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Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Getting antsy

Temperatures are forecast to come up Thursday. Warm enough to take the girls for a run, if not warm enough to go skiing. I have been counting the days, although not allowing myself to get too excited, because the forecast can be wrong, after all.

Weather forecasts aren't very good around here, but they have a difficult job, with the dramatic temperature swings. Forecasting the weather in San Francisco is comparatively easy. Just say, "Lows: low 50s; Highs: high 60s; patchy fog; slight chance of drizzly rain," and you'll be right on 350 days of 365. But the most egregious errors of our Fairbanks weather reports occur when the current temperature is already outside of the estimated range for the day. You'd think that, to maintain credibility, they would do live updates on the expected range.

I'd noticed before that whenever temperatures hit -40s, the weather forecast would almost always project that it would come up in 2-3 days. And the next day, they would push it back, and so on, so warmer weather would always be 2-3 days away. But we have had no such misleading optimism this time. They said, at the very beginning of this cold snap, that it would last about two weeks. So I sure do hope that their Thursday forecast will come to pass!

In another small bit of silicon2tanana reportage, I still haven't pulled out my heavy, insulated coat, and I likely won't at all this Winter. I can stay just as warm, and more comfortable, by putting on another dense, woolly sweater under my midweight coat. And by midweight, I mean this. A little wind-proof softshell. Are you amazed? I am.

11 comments:

TwoYaks said...

That miracle of thermoregulation with just a sweater and a dinky coat begs the questions a) How long are you outside, and b) how active are you outside in this weather?

I ask, because if I'm doing hard work, I can leave a lot of my gear at home. Same if I'm only going to be out long enough to go from home -> Truck -> work. But plunk me on a snowgo, and I better be wearing two fleeces under my jacket or my arms turn to ice.

Arvay said...

Maybe 40 minutes at a time, walking. What limits my outdoor time is not that my central regions get cold; it's that my fingers and nose get cold, and I get annoyed with the ice build-up on my scarf and having a wet face.

Perhaps you are underestimating my sweaters! I have thick, plush, dense wool sweaters that you wouldn't believe.

Alaskan Dave Down Under said...

As you've found out, when you are out and ACTIVE in the cold, layering is the way to go.

What kind of mitts do you use?

Have you ever tried one of the neoprene face masks? What I did was sew extra long velcro tabs on the back of mine so the mask was about a half inch to an inch off my face. That way you can still breath deeply while excersizing (winter biking), but your face is still warm and toasty. And the only ice buildup is on the outside of the mask.

Alaskan Dave Down Under said...

Oh, you do know the trick about "windmilling" your arms around fast to get your hands warmed up, right?

Arvay said...

Face masks never fit me right. I wonder if it's because my face is different because I'm Chinese. Like maybe my nose is too flat or my cheekbones are different. :/

I am wearing fleece-lined mittens with the top that folds off to half-gloves underneath. Does that make sense? I have conventional mittens that are fleece-lined alpaca and are fully lined and much warmer, but I like the dexterity of the fold-off thingie.

Arvay said...

Oh yeah! Send blood to the extremities!

TwoYaks said...

Face masks never fit me right. I wonder if it's because my face is different because I'm Chinese. Like maybe my nose is too flat or my cheekbones are different.

I doubt it. Face masks are really hit or miss. And even with kass'at, there's 'bout half that can't wear them too good. And then there's plenty of masks that just don't fit any living being on earth. I gave up and went to a baclava face fleece thing, myself, so it's held up by the top of my head.

Anonymous said...

When I was in Siberia, I found I was OK for up to half an hour outside with 2 longsleeved t-shirts, thick cotton shirt, two ordinary fleeces and a windproof jacket - that's only one fleece more than I'd wear on a cold UK winter day (and it was -30C there!). I was more than a bit amazed also.

I was de-icing my car this morning (it was -9C last night, so unusually cold for here), and I thought of you! I wondered if you could tell us a bit about what it's like to drive when it's so cold. Is de-icing a major job or is it dry enough not to be a big deal unless it snows, how do car batteries cope etc?

Anonymous said...

Oh, and I forgot the Siberian-style ear-flap type hat, and two pairs of gloves in my description above!

Arvay said...

Hi Debs,

We seldom have ice problems since it is so dry and windless, but cars do have difficulties when it is very cold. We have prewarmers on the battery, oil pan, and engine block that we plug in for a while before we start the car. And often the car needs to sit for a while before it is okay to drive. When I left campus yesterday evening, for example, it was -40, and the car had to sit idling for about 15 minutes before I could put it into gear without the engine dying.

Fortunately, for some reason I do not understand, not being very car savvy, my car Fred changes his engine noise, very distinctly, at the exact moment he is ready to drive. I don't know what it is that causes that, but it's very convenient!

Anonymous said...

A face mask probably helps to prevent early aging with prune like skin