I’m assuming you meant fahrenheit…

Posted by mudshark from Denver, CO on 01/29/08 at 07:36 PM ET

I wish he meant fahrenheit.... although that’s only a few degrees difference…

When I started my truck this morning, the thermometer read -39 inside the truck, and that’s obviously without the wind chill factored in, and the wind is going at a decent 15 kph, so, yeah, -51 won’t be far off.

(I’m debating just sleeping here in my office, rather than brave the trip home....)

Posted by Rex Waverly from Edmonton on 01/29/08 at 07:53 PM ET

At least he had a hat.  Should have kept his winter clothes - did he forget that he would be making northern road trips?

We are supposed to get blasted by an arctic cold front in the Great Lakes tonight - and it was raining most of the day, so should be fun driving tomorrow.  Not as bad as Edmonton, though - but I do enjoy explaining the concepts of “lake effect snow” and “wind chill” to southerners up for the first time.

It would help if the weather people weren’t so happy announcing the oncoming bitterly cold weather!

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 01/29/08 at 08:02 PM ET

I did indeed mean celsius.  For the conversions, you can go here.  Which makes -51c the equivalent of -59F.  (a.k.a. “really $#@&* cold!")

My sympathies to you, Rex. I lived in Edmonton for nearly 10 years.... summers are lovely, but winters are hell.

Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/29/08 at 09:15 PM ET

I lived for over four years in Calgary back in the early-mid 1990s. I agree with Alanah, lovely summers but man, those winters can be rough. The first time I ever got frostbite was in Calgary and to this day my ears are very sensitive to the cold.

On the plus side, though, the best backyard rinks I ever made was in Calgary, which was because of those bitter cold temps. Took no time at all, and flooding the rink afterward was quick and easy by simply setting the hose to “mist” and doing a quick wet-down.

Posted by Lyle Richardson from Charlottetown, PEI, Canada on 01/29/08 at 09:38 PM ET

Lyle, great anecdote, I currently live in Calgary and have been a prairie boy all my life, at least Calgary gets those chinooks that blow in from the Rockies to warm us up.  Our friends in Edmonton are not as fortunate.

I don’t think Oilers fans are too happy after Tuesday’s game against the Sharks, it’s bad enough losing 3-0 to San Jose at home, the kicker is having to face that brutal weather after a dismal performance by the home team.

Posted by dash_pinched on 01/30/08 at 12:51 AM ET

I went to top up my windshield wash yesterday. Couldn’t as the “good to -40” stuff was frozen solid.

Yeah, it’s a tad cool here right now.

Posted by Shawnski from Calgary, AB on 01/30/08 at 09:22 AM ET

Man, I miss Winnipeg...From that comment alone, you should know I’m frickin’ bonkers...We had fifty-mph wind gusts and temperatures in the teens today, so we got our first taste of “It’s so cold everything’s dried out, including the snow” weather in some time.  It was absolutely lovely, freeze-your-nose-hairs cold.

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 01/31/08 at 06:10 AM ET

As they say in Newfoundland, “It’s so cold it’ll freeze the features right off your face!”

Of course, that sounds better when it’s said in a Newfoundland accent.

Posted by Lyle Richardson from Charlottetown, PEI, Canada on 01/31/08 at 06:55 AM ET