My sister back home in Illinois said they are talking about closing schools because of the extreme cold. It is predicted to be a 40 below windchill in north central Illinois on Wednesday.

They are talking the possibility of 40-50 below wind chills on Wednesday.

We were forecast to get anywhere from 5 to 12" of snow, today, but things are really slowing down, in my part of the state. I don't think we got even 4". It looks like, from west to east, they are slowly scaling back the storm warning to a weather advisory. Hopefully they can get the roads cleared off and salted before the temps get too low for salt to work.

It's a calculated number that combines wind speed with the temperature. The idea being that moving air removes more heat, faster from a person's body. Inanimate objects are mostly unaffected by wind chill. How fast your car cools down is not really important.

Wind chill is a measure of how quickly exposed skin could freeze. No sane person goes outdoors with exposed skin in the type of temperatures we will have in the next week.

One can't measure wind chill with just a thermometer. As you have shown, wind speed and calculations come into play.

The statement that wind chills can't be measured by a thermometer is factual.

On the bright side, Thursday to Saturday is supposed to warm up 66 degrees in a fewer number of hours.

I'm surprised that someone who writes technical documentation could conflate a thermometer with with a thermometer/anemometer/computer. Two very distinct devices. I say again, there is no thermometer that can measure wind chill temperature.

People in Minnesota understand wind chills. In other places, not so much. The post I replied to asked if people's thermometer went down to -50 wind chill temperatures. To me, that indicates the person is not familiar with what wind chill temperatures are. So I tried to explain what they are.

I don't know why you want to disagree, but but I'll play. Show me your simple thermometer that measures wind chill temperatures. So far, you haven't.

I think mine here goes to -60 F.

god help the homeless

All our snow melted in one 45 degree day (with heavy rain) and the next day we were back in the 20's again, with more snow.
Craziest January, but strangely warmer than previous years.

Big globs of air must move from equator to poles and, of course, be replaced by big globs of air moving from poles to equator. The big blanket we've created traps more energy and makes everything in the atmosphere and the ocean more enthusiastic in its movements.

The planet is doing a hot-foot dance.

more water evaporating into the air on your example of warm air traveling from the equator to the poles. When evaporation in the air cools and precipitation happens, whether as rain or snow, there is more of it. That’s why weather is more severe. Simplistic? Yes, but also true.

If the scientists would start off their explanations of climate change with your example and mine people would get it. Then once they get this concept you can get much more detailed into the complexities.

There are Fox cultists around me and they tend to be climate deniers (in support of their orange hero). I've had some good luck getting them to question their denial by telling them to watch a pot of water slowly heating on the stove. You can see the water swirl with just a little heat added. More heat yields bigger swirls. The worst response was, "Yeah, but man is not big enough to change God's world". The best was, "There might be something to this climate change stuff."

We simply need to use our collective power, through government, to change industries rather than individuals who may never accept science.

is climate change.

It is the single most important issue for the planet’s ability to sustain our survival. We need to get on this yesterday.

snow (a rarity) and 2 degrees on Wednesday. This is in the frigging Tennessee Valley. It will be much colder in the mountains.

Today? It's 56 degrees. I was working outside without a coat.

It rained, snowed, sleeted, rained again and snowed and it was 15 below. Stay safe, sister - I've got spare long johns if you need 'em. I didn't do Michigan much (Manitowok) but cousins in Milwaukee would call saying "SEND MORE PARKAS".

I do worry for those who are uninformed of how harsh and inexplicable weather can be. If anyone needs help with winter clothes, let us know.

Stay safe.

Be ready for whatever.

I'm getting ready to run the snowthrower. The city truck has just plowed the snow onto the bottom of everyone's driveway, so I'll clear that heavy pile from a few of the neighbors' drives.

My car is at the mechanic's, probably for most of the week, but it might be foolish to count on Mother Nature to clear most of this away, before I get it back.

