Cold as balls out there!

[badkarma1399]

You get the internets in the middle of Alaska? Don't the tubes freeze?

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: badkarma1399
You get the internets in the middle of Alaska? Don't the tubes freeze?

As long as Russians keep spamming E-mail, the constant flow keeps them from freezing.

 

[gorcorps]

Originally posted by: KK
I want some new video of the boiling water deal. I don't believe it with all this global warming deal going on.

Why don't you ask Al Gore?

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: RaistlinZ
How cold does it have to get beofore your eyes freeze? I've always wondered that.

At -40c/f, frost will grow on facial hair and even in your nose(freezes inhaling, thaws exhaling).

It doesn't even have to be that cold for that to happen. I'd put that somewhere in the -5 to 5F range... I'll let you know in a few weeks

 

[Born2bwire]

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: badkarma1399
You get the internets in the middle of Alaska? Don't the tubes freeze?

As long as Russians keep spamming E-mail, the constant flow keeps them from freezing.

The spam must flow!

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: RaistlinZ
How cold does it have to get beofore your eyes freeze? I've always wondered that.

At -40c/f, frost will grow on facial hair and even in your nose(freezes inhaling, thaws exhaling).

It doesn't even have to be that cold for that to happen. I'd put that somewhere in the -5 to 5F range... I'll let you know in a few weeks

You're probably right...all I recall is that -40c/f is frickin cold.

 

[jjzelinski]

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: Jugernot

Originally posted by: meltdown75
my bro lived up in Timmins for firefighter school. it was -49 there one night and he said you could hear ice crystals crackling in the air.

i think it would be cool to experience that firsthand.

Coldest I've experienced was -61F north of Fairbanks. My truck tires were like blocks because the rubber just about solidified and the part that sits on the ground freezes flat. It's like driving on squares for the first few miles. Eventually they soften up a bit, but shocks are no use at that temp. It's like riding with no suspension. Your skin feels like it's being pricked with needles and your nose/mouth feel like someone stuffed them with ice cubes. Most everything plastic shatters if dropped. Your hair breaks if you bend it too much. Your skin can get frostbites in a matter of seconds, not minutes.

It's not fun.

That is effing crazy, but really cool to hear about!

I lived in Fairbanks for three years on the AF base there. The cold entails so many cool things you'd never see anywhere else, like 100' spires of light emanating from streetlight (the ice crystals int the air reflect the lights upwards). They're actually rather breathtaking. , but there are so many unique and beautiful ways the ice crystals affect light that you'd just have to see it for yourself to truly appreciate it.

Of course then you have the Aurora. When you're lucky enough to have a Chinook wind (warm winds that blow up from the pacific), the sky might clear long to coincide with an auroral display. For some reason I never expected the effect to be so active, I had envisioned it being sort of static or slow moving but it's quite the opposite; the entire sky can shift and undulate as if it were a collection of slow moving waves. To get an idea of the speed, it's kind of like those devices you'd see in Spencer's where the oil would shift in the reservoir of water as it rocked side to side. I've seen teal, green, orange, purple, and red. By far the most spectacular display occurred during October of 2003 during a massive magnetic storm.

Now as for the frozen tires, they're not just common place but just the way it is the entire winter. For the first 10 minutes or so of your ride it really does feel like you're riding on octagons.

Although it would seem obvious that riding around on three inches of compacted snow/ice is impossible, it's a way of life for the residents there. It's also not as slippery as you'd think since it's so cold that the sheen of water that would normally develop between your tires and the surface of the ice doesn't happen so readily; too cold You'd think everyone and their mom's would be driving on chains or studs but that is not the case. All you have to do is drive very conservatively and never make any sudden movements as they simply will not happen. Stopping and starting are gradual to say the least so plan on that, and for the love of god DON'T wait until you're 50' away from the intersection to stop. Try 1000'.

One of the biggest drawbacks of living in the area is pollution; everyone leaves their vehicles running while they go into buildings for anything less than 20 mins or so. However what really compounds the effect of the pollution is that at temperatures below -25F the air becomes so dense that the smog just sits on the ground to within about 50'. The Fairbanks area will NEVER be compliant with clean air laws for that reason (and others like having coal fired power plants in the middle of town.) I was lucky enough to be able to work in the ATC tower on Eielson on a regular basis to see how remarkably different the sky would look at that height (about 8 stories) compared to how it looked at ground level. What might look like something out of Stephen Kings "The Mist" was actually a glorious, sunny afternoon up there And considering how little sunlight you get in the winter, it can be important to catch an unfettered glimpse of it on a regular basis.

