he was a kid (1977, I think) that shut the city down for days. He says the plows piled snow into a nearby park and that the mountain of snow created didn’t completely melt until JULY.

    I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio and that entire winter in this part of the country was snowy. It was great being 16 and sled riding or skating with your friends every weekend.

  31. 31.

    beltane

    Because it was 17 degrees out with a few inches of new snow on the ground, my dog insisted on being being taken out at 6:50 this morning. She just wanted to play in the snow, I just wanted one of those big Russian fur hats. I hate going outside in the cold before I’ve had a cup of coffee.

  32. 32.

    CarolDuhart2

    Days like this, I’m more than thankful to have a cat. No cat walks, just clean out the litterbox once in a while. And these days, my cat sleeps in the closet on top of some blankets, and I don’t know if he’s just hiding or just hiding from the cold. (It does get a little cool downstairs)

  33. 33.

    beltane

    The top headline I’m seeing is about gun sales surging in anticipation of the Ferguson decision. Guns are like the Nuk that soothes the anxieties of white Americans.

  35. 35.

    Cervantes

    @Betty Cracker:

    Yes, that was in 1977.

    Actual snowfall was only about a foot but, what with the lake and the wind, the drifts were 40-50 feet high in places.

    Not something one wants to recall with too much clarity, I imagine.

  38. 38.

    Comrade Dread

    It’s 55 out here in Los Angeles this morning with a high of 71. I might have to wear long pants instead of shorts.

    I know, right? The horror…the horror…

  40. 40.

    gelfling545

    Trying to make the decision on whether my sister & I should start off back toward home (from Albany) today. Little snow at my house (toward the north) but my sister (eastern suburb) has 7 feet of the stuff in her yard. Last I heard a stretch of the Thruway was still closed so we may drive about half way & stop until further notice.

  41. 41.

    Mustang Bobby

    I was living in Santa Fe in the winter of ’77-’78 so I missed the Big Blizzard that buried Toledo. My folks were snowed in for five days, and it convinced my dad to trade in his Pinto wagon for a Jeep Cherokee 4×4.

    During the blizzard a friend’s elderly mother chose that time to shuffle off this mortal coil at home. They had to take her body out on a toboggan.

  43. 43.

    Hunter

    It’s mild this morning — 22, with a forecast high of 30. Yesterday it was 11, forecast of 20, but I don’t think it ever got there. And let’s not forget Chicago’s famous wind. Some lake effect snow, but nothing serious.

    And of course, bus service fell apart. Waited 30 minutes for a bus, finally gave up and took an alternate route. The lady with the walker waiting with me wasn’t so lucky — that was her only bus home.

    Then back into the 20s for a few days, but close to 50 on the weekend.

    I really, really hate winter.

  44. 44.

    PurpleGirl

    These are the days when I’m glad to not be working. I won’t have to leave the apartment and go outside. I can stay home and huddle in a shawl as I sit in various chairs. I should make some tea.

    ETA: I need to quickly crochet a shawl or a poncho without fringe so I can keep it on while cooking. Fringe isn’t safe in the kitchen.

  45. 45.

    JMG

    It’s 24 degrees with a brisk (weather word meaning very cold) breeze here in Boston suburbs. It’s a cold spell, but hardly extreme even for this time of year.

  47. 47.

    Botsplainer

    Last night at dinner in Bonaire, there were rain showers which brought the temp slightly below 80, which chilled my sunburned skin.

    I actually had to go buy sunscreen this morning…

    Now, off to see to some diving.

  48. 48.

    Belafon

    @Schlemazel: And tell him, yeah, but even if that is true, we’re still not getting as cool as we should be because of man’s screwing with the climate.

  49. 49.

    Gene108

    I have a cold. The cold weather is not good for my throat. I hate winter. Like our blog host, I am more prone to feeling cold the older I get. When I was younger, I was thin and in good shape, and did not feel as cold.

    Also, too youth is wasted on the young….NOW GET OFF MY LAWN…

  50. 50.

    Belafon

    I like the shirt that says “Winter is my favorite because it’s all gloomy and cold just like my soul.”

  51. 51.

    d58826

    @Baud: I had dropped my car off for service and was using the shuttle to get back home. The other guy in the shuttle was talking about his time in the Air Force at Minot ND. The MP’s and the guard dogs would maintain a security watch at key points on the base. During the winter there were days when the weather office would declare a hazardous temperature alert. On those days the MP’s patrolled alone because it was to cold to take their k9 partners out in the weather.

    Oh and it was 17 in this part of Charoltte NC today. Average January low is 30

  52. 52.

    Morzer

    @MattF:

    Glenn Beck’s claim that he had and then recovered from a dangerous disease is a load of horse hockey

    A load of polo?

