Thursday 19 January 2012

Our Winter Experiment

Our winter here in Saskatoon has been mild for the most part.  We had one cold weekend in November, but other than that, the temperatures have been on average probably in the 20's (F).  But on Sunday, we got somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-6 inches of snow, and with it came brutally cold weather.  For the past 3 days, we have had wind chill advisories.  The highs during the day have been about -25C (-13F)  and lows have been about-40C/F.  The wind chills have been as low as -45C (-50F).

So, what has this meant for us?
  • Exposed skin can develop frostbite within 10 minutes
  • Plugging the cars in
  • Snowpants for the kiddos
  • No more walking to school
  • Gurggling toilets???
  • Fun experiments...
Casey heard from the guys at the plant that it was so cold that you could throw a cup of hot water into the air and it would freeze.  So, Casey and I, being the engineers that we are, had to try it out.  Below is the video of our experiment.  At the time of the experiment, it was -28C (-18F) and felt like -40C/F.  I apologize for the sideways video, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to rotate it!!!



The good news is the weather is supposed to warm up...next week is supposed to be in the 20's (F).  But there is more snow in our future this weekend.  I can take the snow though!  And probably the worst news is that I'm sure this isn't the last of this brutally cold weather!  Predictions are that the cold weather will last longer.  We definitely have at least two more whole months of winter ahead of us!