You know I'm glad to be out of there since it can be very rough on a small family like mine, but I wouldn't take the experience back for anything. The interior is a remarkable place.

 

[jjzelinski]

Originally posted by: gorcorps

Originally posted by: KK
I want some new video of the boiling water deal. I don't believe it with all this global warming deal going on.

Why don't you ask Al Gore?

Actually the interior of Alaska is one of the best places in the world if you want to see the effects of Global Warming. The permafrost is diminishing to the point where infrastructure is shifting and deteriorating. Living there I kind of learned to accept the fact that the climate is indeed changing, it's just the nature of the change that's up for debate.

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: jjzelinski

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: Jugernot

Originally posted by: meltdown75
my bro lived up in Timmins for firefighter school. it was -49 there one night and he said you could hear ice crystals crackling in the air.

i think it would be cool to experience that firsthand.

Coldest I've experienced was -61F north of Fairbanks. My truck tires were like blocks because the rubber just about solidified and the part that sits on the ground freezes flat. It's like driving on squares for the first few miles. Eventually they soften up a bit, but shocks are no use at that temp. It's like riding with no suspension. Your skin feels like it's being pricked with needles and your nose/mouth feel like someone stuffed them with ice cubes. Most everything plastic shatters if dropped. Your hair breaks if you bend it too much. Your skin can get frostbites in a matter of seconds, not minutes.

It's not fun.

That is effing crazy, but really cool to hear about!

I lived in Fairbanks for three years on the AF base there. The cold entails so many cool things you'd never see anywhere else, like 100' spires of light emanating from streetlight (the ice crystals int the air reflect the lights upwards). They're actually rather breathtaking. , but there are so many unique and beautiful ways the ice crystals affect light that you'd just have to see it for yourself to truly appreciate it.

Of course then you have the Aurora. When you're lucky enough to have a Chinook wind (warm winds that blow up from the pacific), the sky might clear long to coincide with an auroral display. For some reason I never expected the effect to be so active, I had envisioned it being sort of static or slow moving but it's quite the opposite; the entire sky can shift and undulate as if it were a collection of slow moving waves. To get an idea of the speed, it's kind of like those devices you'd see in Spencer's where the oil would shift in the reservoir of water as it rocked side to side. I've seen teal, green, orange, purple, and red. By far the most spectacular display occurred during October of 2003 during a massive magnetic storm.

Now as for the frozen tires, they're not just common place but just the way it is the entire winter. For the first 10 minutes or so of your ride it really does feel like you're riding on octagons.

Although it would seem obvious that riding around on three inches of compacted snow/ice is impossible, it's a way of life for the residents there. It's also not as slippery as you'd think since it's so cold that the sheen of water that would normally develop between your tires and the surface of the ice doesn't happen so readily; too cold You'd think everyone and their mom's would be driving on chains or studs but that is not the case. All you have to do is drive very conservatively and never make any sudden movements as they simply will not happen. Stopping and starting are gradual to say the least so plan on that, and for the love of god DON'T wait until you're 50' away from the intersection to stop. Try 1000'.

One of the biggest drawbacks of living in the area is pollution; everyone leaves their vehicles running while they go into buildings for anything less than 20 mins or so. However what really compounds the effect of the pollution is that at temperatures below -25F the air becomes so dense that the smog just sits on the ground to within about 50'. The Fairbanks area will NEVER be compliant with clean air laws for that reason (and others like having coal fired power plants in the middle of town.) I was lucky enough to be able to work in the ATC tower on Eielson on a regular basis to see how remarkably different the sky would look at that height (about 8 stories) compared to how it looked at ground level. What might look like something out of Stephen Kings "The Mist" was actually a glorious, sunny afternoon up there And considering how little sunlight you get in the winter, it can be important to catch an unfettered glimpse of it on a regular basis.

You know I'm glad to be out of there since it can be very rough on a small family like mine, but I wouldn't take the experience back for anything. The interior is a remarkable place.

Did you have to do FOD walks? I bet that is a miserable experience.

 

[jjzelinski]

Originally posted by: RaistlinZ
How cold does it have to get beofore your eyes freeze? I've always wondered that.

I've experienced -50F, my wife and child have endured -67F (I was in Biloxi MS for training and I was worried as hell about them.) I can tell you for a fact that your eyes dont freeze at -67F At least not within 5 minutes, or however long it takes people to get from their cars into buildings.

 

[jjzelinski]

Originally posted by: KK

Originally posted by: jjzelinski

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: Jugernot

Originally posted by: meltdown75
my bro lived up in Timmins for firefighter school. it was -49 there one night and he said you could hear ice crystals crackling in the air.

i think it would be cool to experience that firsthand.

