It's very cold. If you are reading this from someplace warm, put on a coat and some gloves while I try to explain how cold it is.
This morning, when I got down to the kitchen, I looked at the thermometer because I heard it was supposed to be a cold night. The thermometer read 15°. That's cold. But hey, at least the high today was 20°, right? As we speak, it's fallen back to 18°, and may go to the single digits tonight.
So how cold is 15°? Here are some cold experience to help you visualize it.
First, the snow. It snowed last night also. I think it might have been an
Alberta Clipper, because it was real dry fluffy snow - the kind that blows around a lot. It's been below freezing for long enough that the snow doesn't melt when it hits the ground, but it doesn't stick either, because it's not wet snow.
OK, back to the story. 15° is cold enough that the house doesn't stay as warm as you'd like. You may set the thermostat to 70°, but you'll probably be more like 66°. That's due in part to the fact that my house has a few drafts, and I'm unsure about the insulation, but it was also very windy (the wind chill was zero this morning).
My car started, but it was very rough initially, even though it's in great shape, fully serviced, plenty of gas, etc. If you had a diesel fueled car, you'd probably want to start thinking about plugging in the fuel heater in this weather.
Windshield washer freezes at 15°. Not right away, though. It stays liquid in the tank, but when it is squirted out on the windshield, the alcohol evaporates, and the stuff that is left freezes to the windshield. There is a trick to this, and it's about running the wipers fast, moving the car a bit, and trying to get the windshield clean while the alcohol evaporates, so that it doesn't freeze up and obstruct your vision. By the way, it's really neat to watch this stuff freeze. You can literally watch it ripple and bubble across the windshield.
Even with the sun out, the inch or so of snow we had didn't melt. That's another sign of how cold 15° really is. Usually, in bright sun like today, the sun will heat up the pavement, and the snow will start to melt. Not today. In places with a lot of exposure there was a bit of melting, but not my driveway, front walk, stairs, etc. With light, dry, fluffy snow like this (and only an inch to boot), we usually don't shovel, because it is usually melted by noon. This snow, however, is going to be around for a bit, even though it wasn't much.
When I was a kid, I'd walk to the school bus with my hair still wet from the shower, and on really cold days my hair would freeze by the time I got on the school bus. I have a feeling it's that cold out now, although I don't walk out of the house with wet hair anymore.
And the sound of the snow is different. It makes a crunchy sound as it compacts under your shoes. There are many different types of walking on snow sounds. There's the silent sound of walking over a fresh, dry coating like last night. There's the slushy sound of heavy wet snow like a Nor'Easter. There's the cracking sound of walking over wet snow that has melted, and then a shell has frozen over the top. There's the ice sound of wet snow that's been through a hard freeze and is essentially ice. And then there's the crunchy sound of dry snow that is in essentially the same state as when it falls, compacting when you step on it.
And you can throw down rock salt, as I did tonight, but without the sun around, it doesn't do much. It provides a little traction (although you don't really need it in this light stuff), and it will melt a little bit of snow, but it needs the (relative) warmth of the day to really work.
But I like the cold. I like the winter. It's my second favorite season behind fall. More to the point, I like to have four seasons, and it looks like this winter is going to kick butt.
