Crazy Weather

The cold streak finally broke Sunday night. Some of the old-timers around here say it set a record for being the longest cold streak. We went three weeks where the warmest it got was -36. If you want cold, that's cold. In like three days though, we went from -45 to positive 45. It's a BIG jump. Everyone here is walking around in their shirtsleeves, no jackets or anything. I've heard that everyone down south is getting some really cold weather, though, so while we're up here enjoying the +50 temperatures, everyone in the lower forty-eight is freezing. Hahaha. Seriously though, having such a drastic temperature jump up here is very dangerous. The snow melts and the water covers the road and since the ground is still cold, the water glazes over so the roads and highways are just a solid sheet of black ice. Every hundred yards or so, there's another spot where a vehicle went off the road. Even we aren't exempt. Sunday (before the temperature warmed up) we had a little fenderbender in our new Toyota. When it's really cold out, anything plastic doesn't bend, it shatters. So, our right front bumper is shattered. At least Michael says it's only cosmetics, it didn't damage the frame. Our warm weather isn't going to last, though. The weather site is predicting it will be back down to zero by Monday night. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.....

Physics @ -40 Degrees (& Colder)

This entire post has one purpose; to show you how cold it has been here lately. We have collected these images over the last week . We heard that one marquee sign in Fairbanks showed -63 degrees. bbbrrrrr...! The coldest that we have actually seen ourselves this week is -52. More of these same temperatures are forecasted through the end of the week (as far out as they dare try to predict). And oh, BTW, the high temps have only made it to -38. This picture was supposed to be toward the end, but accidentally got deleted and had to be downloaded again. this is where it ended up. This is what happened to the bubbles after being exposed to the air for just a couple of seconds. When the temperatures get this cold, we get a dense build-up of ice fog. This picture shows North Pole as viewed from the highway overpass above the town. This is the accumulation of ice around our three-pane windows in the bathroom. Michael is enjoying the snow... in his bare feet of all things. This "Hanging Glacier" on our front room window is growing bigger each day. It collects its ice from the warm air that leaks out through the window and wall SEE THAT?! We are not just making this up. There is proof the temperatures get colder than negative forty degrees!! What do have to say for yourself now? This is the bubble film left over after the bubbles burst in the cold. Michael is blowing bubbles outside while Sarah is safely indoors with the comfortable 68 degrees.


This video demonstrates what happens to cold water thrown into the air at -40.


This second video demonstrates what happens to hot water under the same conditions. Be sure to turn up the volume and listen closely