How is the weather?

[Karl Henning]

We appear to be expecting 6-12" of snow this storm. Chances are that Sunday's service will be canceled.

[krummholz]

-16°C (3°F) in Helsinki. In Enontekiö, the "arm" of Finland, in the North-west was measured -43.5°C (-46.3°F)   

I had to Google Maps Enontekiö, but I see it's REALLY far in the northwest of Finland, north of Oulu and even Rovaniemi. So maybe -43.5ºC is not that unusual for this time of year?

We were down to -13.7ºC this morning, but my Ant Colony weather station now reads -5.4ºC. Indoors, a balmy 23ºC - wish you had more control over your ambient temperature, Poju.

[krummholz]

We appear to be expecting 6-12" of snow this storm. Chances are that Sunday's service will be canceled.

Sorry to hear that, Karl. We may get up to 5" (12 cm) from the same storm according to the current forecast.

[71 dB]

I had to Google Maps Enontekiö, but I see it's REALLY far in the northwest of Finland, north of Oulu and even Rovaniemi. So maybe -43.5ºC is not that unusual for this time of year?

Enontekiö is the coldest part of Finland, but even there this is unusually cold. Typically it doesn't go below -35°C up there I believe. As an update, -44.3°C was measured and a person living up there had his thermometer show -46.4°C, but that is not a reliable official measurement (told in the Finnish news. In English: https://yle.fi/a/74-20068057).

We were down to -13.7ºC this morning, but my Ant Colony weather station now reads -5.4ºC. Indoors, a balmy 23ºC - wish you had more control over your ambient temperature, Poju.

-13.7ºC is tolerable if it is not windy. 23°C is good. I would be happy to have that. I have about 19°C at the moment. On Sunday the weather starts to warm up dramatically and next week will be even above zero before it gets colder again, but not this cold they say.

[steve ridgway]

Only just freezing here, will go and thaw the birds' water now.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Quite a bit of snow overnight.  I measured about 8.5 inches.  Shoveled for about an hour and a half.  Will go out in a bit to do more as it's supposed to turn quite a bit colder overnight.

PD

[DavidW]

Our weather is all over the place.  It was in the 20s and then it was moderate, humid and raining.  And now it is bright and beautiful.  Absolutely crazy!!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Our weather is all over the place.  It was in the 20s and then it was moderate, humid and raining.  And now it is bright and beautiful.  Absolutely crazy!!

I know!  It's supposed to then become unusually warm here!  At last count (a few hours later), I measured 12 inches of snow.  Went outside for another hour and a half--that's it for me for the day.  Still snowing...hopefully we won't get much more tonight.

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Enontekiö is the coldest part of Finland, but even there this is unusually cold. Typically it doesn't go below -35°C up there I believe. As an update, -44.3°C was measured and a person living up there had his thermometer show -46.4°C, but that is not a reliable official measurement (told in the Finnish news. In English: https://yle.fi/a/74-20068057).
-13.7ºC is tolerable if it is not windy. 23°C is good. I would be happy to have that. I have about 19°C at the moment. On Sunday the weather starts to warm up dramatically and next week will be even above zero before it gets colder again, but not this cold they say.

Hey Poju, is it still bitterly cold?  By the way, I saw pictures in an article on the BBC about the cold, snow with people still swimming outside and jogging.   

PD

[krummholz]

Quite a bit of snow overnight.  I measured about 8.5 inches.  Shoveled for about an hour and a half.  Will go out in a bit to do more as it's supposed to turn quite a bit colder overnight.

PD

Ours came mostly this morning, but about the same - just after noon I measured 19.7 cm on my car roof. We've probably had 2-3 more cm since then, and it's winding down. The big concern now is the storm coming Tuesday night into Wednesday. They are talking about winds gusting over 50 kts. That will cause widespread power outages, if it happens. 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Only just freezing here, will go and thaw the birds' water now.

How do you thaw out their water?  And can you keep a bird bath out year round?  Can't here (unless one invests in a heated bird bath...and can also figure out how to make it work).

PD

[Karl Henning]

Enontekiö is the coldest part of Finland, but even there this is unusually cold. Typically it doesn't go below -35°C up there I believe. As an update, -44.3°C was measured and a person living up there had his thermometer show -46.4°C, but that is not a reliable official measurement ....

Some clown might suggest that this is "proof" countering global warming, but of course, the weather patterns will grow more erratic.

TD:

As I followed the forecast yesterday, it seemed I might actually make it to church this morning, but when I got up it was clear from all reports that the last place I wanted to be today was on the roads. Not so very much had fallen here at Café Hudson St, but it was generally wet, and even at 7, there were reports of heavy snow, slippery roads, and that it was already icing up underneath the fresh snow. Our organist Barbara saw on the news someone sliding off the road into the woods: a fresh reminder that during the first snowstorm, even here in Massachusetts, people have forgotten how to drive in these conditions. On Wednesday it will be 54° and rainy, so whatever we do get in Woburn may not last.

