On Mon, 06 Jan 2014 13:19:11 -0600, Califbill wrote:

"Mr. Luddite" wrote:
On 1/6/2014 11:36 AM, Tim wrote:
10" of drifting snow and -10 below 0f. and breezy. (wind chill like -40)

Not the coldest place on the planet but it's the coldest place I know of
seeing w haven't had this type of weather in years.

No need to go anywhere...



The coldest weather I ever experienced was in Zion, IL back in 1973.
I've forgotten the actual temps but one weekend they were like what you
are experiencing now ... double digits below zero.

Someone advised me that I should start my car every couple of hours and
let it run for about 15 minutes to keep the oil from thickening and the
battery charged. Big mistake. (I had a 1969 Ford LTD with a 429 c.i. engine).

It started and I let it run for the prescribed 15 minutes. It didn't
start again for two days. I finally removed a spark plug and the
electrode was fully encased in ice, as were the electrodes on the other
seven plugs. You would think that running for 15 minutes would have
heated everything enough to remove any residual water vapor, but I guess not.

My brother spent 3 summers as a SeaBee in the Antarctic. He said summer
storms would get -50. They would leave the snowcats running to keep the
engine from freezing, but could not drive them as the tracks would fracture
from the cold.

Army engineers would do the same thing in Alaska when it got real cold. I expect they still do, if
there's any engineers up there any more.
--

Hope you're day is spectacular!