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Omahan
Posts:3699
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| 02/12/2008 9:10 AM |
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Crit40 - do you question your decision to make Sibersota your home?
Record cold for northern Minn.: 40 below
By JEFF BAENEN, Associated Press Writer Mon Feb 11, 10:43 PM ET
MINNEAPOLIS - It lived up to its name: The temperature in International Falls fell to 40 below zero Monday, just a few days after the northern Minnesota town won a federal trademark making it officially the "Icebox of the Nation."
It was so cold that resident Nick McDougall couldn't get his car trunk to close after he got out his charger to kick-start his dead battery. By late morning, the temperature had risen all the way to 18 — below zero.
"This is about as cold as it gets, this is bad. There's no wind — it's just cold," said McDougall, 48, a worker at The Fisherman, a convenience store and gas station in the town on the Canadian border. "People just don't go out, unless you have to go to work."
Residents of the area use electric engine block heaters to keep their cars from freezing.
"You plug in your car, for sure, and you put the car in the garage if you can," McDougall said. His garage is full of other things, so he had to park outside — a "big mistake."
The previous record low for Feb. 11 in International Falls was 37 below, set in 1967, said meteorologist Mike Stewart at the weather service in Duluth.
The temperature also fell to 40 below in Embarrass, 80 miles southeast of International Falls. That's just one degree above the all-time record in Minneapolis, 250 miles to the south, that was set in January 1888, the weather service said.
It was also a cold day in Winter. The town in northwest Wisconsin chilled to a low of 25 below.
"You don't want to be out there too long," said Winter area resident Bill Warner, 37.
The chilly air also blew into the Northeast on Monday and many schools in New York state between Buffalo and Syracuse closed or opened late. Single-digit temperatures plus wind drove the wind chill factor to nearly 20 below across much of upstate New York.
New York state got more than 3 feet of lake-effect snow Monday along the east end of Lake Ontario as the cold wind picked up moisture from the lake. "The highway crews are having a difficult time keeping up with the amount of snow and blowing conditions," said Oswego Town Supervisor Victoria Mullen.
South of the coldest air mass, freezing rain hit southwest Missouri, making roads hazardous and closing schools. Ice was more than an inch thick in places, authorities said. Several thousand lost electricity in the Springfield area when lines iced over and ice-covered limbs crashed onto power lines.
"It's treacherous" Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Dan Bracker said in Springfield.
As the precipitation moved eastward out of Missouri, the weather service posted winter storm and snow warnings for parts of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.
Hundreds of West Virginia homes and businesses had no electricity Monday, down from several thousand, after weekend wind gusts of up to 55 mph. At least nine counties closed schools because of power outages and the cold. The mountain city of Elkins had a low of 6 above.
Classes also were canceled Monday for a number of schools in Michigan, which remained in a deep freeze after a weekend of single-digit temperatures and gusty wind. One death was blamed on the weather there. |
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Crit40
Posts:2483
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| 02/12/2008 9:23 AM |
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I'd say where we live, SW Minnesota, the temperature is probably 10 degrees colder than it is in Omaha. The thing that is bad is the wind. We've had a number of days of 40 to 50 below wind chill......and it sucks.
But the summers are pretty nice. We can take the boat out any night during the week and water ski or go tubing or go fishing, or just tootle around. So I guess we're trading off really crappy winters for some pretty cool summers.
I guess I would anticipate we'll be here for maybe 4 or 5 years and then will move back down to God's Country. We'll see.
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Counting the Herd one hoof at a time. |
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vranged
Posts:2813
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| 02/12/2008 9:33 AM |
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Didn't Al Gore win a Nobel Peace Prize for saying it was too warm?
I mean, I know the guy invented the Internet, so we should respect what he has to say, but it doesn't feel TOO WARM to me out there. |
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After acknowledging that he was desperate, Dwight said "people will resort to saying things they know aren't true when they are desperate." That about sums it up! |
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Omahan
Posts:3699
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| 02/12/2008 9:43 AM |
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| Ever been to Buffalo Minnesota Crit40? |
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Crit40
Posts:2483
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| 02/12/2008 9:46 AM |
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| Never been to Buffalo, MN. |
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Counting the Herd one hoof at a time. |
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Omahan
Posts:3699
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| 02/12/2008 9:47 AM |
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| Near St. Cloud - has a lake there. (No!) |
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Crit40
Posts:2483
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| 02/12/2008 9:52 AM |
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| I believe St. Cloud is a little further North and East. Buffalo, I think is just North East of the Twin Cities, and I think their are probably numerous lakes in that area. |
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Counting the Herd one hoof at a time. |
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Omahan
Posts:3699
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| 02/12/2008 9:57 AM |
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| I have family in Buffalo that live on the lake there. Nice place in the summer except the mosquitos. |
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Crit40
Posts:2483
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| 02/12/2008 10:20 AM |
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Yeah, mosquitos CAN definitely be an issue, although last summer, we only had about a week and a half where they were unbearable. Otherwise, it wasn't too bad.
My cologn of choice during the summer - Deep Woods Off. |
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Counting the Herd one hoof at a time. |
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Omahan
Posts:3699
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| 02/12/2008 10:26 AM |
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Nice choice of cologne indeed. For outdoorsmen though, there is no place like Minnesota.
I am not one. I would prefer to enjoy life predominantly from the window. Unless it is beautiful outside of course. |
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Bugeater
Posts:971
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| 02/12/2008 10:31 AM |
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Omahan
Posts:3699
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| 02/12/2008 10:33 AM |
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| Nothing comes up Bugeater on my screen. |
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Bugeater
Posts:971
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| 02/12/2008 10:35 AM |
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| Heh, I know, the url had the "F" word in it, so I had to change it. D@mn filters. |
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Logan
Posts:2525
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| 02/15/2008 10:26 PM |
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| god i miss dwight. |
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dwight, refuting reality one post at a time. |
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