The Ongoing Super Mega Weather Thread v3

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

My youngest was at the bus stop for 20 minutes this morning and his bus didn't come. According to my wife he ran home crying. That's just not going to happen in +30 degrees.

Standing in one place for a long time in direct sunlight at 30-35 degrees is pretty unpleasant too. I was doing that waiting for a shuttle bus this summer and was desperately hoping it would show up soon because I had no shade.

I can add layers to stay warm. I can't remove more layers to cool off. -30 still sucks, though.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

I'm one of the heat seekers, but I don't have to plan to move to where that is. despite these dumb arctic vortexes, the heat is coming our way year over year and there's nothing the weirdo polar bear people can do about it.

Haha, this is the best one yet. Global warming is ****ing up our planet as we speak and there's nothing you losers can do to stop the awesome weather as result!!!!

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

+30 won't kill you unless you're outside for days without any hydration

direct sunlight is uncomfortable but in a city or near the mountains it's not like there's any shortage of shade

-30 could actually kill you and in a relatively short amount of time

a friend of mine actually froze to death in conditions like these. other factors may have been at play .. but consider me firmly on team +30

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

+30 won't kill you unless you're outside for days without any hydration

direct sunlight is uncomfortable but in a city or near the mountains it's not like there's any shortage of shade

-30 could actually kill you and in a relatively short amount of time

a friend of mine actually froze to death in conditions like these. other factors may have been at play .. but consider me firmly on team +30

Yeah, no ####, but let's not pretend clothes don't exist.

[photon]

It's always 21 if I stay inside away from the giant ball of fusion and the near absolute zero infinite heatsink of space.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Why are +30 and -30 even the options? That makes no sense. It’s not like 0 is some perfect equilibrium of human comfort. Nor is it the most common average temperature in Calgary.

We should be comparing temps that occur with the same frequency. And we should also compare when they happen. Like it’s totally different for the low to be -30 at 3am than it is for it to be +30 from 11am to 5pm.

Comparing -30 to +30 as a binary choice is nonsensical.

[Mazrim]

I went and updated this post based on the long-range forecast for the rest of this year:

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Your post made me curious so I went and checked the last 5 years of temperatures to see how often we hit +30 and -30 at any time during a given day. I added this year on just for fun. It looks like you'll only have to invoke the memory of hot days once or twice a year on average.

+30 Days
2022 - Jul 12/28/29, Aug 1/7/11/12/13/30/31, Sept 2/3/4
2021 - Jun 2/3/14/22/26/27/28/29/30, Jul 1/10/14/30/31, Aug 1/3/5/13/14/15
2020 - Aug 16/17/18
2019 - Jul 23, Aug 2/21
2018 - Jul 6/13/16/17/30, Aug 9/10/22
2017 - Jun 26, Jul 7/9/13/15/23/27, Aug 13/23/27/30, Sept 2/6/7

-30 Days
2022 - Dec 19/20
2021 - Feb 11, Dec 26/27
2020 - Jan 13/14/15
2019 - Mar 2
2018 - Jan 1
2017 - Feb 7, Dec 31

[OutOfTheCube]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Why are +30 and -30 even the options? That makes no sense. It’s not like 0 is some perfect equilibrium of human comfort. Nor is it the most common average temperature in Calgary.

We should be comparing temps that occur with the same frequency. And we should also compare when they happen. Like it’s totally different for the low to be -30 at 3am than it is for it to be +30 from 11am to 5pm.

Comparing -30 to +30 as a binary choice is nonsensical.

Anywhere from around +18 to +21 is the optimal temperature for human existence, that's why we keep our homes and buildings at that temperature.

As such, +30 is much closer to the optimal temperature than -30 is.

I think that's the only objective argument to be made.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Why are +30 and -30 even the options? That makes no sense. It’s not like 0 is some perfect equilibrium of human comfort. Nor is it the most common average temperature in Calgary.

We should be comparing temps that occur with the same frequency. And we should also compare when they happen. Like it’s totally different for the low to be -30 at 3am than it is for it to be +30 from 11am to 5pm.

Comparing -30 to +30 as a binary choice is nonsensical.

