Super cold weather brings back super cold memories

Sixty below zero?

Sweet Jesus, that's cold. Yes, it's just wind-chill, but the actual temperature Sunday night in International Falls, Minn., was 45 below zero.

But it's often cold there, isn't it?

It certainly is, but Sunday night's low temperature broke the old record by 9 degrees, a record set 53 years ago. And it will only get worse. Temperatures Tuesday night may drop as low as 25 below zero in Chicago for the first time in more than 30 years.

Before we go any further, get it out of your head that this disproves global warming or whatever. What is happening is climate change, and it shows itself with bigger hurricanes, more extreme storms and all sorts of other fun things.


I have never been in 60 below wing-chill, but I've been close. Three different times.

During my two-plus years in St. Louis, when I was covering Mizzou basketball, I had to make the 120-mile drive to Columbia to cover a game on a stormy night. The temperature bottomed out at just 18 below, but it was very windy and the wind-chill was 55 below.

When I returned home after the game, I parked no more than 30 feet from the door to my apartment building. It took less than a minute to get inside, but in that short time, the inside of my nose froze.

Two years later, I was covering a basketball tournament the week between Christmas and New Year's in Sioux Falls, S.D. The wind-chill got down to nearly 50 below my last night there, although I didn't have to go out in it very much.

In February of 1990, I was working in Reno and covering Nevada basketball in a game at Idaho State in Pocatello. That was the most interesting of all, because the game was being played in one of those minidomes they have in the northwest for football AND basketball.

Home in Georgia

You might guess they're difficult to heat. The 50-below wind-chill could be ameliorated but not eliminated. With the heat turned up all the way, the temperature indoors could only make it up to 50 above.

In 20 winters in Los Angeles, I can only remember one time we had a sprinkling of snow in the foothills. In Georgia, we seem to get a little snow every two or three years, but I don't think we've ever had more than an inch or so and it rarely survives the day.

We may get some this week. Low temperatures are expected to drop to the 20s the next three nights.

It ain't 50 below.

But it's still damn cold for Georgia.

Button up.