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nattarbox t1_j76imh1 wrote

Coldest I’ve seen anywhere. But it’s gonna be 40F+ on Monday so it just kinda feels like a novelty event or something.

The 1-2 week stretches we sometimes get in the winter where it’s never above freezing, easily worse.

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A_Man_Who_Writes t1_j772yk6 wrote

Agreed! Winter of 2017-2018 had a weeks long stretch of single digit weather. That was BRUTAL. This is easily the coldest a lot of us have ever experienced, but it’s so incredibly short lived.

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alidub36 t1_j77ilm6 wrote

Yup I remember working in Kendall square that winter and the Charles was frozen. I would much rather have one short ultra cold snap than weeks of sub 20 with single digit windchills

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Hot_Dog_34 t1_j77px1s wrote

Yeah that was awful. My drains froze and i had to wait for them to thaw. I was in grad school at the time and just showered at the university which was miserable

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drmaximus602 t1_j76c90y wrote

I think once you are over forty years old, you have to drop the half years.

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mcgoo2 t1_j76csxy wrote

Totally blew past that without noticing but this is true and hilarious. Think the cutoff is closer to six.

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Tigger3-groton t1_j772jyy wrote

My granddaughter is 7 and she does half-years, I’m 78 and started using them again, bragging about surviving 😀

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RikersTrombone t1_j76jo49 wrote

I like to count my age in months.

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lalaw39 t1_j7acyyf wrote

I can't stand those Moms who continue to count their baby's age in months after 1 year old. They're all, oh she's 37 months old now! Umm no, lady.

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1_disasta t1_j77z4ud wrote

So I cant keep telling people I am 483 months old?

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ARoundForEveryone t1_j76q975 wrote

I think 40 is still giving a lot of grace time. I'd say mid 20s. Until you're nearing retirement. If you can collect benefits at 65 1/2, then you can start with the half years at 63 1/2, but only in the context of retirement, or other things where 65 1/2 is relevant. Otherwise you're wasting precious moments, heartbeats, and breaths on unnecessary nonsense.

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Linux-Is-Best t1_j76duab wrote

No, this is not the coldest, but it has become rare as of late, for it to get this cold. Furthermore, the weather would gradually decline over time, so both us and nature could adjust.

The global warming deniers will point to these few days and say, "see, this is fine." This is not fine. A few extreme temperatures or the occasional snowstorm do not make up for the whole season or seasons prior.

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Unique-Public-8594 t1_j76hkpf wrote

Climate change should have been named “extreme weather” or “dangerous weather” (not global warming) so people would understand it.

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HugeSuccess t1_j76sewk wrote

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” — Upton Sinclair

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Hoosac_Love OP t1_j76e5bc wrote

I have not seen western Massachusetts this cold in 47 years

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Linux-Is-Best t1_j76lwvu wrote

I am 41, soon to be 42 (this March), and I have. This used to be fairly common. You can even look up historical weather patterns and they record that these conditions once were not unusual.

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mousegriff t1_j76ncoy wrote

I don't know what the temperature was but I remember schools being closed for a cold day sometime between 2000 and 2003.

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NativeMasshole t1_j76qdun wrote

I think it was 2004. This is the coldest temp since then.

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snug666 t1_j76y8qf wrote

It was -8. I remember this so well. Always thought it was the coldest I’d see, but it was -8 this morning with the sun out.

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Checkers923 t1_j77d6jf wrote

Yep, I remember that. They needed to extend the school year to make up for all of the snow days plus the cold day.

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anotherwinter29 t1_j78hghg wrote

Yup I was probably in my freshman or sophomore year of HS at this time. We couldn’t believe it because my school district hardly ever closed. Like there could be a foot a snow and if you were lucky you got a two-hour delay.

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goPACK17 t1_j79jiao wrote

I love how I remember this day too 😂

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b34rman t1_j76xze4 wrote

“The lowest ever recorded temperature in the US was hit today in Mount Washington, New Hampshire windchill of -78°C (-108°F)!”

Source: https://sauropods.win/@futurebird/109806770885105311

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kelvin_bot t1_j76y0en wrote

-78°C is equivalent to -108°F, which is 195K.

^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)

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TomatoManTM t1_j76ocbl wrote

Got to -10º where I am... not the coldest I've ever seen it here, but close. Probably the lowest wind chill though, I don't remember any time when it was that cold with a howling wind.

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Crazyhellga t1_j76etar wrote

Not in Massachusetts, but the coldest temperature I have ever personally experienced is -53 Fahrenheit. But I never thought coastal areas would experience such rapid and dramatic temperature fluctuations as we are seeing now.

