what's it like at -50 degrees?
[Note: This photo was not taken at -50 F. Temps like that kill camera batteries in seconds. Also, you pretty much want to get inside ASAP and not hang around taking pictures.]
Jennie asked me a great question yesterday. She said, "I simply cannot imagine how cold it must feel at -50. Can you describe what that feels like?"
-50 F (-46 C) is hard to describe. It's insanely cold, obviously. You bundle up in everything you have and basically run to the car or into the building. The cold creeps in everywhere– up under your jacket, into your collar, anyplace that's even remotely exposed.
Your nosehairs prickle and freeze when you breathe in. Your breath makes frost on your eyelashes and eyebrows. It's pretty extreme, but you don't become a human popsicle and crack into pieces, which is sort of what I thought would happen before I moved here. It's tolerable. Barely.
In weather like that I wear (my uniform for the past two weeks of -40 temps here):
- a big, puffy down parka
- a hat and scarf, arranged to cover as much of me as possible.
- knee-high, felt-lined clonker boots.
- long underwear, which I take off at work and put back on in the afternoon before I leave
- my standard 2 layer fleece gloves that I wear every day all winter
I keep snowpants and down mittens in the car, but I don't wear them unless I'll be outside longer than 2 minutes.
I'm pretty suceptible to frostnip, frostbite's little brother, so I try to keep my cheeks and nose covered as much as possible.
Sounds fun, eh? I'd take it over a Seattle winter any day, though. How do people deal with unceasing rain, that's what I want to know. 
| or subscribe in a reader |
I would take it over days of overcast and rain too! Everyone tells me Anchorage was wet and chilly and cloudy last summer, but I didn't get here until mid August, so I am glad I missed that. Stay warm!
Karen Travels’s last blog post..I Promise I am Not Crazy
[Reply]
Rain is no fun. We had a pretty cold and rainy summer in Fairbanks, too. August was pretty nice, but the last 3 weeks of July were a bit of a disappontment. Maybe the universe will grace us all with some sunshine and warmth? I think we're due.
[Reply]