Updraft: December 10, 2007 Archive

Seven-year cold

Posted at 7:09 AM on December 10, 2007 by Paul Huttner

If it feels a little Nanook out there you're right. By many measures it hasn't been this cold in seven years.

December's average (mean) temperature in the Twin Cities has been 11.8 degrees. That's 11.0 degrees below average for the month so far.

Click on Twin Cities "CF6" climate data for December

That's the coldest stretch of temperatures since December of 2000, when the average temp for that month was 7.6 degrees.

Today is day 14 in a row below average here in the metro. It's also the 14th consecutive day below freezing.

The deep freeze will moderate a bit this week, with highs pushing into the 20s.

We're getting off lucky, though, in Minnesota this week. A huge multi-state ice storm will cripple much of the Midwest to our south. Ice up to an inch thick will snap power lines and glaze roadways from Kansas to Missouri, Iowa and Illinois all the way east to Pennsylvania.

Iowa ice storm

PH

Afternoon sunshine versus the wind

Posted at 1:41 PM on December 10, 2007 by Craig Edwards

There is a battle this afternoon for control of the sensible temperature. If you are in the sunshine, shaded from the wind, wearing dark color clothing, you may be sensing an outdoor temperature of about 35 degrees.

If, on the other hand, you are positioned in a shaded area, exposed to the wind, you are likely shivering in a feels-like temperature in the single digits.

I’m fortunate to have windows with southern exposure, not by design at the time. The low sun angle allows sunshine to penetrate well into the living space, thus providing some passive solar heat. Even though the outside thermometer is reading in the teens, my indoor temperature through much of the house is in the lower 70s, without the assistance of the furnace.

Now I’ll admit that in the kitchen, on the north side of the house, it is only 62 degrees. But it gives me a reason not to keep going to the refrigerator for comfort food.

After a morning stroll, with the temperature about five degrees, I’m staying indoors this afternoon, enjoying a warm spot like an innately clever kitty-cat.
CE