Adventures in the Cold!

 *cue Indiana Jones music*

Wait a minute.  Why does this music have castanets in it?  I don't remember those.  Oh.. that was your teeth chattering?  Umm, never mind the music then.

When is wind strong enough to make a snowstorm a blizzard?
We recently had a snowfall that did not, officially, qualify as a blizzard.  Or, perhaps it did, but this one was nice enough to hit us over the night hours and we simply did our best to sleep through it.

The National Weather Service defines a blizzard as a storm with large amounts of snow or blowing snow, winds greater than 35 mph (56 kph), and visibility of less than ¼ mile (0.4 km) for at least three hours.  Now, if you don't have an anemometer ...

HOLD UP!  COOL WORD ALERT!!

Anemometer.  A five syllabobble word that just might challenge you if you say it five times fast.  It's worth this short interruption, I think.

BACK TO THE SCHEDULED ..um... whatever this is. 

As I was saying, if you don't have a tool to measure the wind speed (an anemometer), whether it is attached to a weather station or not, you have to use other methods to determine whether the critical 35 mph speed is reached.

Here are some suggestions:

1.   snowflakes HURT when they hit your face
2.   you lean into the wind slightly and it doesn't let you fall down
3.   you consider picking up and carrying a farm cat because you fear it might blow away
4.   you actually start coughing because a snowflake (or three) was rammed down your throat
5.   your mailbox is packed full of snow rather than bills and junk mail (this may not be so bad).
6.   windows on EVERY side of the house have snow caked on them
7.   you're driving down the road with the wind and a snowflake passes you.
8.   you throw a snowball into the wind and you hit yourself. (If only it were warm enough to make a snowball.)

Is this January different from other Januarys?

People are getting a little tired of the weather, but I don't believe things are terribly different this year than they have been most of the years we have lived on the farm.  So, I thought I'd do some looking at past weather and see how this January compares so far.

This January, Waterloo's lowest official temp has been -18 F (we've been down to -20 at the farm).  But, you might still recall that we got REALLY cold in January a few years ago (2019).  In fact, that month started off much warmer than usual and it ended with a great deal of shivering.

If three years ago is too far back, we just have to look at this past February.  Every day from February 6 to February 20 featured a low temperature below zero and seven of those days had a HIGH temp below 5 degrees Fahrenheit.  That's the thing about the cold.  If you take care of yourself, you can handle a few REALLY cold days and nights.  But, the longer it persists, the harder it is to get through.

This year so far, we haven't had a long slog of low temps.  In fact, January has been a HUGE roller coaster.  A few days of above average temps followed by a few below average temps.  From a farm perspective, we prefer this because it gives the poultry and outdoor critters opportunities to recover from the deep freeze nights a bit.  It also provides the farmers with nicer days to address problems - rather than being stuck with a problem that requires attention and no chance you can do so with temps above zero.

Record Jan lows in Waterloo, IA

So for everyone who is beginning to think the recent cold is truly exceptional, the conclusion here is that we are all suffering from short memories.  This is both good and bad.  Clearly, this can be considered good because we'll soon forget the discomfort this weather brings us.  Maybe it's not so good because we'll soon forget the things we should do to prepare for weather like this.

(Mis-)Adventures on the Farm

When temperatures take a dive and strong winds join them, it seems like everything conspires against you.  The reality is that "everything" is probably wanting to be warmer too, so you shouldn't blame things for not wanting to work.  And, let's be honest here, it's never convenient or relaxing when things break or fail to work.  It just seems so much worse when it's cold enough to freeze your eyes shut.

What?  You've never frozen an eye shut?

Ok, here's what you do.  Go outside and walk into the wind.  If you are like me, you will tear up a little bit.  Now, close your eyes to help deal with the problem of wind blowing on your eyeballs.  Try to open your eyes after that.  Yep, I hope you know how to get back to the house from wherever you were at.

It hasn't quite been that bad this year.  But, I did have one eye that resisted being open enough that I had to take off a glove and help pull an eyelid up Wednesday morning.

Perhaps the thing that bothers both of us the most is how long it takes to get ready to go outside.  And, then, of course, the process of unwrapping oneself once you get back in can be tiresome as well.  When we are well bundled we can handle the cold fine.  But, trying to bend over to get eggs out of nest boxes is a bit of a trial when you have 200 layers of clothing on.  Simply put, things can't get done the same way they get done during the rest of the year.

There you are - some Adventures in the Cold!  Have a great remainder of your day - especially while the temps are above zero!