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kdex86 t1_j77wda5 wrote

It was reported on TV that Boston hit double-digits below zero for the first time since 1957 - that’s 66 years ago!

So for me (age 36) this is the coldest I’ve seen it. Valentine’s Day 2016 was almost as cold (-9).

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March_Latter t1_j76sv6a wrote

There was a far colder stretch about 6 years ago maybe. Over 40 days below freezing on the coast. The houses would bang at night from the wood getting so cold.

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CatCranky t1_j76yyfy wrote

Im in Boston and I’m 54 Never experienced it this bad before. Boston broke a record last held in 1881 so I assume the same is true for where you are.

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donkadunny t1_j768l3c wrote

I can’t remember a time feeling specifically this cold outside. Brutal.

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[deleted] t1_j77jest wrote

Yes, by far. With the wind yesterday I was wincing in pain just being outdoors. I've never experienced cold like that here before.

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spokchewy t1_j76k683 wrote

This is common in North Dakota but not around here. Coldest I’ve seen in MA, for sure, and broke my weather station record low by 10 degrees (it’s been up for about 3 years)

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movdqa t1_j76iqc7 wrote

We used to have regular, colder weather in the 1960s - at least that's my recollection. We had more snow too.

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wkomorow t1_j76l8ti wrote

Growing up here in the Berkshires I remember February with temperatures in the teens with lots of snow on the ground. A couple of days we might have minus temperatures, but nothing like this. Looking out the window there are only patches of snow, mostly from piles left by the plows. I do wonder about my fruit trees, strawberries and other perennials, because they usually have a snow blanket to protect their roots.

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Hoosac_Love OP t1_j76u9rl wrote

I'm near rt 2 now and little snow if any on Greylock

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sedevilc2 t1_j76ubdg wrote

Yes. Part of my kitchen is cantilevered over the back yard with no foundation underneath so it is always a few degrees colder than the rest of the house. This morning at 9 am it was 47 degrees in the kitchen and 64 degrees in the dining room where the thermostat is.

The dilemma, should I pay thousands to add a foundation or get takeout on the few days per winter that it is a real inconvenience.

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Old_Pyrate t1_j77kvwf wrote

Or the opposite of takeout. Bake something that takes a while so the oven heats the kitchen.

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travelinlighttoparad t1_j772nny wrote

you add a small fan. Placed up high to push heat into the kitchen. You don't need a big fan, once the flow sets up it should even out the temps.

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Hoosac_Love OP t1_j76uihw wrote

My downstairs neighbor lost his furnace this morning

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Tigger3-groton t1_j77265r wrote

-25 F air temperature, there was a stretch in December of 1980 when the daytime high was 0, overnight between 20 & 25 below

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Wizard01475 t1_j7771ag wrote

It was -17° in Winchendon this morning. That was the temp not including windchill. While it gets cold every year, and sometimes for longer stretches. Negative single digits hurts but isn’t uncommon. Below -10° and now that’s scraping the bottom. This feels like the the coldest I’ve seen since at least 2004. They closed down the schools for a “cold day” with windchills at -40°. I don’t remember the actual temp but it was “negative something”

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Hoosac_Love OP t1_j77f2ek wrote

My phone said neg. 23 but thermometers are inconsistent,I think my latop said neg 17

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pillbinge t1_j77lmmx wrote

Maybe in a single day. I remember years ago (I was either in high school or college) there was a winter where temperatures were regularly a little warmer than this. Weeks of it.

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Hoosac_Love OP t1_j77n88p wrote

It's weird to have had such a cold day in a very warm winter overall

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JaKr8 t1_j785z2i wrote

-18 in SoCo this morning. We are up pretty high however. Never seen it this cold, but only lived here for the past 10 yrs.

One of my kids is at school in Northfield MN, they regularly get -25 to 30. But this winter they haven't hit -20 yet. They're at a balmy 32 today out the there.

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rolandofgilead41089 t1_j78bmag wrote

One of the coldest I've seen, but it was the wind I was more concerned with.

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greymaresinspace t1_j76mto3 wrote

yes i am about your age- i dont recall it ever been way way way below zero

Mt Washington also recorded lowest temps ever!