  53. 53.

    polyorchnid octopunch

    @Betty Cracker: I’m up that way… at the head of the St. Lawrence River. We were all looking at what Buffalo was getting yesterday in the office and going… ‘better them than us’. I remember that blizzard (’77). It was a doozie. I was nine or ten years old. We got nailed all the way over here, and it’s a hike to get to Buffalo from here.

  56. 56.

    Cervantes

    @Baud:

    If there were Libertarians struggling with their dilemma under the snow, they neglected to mention it to the Corps.

  57. 57.

    Pee Cee

    Record low temps here this morning in South Carolina. And that means I’m absolutely certain to hear something about Al Gore’s BMI here at work today.

  60. 60.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @d58826: A buddy of mine was stationed at Ellsworth in SD for his entire stint. His first year was spent guarding nuclear armed B-52s, one MP per plane, walking a circle around it for 8 hrs, no matter the weather. At 40 below in a white out, there he’d be. He said they had boots that would not let one’s feet get cold.

  61. 61.

    tazj

    @gelfling545: I think you’re being smart by delaying your trip back to the area, because even though it has stopped snowing for now in the hardest hit suburbs, the snow is set to make another pass later on. It’s going to take a while to clear the roads. I told my husband to not take the risk of driving home from the hospital in the city even though it has stopped snowing here. I don’t want to worry about him getting stuck somewhere, and he’ll get more sleep without the kids making noise.

    I think my Flowering Pear trees are going to be very damaged if they survive. They hadn’t lost their leaves and I can see some branches are broken. Of course it’s no big deal in the grand scheme of things, they can be replaced.

  65. 65.

    max

    Looks like it was about 18-19 last night but it’s up to a balmy 20 already! And somewhat warmer today.

    max
    [‘So I need to make a pina colada, right?’]

  67. 67.

    Pee Cee

    @Cervantes:

    Atlas Shrugged, at 1168 pages, is even warmer.

    I’d be worried about the toxic fumes certain to come out of either of those volumes, myself.

  68. 68.

    japa21

    I saw where all 50 states had at least one location with below freezing temperatures. Not sure that has ever happened before on one day. Granted, the Hawaii spot was on top of one of the mountains and it was still a balmy 31, but jeez, that is just sick.

  69. 69.

    Xantar

    Fire alarm went off in my building at 2:45 AM so there I was standing outside in the 25 degree night (I’m in Baltimore). If they find the asshole who was playing with matches or whatever, they’re going to have a lot of angry residents to face.

  70. 70.

    ferd of the nort

    Zero F in US IN. About -7 where I used to live. I am tired of the cold. Actual real çold.

  75. 75.

    Tommy

    Warmer here today. Up to 32, but the wind is just biting to the bone. Blew my huge heavy plastic, 65+ gallon trash can across the yard. Not really going outside today if I don’t have to.

  76. 76.

    geg6

    @japa21:

    I saw that, too. Crazy.

    Here in Western PA, we dodged the snow bullet (just a dusting) but got hit hard by the cold. Yesterday was horrendous. Today, a bit warmer at 14F with wind chills at 5F, but the sun keeps peeking out so I can deal a bit better just because of that. And it’s going up to a balmy 30F or so by afternoon. Not really getting back up to more normal mid/late November temps (mid-40s to mid-50s) until the weekend. Hope next week is a bit better. I’m off all week and would like to do some things, like go see Mockingjay Part I and have some lunch with my sisters and a wine afternoon with some friends. Plus, the holiday and all. If it’s like this week, I’ll barely move out of the sunroom.

  80. 80.

    HRA

    14 degrees here in the one suburb of Buffalo where the sun is shining now on top of the mounds of untouched snow. Our portion of the snow began on Monday at 9 pm and stopped on Tuesday at 10 pm. Right now not much has been shoveled or plowed at the house. Although I can see the road has been plowed now. The worst part is being not able to leave the house at all. Travel ban is in effect for today, too. Plus we are expected to get more snow later today.

  82. 82.

    J R in WV

    Been in the lower teens at night for too long for not even December yet.

    Supposed to hit 40 today, which will be really nice. I may go to town – fresh vegges, milk, fish, etc. Really pretty, strong sun today. I was up during the Leonid meteor shower, and for the first night in a while you could see the stars…

    But the glass where you would get the best view was covered with film, so I wouldn’t be able to see shooting stars without going out in the 13 degree cold. Clothes would have been necessary – many many clothes!!!

    Never mind…

    Looks like it’s gonna be a loong winter.

  83. 83.

    shelley

    Yup, I could complain plenty. But I think anybody who doesn’t live in Buffalo should temper it a bit.

  84. 84.

    shelley

    So, it says here that Glenn Beck’s claim that he had and then recovered from a dangerous disease is a load of horse hockey:

    Don’t know about that. Have you seen the plot synopsis of his new book on Santa Claus as a machete-wielding Highlander type? There’s some serious brain derangement going on there.

  85. 85.

