When Boston was getting pummeled with snow and cold weather, a friend asked me if I was annoyed when people on facebook complain about the temperature. Honestly, when I read those posts I think "wow, that's cold" even when it's probably colder here. The reason is that I don't even think about the weather or how cold it is here. I never check the temperature and I'm often out and about in just a fleece (and insulated Carhartts/two shirts/long-johns and thick socks). But I'm not always wearing that massive Canada Goose jacket they give us (read a recent article about how those are up and coming in the fashion world, BTW). It's been around -13 lately.
In terms of feeling the cold, I've decided that people just don't dress for the cold - come on people! Take that extra 15 minutes to put on all those layers and you'll be toasty warm. And so fashionable too! Nothing better then going to a bar and having to spend 15 minutes taking off your snow pants. I get that it's annoying and there are times I don't dress for the cold and in the 4 minutes it takes to walk from one building to the next I will be FREEZING. These times usually occur when I'm dressed up and going to the bar or going to dinner and have forgotten a critical aspect of my "extreme cold weather" gear. Or intentionally don't take it. Last night I had a dress on and my hair did and I literally ran from building to building because my legs were so cold and I didn't want to ruin my hair with my hat.
In reality, I have all the tools to stay comfortable and keeping warm takes very little effort. I know exactly what I need to stay warm and there are some crucial elements that are the most important things for my comfort: Neck gaiter, hat, gloves, warm footwear. While I, of course, will also put layers on my bigger body parts, if there's no icy wind blowing down my neck or my nose doesn't feel like it's turning into an ice crystal, it's usually pretty manageable. While our vehicles all have heat, the heat just blows a warmer version of cold air when I am constantly getting in and out of them and there are multiple places where the vehicle cab is open to the outside so, in general, it's pretty chilly in there. If I can keep my extremities warm, even if I can feel the cold on my arms, I'm usually pretty good. Unless there's WIND. Oh man. The wind is brutal - cuts through everything (yes even that $1000 Canada goose jacket). Ugh! That's why it's good to check the weather forecast (now that the cold is really coming in-i'm taking the weather a bit more seriously) Here's the weather for April 1st.
In terms of feeling the cold, I've decided that people just don't dress for the cold - come on people! Take that extra 15 minutes to put on all those layers and you'll be toasty warm. And so fashionable too! Nothing better then going to a bar and having to spend 15 minutes taking off your snow pants. I get that it's annoying and there are times I don't dress for the cold and in the 4 minutes it takes to walk from one building to the next I will be FREEZING. These times usually occur when I'm dressed up and going to the bar or going to dinner and have forgotten a critical aspect of my "extreme cold weather" gear. Or intentionally don't take it. Last night I had a dress on and my hair did and I literally ran from building to building because my legs were so cold and I didn't want to ruin my hair with my hat.
In reality, I have all the tools to stay comfortable and keeping warm takes very little effort. I know exactly what I need to stay warm and there are some crucial elements that are the most important things for my comfort: Neck gaiter, hat, gloves, warm footwear. While I, of course, will also put layers on my bigger body parts, if there's no icy wind blowing down my neck or my nose doesn't feel like it's turning into an ice crystal, it's usually pretty manageable. While our vehicles all have heat, the heat just blows a warmer version of cold air when I am constantly getting in and out of them and there are multiple places where the vehicle cab is open to the outside so, in general, it's pretty chilly in there. If I can keep my extremities warm, even if I can feel the cold on my arms, I'm usually pretty good. Unless there's WIND. Oh man. The wind is brutal - cuts through everything (yes even that $1000 Canada goose jacket). Ugh! That's why it's good to check the weather forecast (now that the cold is really coming in-i'm taking the weather a bit more seriously) Here's the weather for April 1st.
Regional Summary | 4/1/2015 7:04:58 AM |
| Calm to start, but bundle up! A large weather system dropping across the Ross Sea will bring cold, howlin’ easterlies today…Should see eased wind tomorrow… | |
McMurdo Station
| |||
SKIES: Mostly Cloudy
VISIBILITY (MILES): Unrestricted
WINDS (KNOTS): NE @ 3 | |||
| STATION PRESSURE: 29.210 in. | |||
UPDATED: Apr 01, 2015 07:04 AM
|
How do I get ready for my day? My basic outfit is long johns, one long sleeve lightweight wool shirt, one thicker wool shirt, mountaineer socks and then my padded Carrhart overalls. I'll put a hooded green fleece on over all that and bring my Big Red just in case. I'll put on my thinsulate boots and then head up the hill to the Waste Barn. Once there, I'll open up 12 (at least) little hot hand packets to bring with me. I put some in my pants pockets, my big red pockets, my fleece pockets, inside my mittens and sometimes in my shoes. . Part of what I do to prepare for the weather is to have three pairs of hand gear. I wear my work gloves mostly, but if I need to do something that involves some dexterity I have a pair of thin gloves- after using those, my fingers are usually frozen so at that point I'll put on my mittens (pre-warmed with the warmers) to warm my hands before switching back to the work gloves for work. If I know it will be really cold and the steel floor of my loader will be wicking heat away from my feet, I'll put on my FDX boots, big blue boots with an insulated booty and a felt liner (of which I have two). I avoid wearing these boots because they make my feet 4 times bigger and it's exhausting to clomp around all day, but I will put them on (with warmers inside) if my feet get cold.
If the wind is aggressive, I'll put on two hats and pull my gaiter up over my nose and mouth.
Lately, it's been getting really chilly. I walked outside the other day real quick to grab something and the cold took my breath away and I started coughing. I've become more diligent about checking the weather. In fact, the above forecast was the first I had checked in a long while (and inspired this post) and it really helped me toward the end of my day. Because I knew it was going to get windy (miserable for working outside) we switched our day around to avoid the weather. Unfortunately, I'm still learning how tied down things have to be and the one cargo strap I had on all my cardboard boxes wasn't enough so I had to chase down a whole bunch that had gone flying in the last 15 minutes of my day. I felt better when I saw other departments had also lost things during that storm.
I've been checking the weather a bit more diligently lately and this is what I have to look forward to tomorrow:
The best part about this? The high is -2! That's warm! This weekend it was -14!
Let me know if you have other questions about the weather!
As for the daylight, i've been taking a daily photo (usually) to chart the sunlight, as the sun goes down I'll compile them all for you!
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| Weather! |
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| This was a moderately cold day. My eyelashes started frosting. This was the first time this has happened to me. Since this day it's happened quite a bit and much more aggressively. |
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| Here I am climbing out of an igloo all bundled up ( I didn't build it). Notice the big FDX boots, the double hat, the gaiter, mittens and big red. I do, indeed, have handwarmers in almost all pockets and inside my boots. |
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