syh

It's 15F right now. Cold, yes, but not Really Cold.

My lone experience with Really Cold came during mid-February 2001 at 1:40 AM in Laramie, WY. It was -38F, -50F with the wind chill, that arctic day. School had just let out and my warm dorm room (actually a room at Motel 8) with BEER beckoned from the opposite end of town.


It was so cold the toggle to the main power switch on my truck snapped off when I brushed it with my gloved finger.

It was so cold my carburetor froze.

It was so cold the coolant in my coolant overflow jug froze. (Luckily the coolant in radiator did not).

It was so cold my engine baaaaaarrrrrrreeeeeellllllllyyyyyy cranked over (but it did fire & catch on the second try).

It was so cold my oil pressure gauge hovered on the hashmark just above "H" for thirty minutes. (roughly 70 PSI)

It was so cold my transmission would not stay in gear. (80W-90 might as well be solid at that temperature.)

It was so cold my truck steered like a cow on roller skates. (There is no oil in my steering box, only chassis grease.)

It was so cold US Hwy 30 was a sheen of black ice.

It was so cold Laramie PD stayed home. (Every night, at least three blue & whites would prowl US 30, waiting for us Techers.)

It was so cold the mercury-vapor lights in the motel parking lot would only flicker feebly.


By comparison, tonight is downright tropical.