Saturday, January 25, 2014

COLD!

by Kaye George

Whether you believe in the science of climate change or not, you’ve gotta admit, it’s cold! Just how cold is it? OK, you can finish that one.

Here are some records, to make you feel warmer--maybe.

In connection with the people marooned at the bottom of the earth recently, you probably read that the coldest temperatures on the planet have been recorded in Antarctica. No surprise there! The official coldest one is -128.6 F in 1983. However, a satellite got a reading of -135.8 F in 2010.

In the range of what is humanly imaginable, there’s the -80 in Prospect Creek, Alaska, in 1971. Maybe you can’t imagine this, but I can, having lived in Montana. Granted, I have only experienced -80 as the temperature WITH wind chill. But without, it was -40. Brrrr.

Here are some wimpy record lows. 46 (that’s +46) in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. Then there’s 40 in three different spots in Puerto Rico. Those are looking good right about now.

Wanna go for highs? Maybe that would help? Our country holds the world record. I didn’t know that! It’s 134 in Death Valley, California, in 1913. The record high at the South Pole, by the way, is 9.9. Another reason to stay away from that place.

Jeopardy! is offering a chance to win free National Geographic trips to exotic places. One of them was to Antarctica. I wonder how many people logged in to compete that day. One? Two?

How does any of this relate to writing or reading mysteries? This is GREAT weather to do both, provided you don’t have to go to the library, book store, or office supply shop to get material.

Info from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_weather_records
Photo from my back yard



3 comments:

Morgan Mandel said...

Thank God we have the Internet to use for research! I am so not liking this winter. It's too much like winters used to be in Illinois, and not like the past few winters. I'd gotten used to being spoiled, but now it's back to reality!

Morgan Mandel
http://www.morganmandel.com

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

It isn't cold enough here in Central CA--we've had no rain or snow in the mountains and we really need it!

Morgan Mandel said...

Please take some of ours, Marilyn!