    NotMax

    Having grown up (chronologically, at any rate) in the Northeast plus also having lived in Minnesota before moving here 30+ years ago (lows in high 50s/low 60s here tonight, expected high about 83 during the day Wed, wet and blustery right now at 5:45 a.m.), find it amusing to read people expressing wonderment at cold in late November.

    Can remember more white Thanksgivings than snow-free ones from back then. Shoveling snow from late November on through December provided welcome extra funding for a kid for buying holiday gifts.

    By the by, for any masochistic hardy souls planning on braving Black Friday, most of the flyers should by now be available online at this site.

  86. 86.

    delk

    You know it is cold out because Michelle Malkin is tweeting Al Gore jokes.

    I am thankful that I have all the winter wear that I need to make the weather a non factor.
    You know, as a I get dressed to take the dog out at 5:30 a.m. I always expect the worse but usually it’s never as bad as I think it is going to be. Plus picking up dog poop is a convenient hand warmer, lol.

    Taking two perfectly fine older coats to the dry cleaners today and then donating them.

  87. 87.

    ThresherK

    I have an appointment to get the heater core done in my car on Monday, and I may well hibernate until then.

    The rental van was worth every penny for the effortless swallowing and disgorging of stuff, and it had heat! When I turned it in and got my car back, all I could think of was the Little Match Girl.

  88. 88.

    Mnemosyne

    @CarolDuhart2:

    I have to make a “tent” for our short-haired cat this time of year — I drape a throw over the armchair and she crawls underneath it. And this is in a mere Southern California winter. So, yes, your kitty has probably made himself a nice warm cave in that linen closet.

    My mom is spending her first winter in Chicago in 30+ years — until my dad died in 2013, they were snowbirds who traveled between Chicago and Phoenix. I bought her an electric throw, but I’m still not sure how she’s going to get through the winter.

    (She lives with one of my brothers, so at least she’ll probably be physically safe, which was what we worried about when she lived alone in Arizona.)

  89. 89.

    Mnemosyne

    @NotMax:

    I’m always surprised at how popular quilts and quilting are in Hawaii, but I suppose you guys never really need down comforters like we used to have in Chicago. I made an impulse buy of a really cute quilted throw our last day on Kauai — Hawaiian-themed print, but reasonably muted colors that match our living room furniture (brown, green, and red-orange).

  91. 91.

    WaterGirl

    This looked like a safe thread for me since I’m still (figuratively) rocking in the corner after the elections.

    Holy cow, Buffalo got 6 feet of snow? I love snow, but that would be scary even for me in my one story house – how would you ever make it out of the house before the floods came in the spring?

    It’s been really crazy cold here for the past few days, but at least the city got my new tree in the ground 5 days ago right before everything froze.

    It will be above freezing today for maybe an hour, so I need to go out and put the final pots away for winter, empty the birdbath, coil the hoses, etc.

  92. 92.

    CarolDuhart2

    @Mnemosyne: At least she won’t usually have to go outside (I assume she’s retired). As long as she can get some sun, she should be fine.

    I imagine the hardest part would be the boredom and no longer having those warm sunshiny days in late winter. Could she use some extra lighting?

  94. 94.

    PurpleGirl

    @OzarkHillbilly: His boots were probably like the bunny boots my brother had when he was stationed in the Aleutians. Big, insulated, white things that made his feet and lower leg like three-four times their normal size. But they were warm.

  95. 95.

    dmbeaster

    @Schlemazel:

    A NASA scientist said the earth is getting cooler because of sun cycles

    He is probably referring to the recent crank John Casey who was a NASA engineer but has zero training in climatology. His theory? Sunspots and the solar cycle is the primary driver of climate variations; an idea debunked long ago. There is some merit to the idea that the solar cycle does affect climate. Overall, the output of the sun through the solar cycle is very stable, but there is a much bigger variation in output for certain high energy radiation. Lower amounts of high energy radiation affects the very high atmosphere, and perhaps changes patterns of air circulation on the surface which alters weather patterns. It does not change the overall heat budget from the sun, nor have any affect on the global warming.

    There has been legitimate speculation that the force of the solar cycle is diminishing — perhaps we are entering a new Mauder minimum. Casey has run with that speculation to declare that a new ice age is upon us. He has created a bogus “research institute” to try and cash in on the wingnut welfare for purveyors of climate change denialism. He then runs around and openly cites false facts about the oceans being cooler, or global temperatures dropping. Uh, the oceans are at their warmest ever, and this year is predicted to be the warmest year ever surpassing the previous highs in 2010, 2005, and 1998.

  96. 96.

    Gravenstone

    @PurpleGirl: Colloquially known as “Mickey Mouse” boots. The white ones are the airborne variant (they have a relief valve on the side to allow draining air due to pressure changes experienced in aircraft). The normal issue are black, and just as bulbous. My stepdad was stationed in Alaska in the early 60’s and I adopted his pair once I was in my late teens. Those boots are rated to -20 F, although they kept me warm well below that on occasion.

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