Record 40 below in Minnesota today.

[taxi1]

My question is how fast a lake would make ice at this temperature with no snow cover. Anyone know? I've seen my ponds make an inch a day with no snow cover with temps in the single digits. That was in the early stages of a few inches. Addtionally does the freezing rate slow down when the ice gets thick enough as it may act as an insulator? Curious minds want to know.


MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) -- The temperature in International Falls, Minnesota, fell to a record 40 below zero Monday, just a few days after the northern Minnesota town won a federal trademark making it officially the "Icebox of the Nation."


Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, residents braved a temperature of 10 degrees on Monday.

 It was so cold that resident Nick McDougall couldn't even get his car trunk lid to close after he got out his charger to kick-start his dead battery. By late morning, the temperature had risen all the way to 18 -- below zero.

"This is about as cold as it gets, this is bad. There's no wind -- it's just cold," said McDougall, 48, a worker at The Fisherman, a convenience store and gas station in the town on the Canadian border. "People just don't go out, unless you have to go to work."

Residents of the area use electric engine block heaters to keep their cars from freezing.

"You plug in your car, for sure, and you put the car in the garage if you can," McDougall said. His garage is full of other things, so he had to park outside -- a "big mistake."

The previous record low in International Falls was 37 below, set in 1967, said meteorologist Mike Stewart at the weather service in Duluth. The cold was expected, he said: "When the winds finally died off and the skies cleared off, it just dropped."

The temperature also fell to 40 below in Embarrass, 80 miles southeast of International Falls. That's just one degree above the all-time record in Minneapolis, 250 miles to the south, that was set in January 1888, the weather service said.

Chilly air also spread into the Northeast on Monday and many schools in New York state between Buffalo and Syracuse closed or opened late. Single-digit temperatures plus high wind drove the wind chill factor to nearly 20 below across much of upstate New York.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had a "Code Blue" alert in effect, sending outreach crews to coax homeless people into shelters. Monday's low was 10 above zero.

Farther south, freezing rain hit southwest Missouri early Monday, making roads hazardous and closing schools. A coating of ice up to an inch thick was expected across much of southern and central Missouri, the weather service said.

"It's treacherous. If you can stay home this morning, do it," Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Dan Bracker said in Springfield.


Thousands of West Virginia homes and businesses had no electricity Monday after the state was hit by weekend wind gusts of up to 55 mph. At least nine counties closed schools because of power outages and the cold -- the mountain city of Elkins had a low of 6 above.

Classes also were canceled Monday for a number of schools in Michigan, which remained in a deep freeze after a weekend of single-digit temperatures and gusty wind. One death was blamed on the weather.

[PeteTown]

in sask we have bin dealing with those temperatures for weeks but even colder........ha

[mainedukblaster]

this may help... but it doesn't go down to your temps but it will give some Idea.. wow wish we had that cold for a day or two here, to help solidify the slush we have now!

[jayswimmer09]

nice chart!!! thatl be helpfull

[TJG]

My question is how fast a lake would make ice at this temperature with no snow cover. Anyone know? I've seen my ponds make an inch a day with no snow cover with temps in the single digits. That was in the early stages of a few inches. Addtionally does the freezing rate slow down when the ice gets thick enough as it may act as an insulator? Curious minds want to know.

Ice freezes from the bottom up when formed, so snow cover impeds it from
there. If u get snow after the first freeze, u may have to take care on the
heavier snow covered spots. Nice chart!

[acer7]

It has been cold hear to in northwester Ontario (love it)

[Skipper]

Something just isn't right

I have personally seen 53 below and Tower has a recorded by the weather service 63 below. It is on the books, I just looked!

I was talking to a lady who lived in Tower on that record day in 1996 a few days ago. She said that everyone made a point to get to the bar and have a beer, so they could say that the cold was "no big deal".!!!!

We take a crack at -40 a few times a year!

To answer your question..... We had 50mph winds on Saturday night, with that cold and the wind to boot, Id bet we made an inch or two. No one around here pays any mind to ice thickness once we surpass 18''. 18'' of ice will hold up just about anything, after that no one cares how thick it is.

[TJG]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330332,00.html

[taxi1]

Something just isn't right

I have personally seen 53 below and Tower has a recorded by the weather service 63 below. It is on the books, I just looked!

I was talking to a lady who lived in Tower on that record day in 1996 a few days ago. She said that everyone made a point to get to the bar and have a beer, so they could say that the cold was "no big deal".!!!!

We take a crack at -40 a few times a year!

To answer your question..... We had 50mph winds on Saturday night, with that cold and the wind to boot, Id bet we made an inch or two. No one around here pays any mind to ice thickness once we surpass 18''. 18'' of ice will hold up just about anything, after that no one cares how thick it is.

I think it was a record for February 11th not for the winter. That's what may be confusing you.

[taxi1]

this may help... but it doesn't go down to your temps but it will give some Idea.. wow wish we had that cold for a day or two here, to help solidify the slush we have now!
(Image removed from quote.)

Maineduckblaster.

Cool chart! So although we do not know how fast ice would form at -40 F. we do know ice thickness has a bearing on how fast it forms and ice does act as it's own insulation.

[Barleydog]

I have to say that your ice is forming quick, even with limited snow cover.  It takes quite a bit of snow to really impeed it's growth in below zero weather.
-40    We just did two weeks of stuff and finally got sick of it...  We sure are glad you all have that nice stuff now!  The nicest thing about -40 to -60 is that when it breaks to -10, you can sport a T-shirt outside because it feels like summer.

[pikemaster789]

Id go out and jig without a shanty in that kind of weather

[Skipper]

I think it was a record for February 11th not for the winter. That's what may be confusing you.

Gotcha.

[taxi1]

Id go out and jig without a shanty in that kind of weather

You'd have to do a jig or you'd freeze in place!    

[Fishin Fireman]

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) -- The temperature in International Falls, Minnesota, fell to a record 40 below zero Monday, just a few days after the northern Minnesota town won a federal trademark making it officially the "Icebox of the Nation."

Well when I woke up on Sunday, the last day of our week long deep freeze to - 46*F below zero and that was about every morning for the last week.

So if they consider your town the "icebox of the nation", then North Pole Alaska, must be the "Absolute Zero of North America.

Apparently those peole who called it that, have never truly visited  a true Northern climate like NW Canada  and Alaska in the winter.

[moosehunter]

can you even ice fish up there in that cold?

[fisher2hunter]

wow i think i like this chart lol