Coldest I've experienced was -61F north of Fairbanks. My truck tires were like blocks because the rubber just about solidified and the part that sits on the ground freezes flat. It's like driving on squares for the first few miles. Eventually they soften up a bit, but shocks are no use at that temp. It's like riding with no suspension. Your skin feels like it's being pricked with needles and your nose/mouth feel like someone stuffed them with ice cubes. Most everything plastic shatters if dropped. Your hair breaks if you bend it too much. Your skin can get frostbites in a matter of seconds, not minutes.

It's not fun.

That is effing crazy, but really cool to hear about!

I lived in Fairbanks for three years on the AF base there. The cold entails so many cool things you'd never see anywhere else, like 100' spires of light emanating from streetlight (the ice crystals int the air reflect the lights upwards). They're actually rather breathtaking. , but there are so many unique and beautiful ways the ice crystals affect light that you'd just have to see it for yourself to truly appreciate it.

Of course then you have the Aurora. When you're lucky enough to have a Chinook wind (warm winds that blow up from the pacific), the sky might clear long to coincide with an auroral display. For some reason I never expected the effect to be so active, I had envisioned it being sort of static or slow moving but it's quite the opposite; the entire sky can shift and undulate as if it were a collection of slow moving waves. To get an idea of the speed, it's kind of like those devices you'd see in Spencer's where the oil would shift in the reservoir of water as it rocked side to side. I've seen teal, green, orange, purple, and red. By far the most spectacular display occurred during October of 2003 during a massive magnetic storm.

Now as for the frozen tires, they're not just common place but just the way it is the entire winter. For the first 10 minutes or so of your ride it really does feel like you're riding on octagons.

Although it would seem obvious that riding around on three inches of compacted snow/ice is impossible, it's a way of life for the residents there. It's also not as slippery as you'd think since it's so cold that the sheen of water that would normally develop between your tires and the surface of the ice doesn't happen so readily; too cold You'd think everyone and their mom's would be driving on chains or studs but that is not the case. All you have to do is drive very conservatively and never make any sudden movements as they simply will not happen. Stopping and starting are gradual to say the least so plan on that, and for the love of god DON'T wait until you're 50' away from the intersection to stop. Try 1000'.

One of the biggest drawbacks of living in the area is pollution; everyone leaves their vehicles running while they go into buildings for anything less than 20 mins or so. However what really compounds the effect of the pollution is that at temperatures below -25F the air becomes so dense that the smog just sits on the ground to within about 50'. The Fairbanks area will NEVER be compliant with clean air laws for that reason (and others like having coal fired power plants in the middle of town.) I was lucky enough to be able to work in the ATC tower on Eielson on a regular basis to see how remarkably different the sky would look at that height (about 8 stories) compared to how it looked at ground level. What might look like something out of Stephen Kings "The Mist" was actually a glorious, sunny afternoon up there And considering how little sunlight you get in the winter, it can be important to catch an unfettered glimpse of it on a regular basis.

You know I'm glad to be out of there since it can be very rough on a small family like mine, but I wouldn't take the experience back for anything. The interior is a remarkable place.

Did you have to do FOD walks? I bet that is a miserable experience.

Actually no, those occur after breakup. However I did have to pull a horrendous stint as a Security Forces Augmentee for a couple of months during one winter, and that entailed standing on the flight line guarding an ECP with an age heater blowing on you. Even with the heater it was miserable, especially considering the shifts are 12 hours 5 days a week.

Not to all you 18 year olds interested in joining the AF, you can do anything you want in it and be pretty satisfied with the notable exception being SF. Ouch.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Fairbanks is cool. I went there in 1998 during June. It was hot as hell in Chicago when I left (over 80 degrees!) and then in Fairbanks it was a perfect 60 degrees F outside.
That said, I don't think I'm leaving the lower 48 any time soon. Maybe I'll migrate a bit north, like Wisconsin, but honestly, I tend to like Illinois most of the time.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: jjzelinski
Actually no, those occur after breakup. However I did have to pull a horrendous stint as a Security Forces Augmentee for a couple of months during one winter, and that entailed standing on the flight line guarding an ECP with an age heater blowing on you. Even with the heater it was miserable, especially considering the shifts are 12 hours 5 days a week.

Not to all you 18 year olds interested in joining the AF, you can do anything you want in it and be pretty satisfied with the notable exception being SF. Ouch.