My neighbor always takes care of it, if I don't get to it, or can't get my snow blower started. Unfortunately, it's very sensitive to cold weather.

72 today, 35 tonight, 52 tomorrow. Similar weather, 50s/30s until Friday when it's in the 70s again.

I'm scared crapless for her We grew up in Alabama so she's isn't use to driving in that mess or temps that cold. She called this morning to tell me she made it to work, and that it wasn't so bad because they closed up so much of the area that there wasn't a lot of traffic. I can't imagine weather like that. She is probably on her drive home now. 30 miles

And it's STILL snowing!

By Tuesday night the low will be -20 to -25.

But our forecast for Wednesday has improved, with a high of -10, and low of -31. Those are actual temperatures, not wind chills. Then they’re claiming a high of 41 on Sunday? That’s nuts.

Edited to add that the wind chill on Wednesday is supposed to be -63. That’s warmer than the -65 that they had been predicting!

Kansas has no major landforms to block, slow down, or divert weather systems, we often get wild weather swings.

So I had to break out the old shovel. Only bothered with one side of the driveway. Maybe I'll do the rest, tomorrow. Maybe I'll wait for Sunday's warmer temps and rain to take care of it.

This afternoon's temps weren't bad - about 22. Tomorrow's high will be 11, and with Wednesday not even breaking 0, well, the only time I'm leaving the house is to check the mail box!!

In MO, we just dug out, but hopefully we won't get very much this time around, but who knows!?

Careful w/ your back, and hopefully the weather will coop w/ you in letting the rest of the snow melt off naturally!

Almost TOO light and fluffy - it was hard to keep it on the shovel!

I'm about 99% sure I'll leave the rest to its own devices.

Sounds like our regular weather patterns.

edited add: just checked our forecast. 16 Wednesday, 55 by Saturday, 59 Sunday. Not unusual for this time of year.

When do Tornado's get named,I feel so left out sometimes.........

I think I would curl up in a fetal position and CRY!

It was 72 here today, tomorrow we'll be in the 50's. Our winter weather has been really weird this year. It's been warm. We need a few good hard freezes to kill the bugs!

Bundle up and stay warm!!!

I'm actually okay with this weather right now - it's supposed to be cold in January in Michigan.

The 40s and higher with rain - not so natural.

A week with out power and Carbon Monoxide poisoning kind of ruined the season, for me. It's the other 3 seasons that keep me here. I simply endure and survive Winter.

How was it discovered? This terrifies me. We have detectors but it's still scary.

We've lost power and had our furnace conk out during some nasty cold snaps. No fun.

I don't love winter, either. I guess I just accept it.

I was flat on my back, under 2 feather comforters, most of the time. When I stood up, to check the generator (that was in the open doorway of the opened screened in portch!) I thought my light headedness was due to the gas fumes I was smelling. I was having to go out and buy more gas, several times a day, so I was getting some fresh air. Now I realize that if the gas fumes were getting in, so would any CO fumes. But, by that point, I had been pretty much without food or sleep for 3 days and my thinking wasn't very clear.

Because my mother was suffering from Alzheimer's, and my sister from cancer, all of the family was tied up taking care of them, so I was pretty much on my own.

My brother spelled me, one night, and I went to stay with my mom. It seems he's way more sensitive to that gas, because as soon as he's anywhere near it, he starts dry wretching. That's how he realized what was happening so he opened all of the windows and ran out to get a CO detector. That started going off RIGHT at about my eye level so one more day and I likely would have died.

We had to keep the generator as close to the house as possible, because people were stealing them, right and left. We thought the placement was safe, but the wind shifted and got really strong, and that blew the fumes back into the house. It's an older house but we still did everything we could think of, to be safe, including taping plastic over the windows. But, it still found a way to get in.

The only real after effect I had was I lost my sense of taste for about 6 months. And now I have an installed generator, in an outside storage area, that is wired to the house.