# Just how cold?



## Kestral (Dec 22, 2013)

What is the coldest day you put your warm gear on and slugged it out with your snowblower and the white stuff!? I went out in -20F once and that was cold enough for me. That's about the lowest temp it will get here in western MA. I do try and avoid the high windchill when it is that cold.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Probably only 10°f. I was in education and the school system I was employed with was pretty liberal with days off for inclement weather. I was pretty much able to always wait out the worst weather.


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## Mr Fixit (Nov 19, 2013)

*coldest?*

I've been blowing snow since 1974 here. When we get a blizzard it usually brings in a cold front, dropping the temperature sometime over 20 degrees. In the worse cases I'd say -35 F to -40 about 3 times a winter. The snow by the morning after, freezes hard, so it's excellent for igloo building. No I'm not good at building snow anything! 
We store our machine inside or use a 60 watt trouble light to warm the snow machines. Our snow is like dust unless you re-blow it 3-5 times down your driveway. We have issues with the machine climbing on top of that snow.
Synthetic oil was a big invention for our country.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

i can't remember. i use to do contract work, customers don't care how cold it is or you are they just want their snow removed


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## celltech (Nov 8, 2013)

-25 a couple days ago. It didn't feel to bad because there wasn't any wind.


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## Thump_rrr (Dec 22, 2013)

-35C is not a problem.
I sometimes work all day outdoors when it's that cold.
Dress in layers and wear felt lined boots.
If you come in for more than a few minutes change socks if your feet sweat.
I use anti-perspirant on my feet when it's that cold to prevent sweating.
Remove boots when coming in for lunch and replace socks before going out again.
If you can have a second set of felt liners to put in the boots for the afternoon.
Below -35 I also put a pair of 8 hour hand warmers in my gloves if I am going to be troubleshooting equipment and removing gloves frequently.


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## nt40lanman (Dec 31, 2012)

I'd say 10 or 15 degrees F here. It seems like in Mass it warms up when it snows.


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

I will probably be out clearing snow on Friday in +6F (-14C) temps..
coldest we have seen for a day time high in a few years..

Scot


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## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

I can remember being out at -10. That was the day I saw why I wanted synthetic oil, the SAE 10 turned to snott. Mobil-1 5-30 ever since.

I may heave been colder, i know I never delayed clean-u for temperature but being 10 miles from the Atlantic the most bitter weather is often moderated. -20 in any weather is usually years apart.

A good wicking layer including merino wool socks, something warm and something wind & snow resistant almost has me ending 2-4 hours latter nice and warm. If it's mild I pare it down and add rain gear. Adding a balaclava to the ensemble and some really good Gortex shelled mittens made a huge difference. Winter scuba diving in a drysuit actually sharpened my sense for cold weather gear. If I can dress for immersion under ice........

Pete


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

Likely around -30. Have to do it to get out as I'm in the country. Just a matter of having layers and knowing what you are going to be facing when you pick out a jacket. I would love to have a machine with hand warmers.

But temperature alone isn't all that bad, I hate wind and wind that shifts. You know the kind, no matter where you put the chute it's in your face in five seconds


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

celltech said:


> -25 a couple days ago. It didn't feel to bad because there wasn't any wind.


I don't have a problem a'tall working outside as long as there's no wind. Before going in to the classroom I'd often spend hours outside working. That was when I did carpentry work.


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## Snow Job (Jan 22, 2013)

Hello and Happy New Year,
On the last day of 2013, here in Manitoba, Canada, we had 30 below° C (25 below° F). It was so cold that the coolant in my truck gelled. Needless to say that my truck battery had to be re-charged in the house. We are going to receive some snow on January 3rd, so it's going to get a bit warmer. But there is another cold front coming on January 4th, so more cold weather. So all you folks in the northern states, expect some more below zero temperatures in the 2nd week of January, 2014.
I am going to get some hand warmers for myself. Pushing my vintage Ariens in this cold weather is no fun.
I hear February, 2014 is going to have above average warm temperatures.
I can't wait.
Richard


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

During my time in the military, I spent 3 weeks in the field, in sub-zero weather. It was Kansas in 1994, and it got down to -25F, with wind chills down to -45F. 

Our Extreme Cold Weather sleeping bags were rated to -30F. If you set your coffee down to eat chow, it would have a crust of ice. It's experiences like that, that make you really appreciate the little things in life.