[krummholz]

Enontekiö is the coldest part of Finland, but even there this is unusually cold. Typically it doesn't go below -35°C up there I believe. As an update, -44.3°C was measured and a person living up there had his thermometer show -46.4°C, but that is not a reliable official measurement (told in the Finnish news. In English: https://yle.fi/a/74-20068057).
-13.7ºC is tolerable if it is not windy. 23°C is good. I would be happy to have that. I have about 19°C at the moment. On Sunday the weather starts to warm up dramatically and next week will be even above zero before it gets colder again, but not this cold they say.

I finally got your link to work... so -44.3ºC isn't just unusually cold, but the coldest temperature recorded in Finland this century... impressive. The coldest temperature I ever experienced was -31ºC on a back road here in Vermont last January. But if I had to choose bitter cold vs. extreme heat, I would choose bitter cold without hesitation. The hottest temperature I've ever experienced was +40ºC in Detroit in 1987, and that was intolerable. I can't imagine +49ºC as they had in BC in 2022. You can always bundle up more, but you can't take more off.

[steve ridgway]

How do you thaw out their water?  And can you keep a bird bath out year round?  Can't here (unless one invests in a heated bird bath...and can also figure out how to make it work).

Just tip some hot water on the ice and maybe break or remove some. It doesn't generally get that cold here so can be left out all year.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Ours came mostly this morning, but about the same - just after noon I measured 19.7 cm on my car roof. We've probably had 2-3 more cm since then, and it's winding down. The big concern now is the storm coming Tuesday night into Wednesday. They are talking about winds gusting over 50 kts. That will cause widespread power outages, if it happens. 

Hope that it doesn't for you.  Who knows what we all will end up getting.

Did a bit more shoveling today (not a lot).  Lovely day here:  sunny and pleasant.  Wish that I had taken a walk.  At least I got out into the sunshine for a bit.

@Karl Henning  Sorry to hear about your service being canceled.

PD

[Karl Henning]

Sorry to hear about your service being canceled.

It's that time of year, so one rolls with it, but this is the second consecutive Epiphany when we've been unable to present the Feast-specific movie we've prepared. Ah, well ... next Sunday ....

[71 dB]

Hey Poju, is it still bitterly cold?  By the way, I saw pictures in an article on the BBC about the cold, snow with people still swimming outside and jogging.   

PD

It is getting warmer now. Monday was nice -5°C (23°F) and Tuesday-Wednesday will above zero!

Yes, some people do ice swimming, but I don't do that! 

[71 dB]

Some clown might suggest that this is "proof" countering global warming, but of course, the weather patterns will grow more erratic.

Of course. Especially receiving cheques from fossil fuel companies causes difficulties to tell weather and climate apart.

[71 dB]

I finally got your link to work... so -44.3ºC isn't just unusually cold, but the coldest temperature recorded in Finland this century... impressive. The coldest temperature I ever experienced was -31ºC on a back road here in Vermont last January. But if I had to choose bitter cold vs. extreme heat, I would choose bitter cold without hesitation. The hottest temperature I've ever experienced was +40ºC in Detroit in 1987, and that was intolerable. I can't imagine +49ºC as they had in BC in 2022. You can always bundle up more, but you can't take more off.

Sorry about the difficulties with my link. I wonder what problems you encountered. Something about geoblocking I guess? -44°C is the coldest recorded in the 2000's, but the coldest ever recorded in Finland was -51.5°C I believe. I don't know what has been the coldest I have experienced, but I have experienced -25°C. I doesn't really get much colder than that in Helsinki. As for the warmest weather, +30°C is about the warmest it gets in the summer.

[Spotted Horses]

I finally got your link to work... so -44.3ºC isn't just unusually cold, but the coldest temperature recorded in Finland this century... impressive. The coldest temperature I ever experienced was -31ºC on a back road here in Vermont last January. But if I had to choose bitter cold vs. extreme heat, I would choose bitter cold without hesitation. The hottest temperature I've ever experienced was +40ºC in Detroit in 1987, and that was intolerable. I can't imagine +49ºC as they had in BC in 2022. You can always bundle up more, but you can't take more off.

With regard to heat, it depends on the humidity. The weather is often reported with qualifiers, "the temperature is X but the heat index I Y," or "the temperature is X but with wind chill it is Z." Why is there no heat index when it is cold, or wind chill when it is warm? Seems like the purpose is the make the temperature sound more alarming.

With regard to heat, the "wet bulb temperature" is the most salient. Temperature is measured by exposing a thermometer to air. "Wet bulb temperature" is measured by wrapping the thermometer in a sleeve of wet cloth. Evaporation of water from the cloth cools the thermometer, and that reflects your skin temperature when you sweat. If the wet bulb temperature is above 32C (90F) a person will not be able to function. If it is above 35C (95F) a person will die, even if they are resting in the shade with an infinite supply of water.

Wet bulb temperature is described in wikipedia,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature

There is an on-line wet bulb calculator at
https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/wet-bulb

At 20% humidity that 49C in B.C. would be 28.8C, ok. At 38% humidity it would be 35C, lethal.