Because they're nice numbers away from 0. It's pretty simple instead of picking numbers you like more. You can compare +20 and -20 if you'd like. Someone who sets the air conditioning/heat to 18 degrees might have a different range they want to compare than someone who sets it at 23 degrees.

Lots of people in this forum live in a place where both +30 and -30 don't get hit too regularly so it's not unreasonable.

[woob]

I don't mind -30 if it's just me. I spent 40 minutes doing the walk, shuffling the cars around (had to park the truck in front of the house to plug it in, and the wagon in the alley in an attempt to protect it from the wind since it doesn't have a block heater) and it was so quiet and peaceful.

However, factor in the kids and I want to fire myself into the sun in -30 weather.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

I'd suspect room temperature vs -20 would be a very different conversation

[Ducay]

-30 obviously is worse. At -15 there is more of an argument - vis-a-vis what people enjoy more, but at -30, many things start closing down, so all the fun winter activities that 'team cold' enjoy are closed. No outdoor skiing/sports, etc. You can also die very easily. Look at heat deaths vs cold deaths in Calgary and its no contest, despite having more +30 days than -30.

Its not even a contest, we regularly have +30 and its nothing extreme. -30 sucks balls and much of regular winter life is restricted. Planes, cars, etc, are often impacted, etc. I could go on for days.

As long as its only our resident contrarian advocating for -30, we're okay. I'm not saying there is nothing to enjoy about -30, but you're lying if you said you'd take -30 forever over +30

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

+30 won't kill you unless you're outside for days without any hydration

direct sunlight is uncomfortable but in a city or near the mountains it's not like there's any shortage of shade

-30 could actually kill you and in a relatively short amount of time

a friend of mine actually froze to death in conditions like these. other factors may have been at play .. but consider me firmly on team +30

+30 can kill people relatively quickly as well.

But again, as always, the argument seems to be “+30 isn’t so bad as long as you have shelter and hydration and shade! -30 is terrible because you have no choice but to be naked outside!”

It’s just not an even relatively meaningful comparison.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

Anywhere from around +18 to +21 is the optimal temperature for human existence, that's why we keep our homes and buildings at that temperature.

As such, +30 is much closer to the optimal temperature than -30 is.

I think that's the only objective argument to be made.

Right? The scale is way off.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Its not even a contest, we regularly have +30 and its nothing extreme. -30 sucks balls and much of regular winter life is restricted. Planes, cars, etc, are often impacted, etc. I could go on for days.

Oh I used to love cold days like this for flying light aircraft. Crazy fantastic performance in that thick air, and usually perfectly smooth conditions. Now getting the plane ready in the cold sucked, but it was always worth it.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Because they're nice numbers away from 0. It's pretty simple instead of picking numbers you like more. You can compare +20 and -20 if you'd like. Someone who sets the air conditioning/heat to 18 degrees might have a different range they want to compare than someone who sets it at 23 degrees.

Lots of people in this forum live in a place where both +30 and -30 don't get hit too regularly so it's not unreasonable.

Wait what? You are the one who literally posted the actual occurrences showing they don’t happen at anywhere near the same frequency thus supporting my point how bad of a comparison it is. But somehow you think it’s a good one?

[Barnes]

I hate the cold because it brings in these nightly skiffs of snow. -28 and 2cms of snow turn the 6 traffic circles I have to navigate to get anywhere into Olympic quality short track speed skating rinks.

[OutOfTheCube]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Right? The scale is way off.

Yes - +40 to -30 is a more reasonable comparison, where at +40 it becomes just as difficult to do things comfortably and safely outside without dramatic measures taken. But it never gets to +40 here, so it's a tough comparison to actually think about in your head.

[Muta]

I'm curious to see how next winter is too. Apparently we're about to come off a rare three-year La Niña cycle (ending in Spring 2023) which is helping to explain the abundant cold air and snow this season. Feels like we've been blasted with extremely cold temperatures way more than usual since November.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Right? The scale is way off.

Yup, if 20 is optimal, and -30 is the benchmark, we should be comparing it to +70. 50 degrees either way from optimal is the only fair comparison. I'll take -30 over +70 any day.