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## Snow Job (Jan 22, 2013)

In days like these, I wish I was in Pasadena, dancing in the streets with the Spartans after their win over the Cardinals in today's Rose Bowl.


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## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

I just used my snow blower yesterday am to clear out a small amount of fluff about an inch or 2 which fell the night before New Years and what the snowplow pushed up at the end of the driveway small area about 4 to 5 inches deep. Temperature was -9 below zero Fahrenheit. I wore my snowmobile jacket and hat and gloves and I was just starting to get cold when I finished it.


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## SlowRider22 (Oct 17, 2013)

Holy smokes, the coldest I recall was probably somewhere in the high teens. All you guys talking about subzero temps makes me feel like a real wimp haha. I guess it's not a bad thing though; however we are supposed to get -5F in a couple days...


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

i have danced on glass with the temp at -15 windchill at -30. But in the end it is all relative.


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## nt40lanman (Dec 31, 2012)

Today was my record low snow blowing, 4 degrees. I'm a prepared kind of person so not a problem even with it blowing back on me.


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

I think today was my record too..
its was a deceiving day! looked beautiful from inside the house: blue sky, sun shining..
went out to clear the driveway...about +6 degrees F and breezy..

Scot


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## Mr Fixit (Nov 19, 2013)

*Heated Coats*

My brother came down for Christmas. Him and his son were wearing these new electric (Milwaukee tools) coats. His son works at Home Depot and got them at discount. Says he plugs the battery in when he goes out snowblowing but inside a vehicle he just goes without power. Very attractive jacket in my view. What's next? They showed a remote single stage snowblower on the news yesterday.


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## Buttchet (Mar 5, 2013)

Mr Fixit said:


> My brother came down for Christmas. Him and his son were wearing these new electric (Milwaukee tools) coats. His son works at Home Depot and got them at discount. Says he plugs the battery in when he goes out snowblowing but inside a vehicle he just goes without power. Very attractive jacket in my view. What's next? They showed a remote single stage snowblower on the news yesterday.


Just got my dad that jacket for christmas and he says he loves it. just got in tonight from blowing snow drifts and he was great at -5F and 20mph winds.


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## hunterdude (Dec 30, 2013)

-35 and layer up. Warm boots and extra socks ,I wear a filson coat and layer up with wool


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

I was out for 3 hours today in -25 Celsius or 13 below F. Wind chill made it -40 which needs no conversion. I figured I better get it done, because tomorrow it's supposed to be -50. Lots of layers and 100 below Sorel boots. The cab helps immensely, as well as the heated hand grips.


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## Mr Fixit (Nov 19, 2013)

*Same here*

Yes the report is twice as cold tomorrow, so I blew my snow today. -43 wind chill looks like tomorrow. My Briggs sounded different today even.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

That's how you know it's cold. Everything is a little louder as noise seems to carry more in the crisp air. That and also the snow starts to squeak when you walk.


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## nt40lanman (Dec 31, 2012)

I can't even imagine being out blowing snow in those temperatures. Can you at least blow downwind?


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

nt40lanman said:


> I can't even imagine being out blowing snow in those temperatures. Can you at least blow downwind?


Not all the time. The wind is born here in Saskatchewan,  and it's going to get you in the face at least some of the time. That's why I like my cab so much. And anybody who says heated hand grips are just a waste of money, has never run a snowblower when it's really cold.


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## GMH (Dec 31, 2013)

Ahh yes, Saskatchewan. The land where you can watch your dog run away for three days. LOL
It's -48C with wind chill here this morning. I'm glad I did mine yesterday when it was only -40.


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

-35 C this morning with a wind chill of -51. *I AM NOT BLOWING SNOW! *

To be totally fair, it is, for the most part pretty dry here on the Canadian prairies, so we try to comfort ourselves by saying "it's a dry cold." -51 is still -51 and your spit would probably freeze before it hit the ground, but -20 would probably seem colder on the Atlantic coast in places like Maine or Newfoundland, because of the humidity, than it would here in Saskatchewan.
I always say that when my ancestors got off the boat in Halifax in the early 1900's, if they had only turned left we could have been in Florida, but they kept going straight and ended up in Saskatchewan! 
On the plus side, if I lived in Florida I wouldn't be blowing snow, so I would never have met all of you nice folks.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

No snow in the forecast but it's COLD !!

*ALERT: Gov. Dayton has ordered all Minnesota public schools closed for Monday, Jan. 6 due to the potential for dangerously cold temperatures.*


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