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[deleted] t1_j778qwu wrote

Dang near close. We certainly had some equally cold days 20-30 years ago. I’ve seen -20 a few times at most though

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Sophistrysapien247 t1_j77dbea wrote

Look at the historical weather Temps. Negatives in Massachusetts are relatively common for a day or two every winter

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Hoosac_Love OP t1_j77enbr wrote

Negatives yes but usually between 6-9 below I think before today -12 is the lowest I saw

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Sophistrysapien247 t1_j77euhj wrote

So it's 3 degrees colder than what you remember. Obviously it's dangerously cold and the windchill would be record's I'm sure if we kept track of them. But it's not all that uncommon and it definitely does get overblown (the air temp, not windchill)

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Vegicide t1_j7817lf wrote

This is the coldest I've experienced for sure. I'm 38 and as others have said, the next lowest temperature was before my time. It's definitely the first time the cold has caused my furnace to toss an error code and stop working lol

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celaritas t1_j78io95 wrote

At 41 this takes the cake

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BovaDesnuts t1_j78kyct wrote

It was routinely -17 plus wind in the pioneer Valley in like 2015.

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climb-high t1_j78znms wrote

Yes by a few degrees. I remember it being -6 when i was in elementary school, school was cancelled. Maybe around 2003? But this is colder.

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SharpCookie232 t1_j794ctu wrote

It's ridiculous. This is the first time our pipes ever froze.

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krissym99 t1_j79549z wrote

I swear this is the coldest I've ever felt. I've been here for 19 years. I've been in my current house since 2005 and this is the first time ever that we couldn't even get the downstairs to 60 degrees, even though we've replaced the storm door and windows in recent years.

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Substantial_Tip3885 t1_j797qsa wrote

I’ve seen 40 below in northern Vermont, -8 is probably the coldest I’ve experienced in Massachusetts.

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thegalwayseoige t1_j79dktf wrote

Feb 14, 2016. It briefly hit -60f with peak gusts. I was going to see Lauryn Hill in Brighton, and she (of course) was 2 hours late. We had to explain to the venue that the HAD to open doors, bc it was the type of weather that could kill people.

The numbers coming from Mt Washington are mind-boggling, though. They’re Mars temps.

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glostazyx3 t1_j79fpo8 wrote

This year isn't even close, its very cold no doubt, but it is to be short lived. Winter of 1981, the ocean froze.

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nickelbackpenguin69 t1_j79gpcf wrote

I lived in Chicago during the 2019 polar vortex. It was -23 degrees and -52 with windchill. Our crappy apartment heat couldn’t keep up and it dropped to 55 degrees.

This time, bless our steam boilers that kept it at a toasty 68 degrees last night.

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giob1966 t1_j79jcak wrote

Christmas 1981, it was -17 in Pittsfield. I walked a couple of blocks to my friend's house and thought I might freeze solid.

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abnerkravitz860 t1_j76opft wrote

I am pretty old and I dont think I have ever seen -23 in New England personally, and that includes several years in Maine. Did experience -34 in St Paul though.

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Hoosac_Love OP t1_j76txhp wrote

Me either ,have never seen 20 or more below in New England

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Wonderful-Radish3070 t1_j76s2kq wrote

I remember in High school so probably like 2006 or 2007 they canceled school because the buses wouldn’t start. I think it was negative 42 with the wind chill but I could be wrong

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Potato_Octopi t1_j76v2dl wrote

I remember -13 before wind chill in the past. But yeah it cold.

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FPL712 t1_j76wiq7 wrote

OP-

I’m in Upton and I have an old pic of my dash thermometer of -22 in my driveway. I’d guess it was ‘04 or so.

FPL

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chancimus33 t1_j77hqgg wrote

Nah. The Pats coming back from 28-3 was cold. Way colder.

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lostmindplzhelp t1_j77khfh wrote

Not here on the Upper Cape. The coldest I saw last night was 0°F (wasn't paying too much attention tho, maybe it got a bit colder). I think it was 5-6 years ago we hit -10°F at least once and had more cold days overall.

-23 is crazy though! I'm always amazed how different it can be in other parts of Mass.

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Hoosac_Love OP t1_j77ldph wrote

For sure yea it's weird some towns are 10 degrees colder than others

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spud_simon_salem t1_j78xrj7 wrote

I think the coldest I’ve ever experienced was when I lived in Chicago. It was sometime between 2008 and 2011 and it was -20/-40 with windchill.

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hatersbelearners t1_j79r6qo wrote

Feels like normal February to me.

Transplants need to fuck off.

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B-Roc- t1_j76psdz wrote

Where are all those people from a week ago saying how much they missed the cold?

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Next-Entrepreneur631 t1_j77idjf wrote

Right here 🙋‍♀️ and not complaining about the cold! Lol. Just triple layered for my hike this morning and wishing for snow.

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movdqa t1_j76iviw wrote

I went on a 1/2 mile walk at 10:15 last night. Wind chill was -33. Felt fine. Air temp was -14 I think. The temperature was colder late 2017/early 2018.

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