How Cold Is It?

It's colder than it was in Anchorage Alaska at 6 a.m. this morning - here it was -11.9 degrees and there it was +20F!  In Reykjavik, Iceland, it's 32 degrees;  at Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole, it's -10 degrees; and at the North Pole, it's +1F.  I guess all the cold has migrated this year.  The lowest overnight I had was -12F, and that's cold enough.  All this cold swept across the nation before it arrived here, and our sister-in-law, Ellie, reported from Beaver Creek in Colorado that it was cold there.  She walks their dog, Grizzly, every day, and sent this picture a couple days ago with the caption, "My mother warmed my blanket in the drier when we got back from our walk today!"

Speaking of cold and things related, we found out yesterday the ice skater caught on the Rossi's web cam was Ted Chase.  He told Fred the ice was at least 5 inches thick - it's probably quite a bit more now - and although he could hear it cracking occasionally as he passed over it, the spookiest thing was that it was crystal clear so when he looked down, he said he could see the water clearly.  Since then we've had some snow so the skating isn't as good, and after this weekend, there will likely be a foot or more of snow covering it.

It was cold yesterday, but there was noticeably less snow in St. Johnsbury than here.  I took a series of pictures as we headed home.  As always, the Joe's Pond area has more interesting weather than any other spot on the map except perhaps Mt. Washington.  It gets cold quicker and warms up more slowly than most places, and if there's snow and wind to be had, you'll find it here.  You can see (top) the interstate was bare and there's very little snow in St. Johnsbury.  Dole Hill (middle) in Danville had a nice White Christmas covering, and in West Danville (right) we had basic winter conditions.

We are expecting 12-14 inches of snow tonight into tomorrow.  Hopefully the storm will be clearing out of here before the Monday commute, but then it's going to get really cold - again. 

Meantime, in Walvis Bay, Namibia, Africa, where Bill, Monika and the girls are, it's 70 degrees and partly cloudy.  The weather there doesn't vary more than a few degrees either way, so it's never too hot or too cold.  However, they only average about an inch of rain a month, for a total of about 10 inches a year.  And they have huge sand dunes.  I'm thinking Bill and his family must be enjoying their vacation time there.  Perhaps we'll hear from them this weekend.

Stay warm and safe, and remember to keep your animals sheltered from this deep cold.