Heh... pretty much anybody who failed out of Electronics Principles got bumped to SF when I was training
Anybody that went in "Open General" for AFSC, too.

 

[uclaLabrat]

Originally posted by: aplefka
Man that's crazy. It's in the high 40s here in the Sacramento area and I think it's kinda cold. Guess I'm spoiled.

Then again it's not as bad as the idiots back in Orange County that are wearing parkas when it's 60 degrees.

One of those idiots.

Well, not a parka. But my wife will seriously wear long johns the second it gets into the 50's

 

[jjzelinski]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: jjzelinski
Actually no, those occur after breakup. However I did have to pull a horrendous stint as a Security Forces Augmentee for a couple of months during one winter, and that entailed standing on the flight line guarding an ECP with an age heater blowing on you. Even with the heater it was miserable, especially considering the shifts are 12 hours 5 days a week.

Not to all you 18 year olds interested in joining the AF, you can do anything you want in it and be pretty satisfied with the notable exception being SF. Ouch.

Heh... pretty much anybody who failed out of Electronics Principles got bumped to SF when I was training
Anybody that went in "Open General" for AFSC, too.

There's a guy on this board who spent some time with AF SF so I try not to bag on the AFSC too much, but it takes a phenomenal amount of self restraint. I wouldn't wish that life on saddam hussein, it just grinds you down into pulp.

But that's only if you get stuck in in permanently The time I spent with those poor guys was actually pretty fun. You can have some amazing conversations with people who are starved for social interaction with people outside of their dog-eat-dog community. Takes about 10 seconds before they're unloading their life story to you, poor guys.

 

[Aharami]

wow i cant even imagine that kinda cold.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: Modeps
I never understood the expression "cold as balls"
Are your balls cold?

Yeah, I tend to keep my balls at a toasty 98 degrees.

I guess that "cold as toes" doesn't sound as cool.

 

[StageLeft]

Nobody should be there unless directly related to mining. Humans have not progressed to where they are now so that somebody with intelligence has to endure that, juger. Move! It's balmy down here in northern US, 26 F right now

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Originally posted by: funkymatt
thats REALLY cold!
it got down to -60 with the windchill a couple times in Wisconsin.

I'm going to Wisconsin tomorrow for 2 weeks please don't say that!!

<-- farthest up he has been is Atlanta.

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Back when I was in high school, we had a cold snap up here and the warmest it got for a few weeks was -40F or so. In some low-lying areas it hit -83F.

School was not cancelled for the first few days. They do not cancel up here due to snow or temperatures, but will cancel based on slick roads, or in the case of the cold snap, because visibility was too limited by ice fog. My sister and brother-in-law were up from Seattle for Christmas, and my brother-in-law and my dad were outside with me helping change out the radiator in my car at -73F. We had one of those heaters that looks like a small jet engine on wheels sitting in front of a metal box thing my dad picked up from a local welding shop, it routed the hot air under the car and up through the engine compartment.

Even so, the rubber hoses contracted in the cold so much they would not stretch over the fittings. We had to warm them up in the house, then run out and attach them.

As for the trick with the boiling water, it is not that it freezes before hitting the ground, but that it evaporates and never hits the ground.

Link to a webcam the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner has pointed outside.

 

[amicold]

Originally posted by: Jugernot
Currently the Weather Channel says it is -29F (at the time of posting)..... My thermometer at home said -34F this morning when I left for work at 7am.

It's supposed to warm up later this week, but it's just misable outside right now. It's not like everyone stays home when it gets this cold, everyone gets on with life like normal, but it's just bitter cold out there. You can throw up a cup of boiling water in the air and it freezes before it hits the ground.

Anyway, just venting....

Jugs

EDIT: Typo.

I find when I'm out delivering in sub 30 F my balls and member are really cold.

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: meltdown75
my bro lived up in Timmins for firefighter school. it was -49 there one night and he said you could hear ice crystals crackling in the air.

i think it would be cool to experience that firsthand.

I think if I never experience that firsthand, I'll be all the happier

haha, you love the cold

Shut up and go shovel your driveway

heh - i only had to do a few scoops today

 

[Jugernot]

It's -42F outside my office on our thermometer. Weather channel now says -38F.

Someone around here said it's going to go down another 10-15 degrees. -60F here we come!

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Born2bwire

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: badkarma1399
You get the internets in the middle of Alaska? Don't the tubes freeze?

As long as Russians keep spamming E-mail, the constant flow keeps them from freezing.

The spam must flow!

<blueeyes>

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

I'm only up here for three more weeks. Then I'm back to my little shack in Maui.

I can't wait!