It's Cold Out There (But Not Here)

As global warming ravages the land with sub-zero wind chills, I just thought I'd rub it in a little bit for those folks enjoying the cool breezes of winter in the midwest. Yesterday, it was 75 out here and partly cloudy. Today will be about the same. *YAWWWWWNN* I was quite comfortable in a short sleeve Hawaiian shirt.

James Lileks points out some of the scenes from Minnesota:

1. Twenty below wind-chill dissuades no one from anything up here; the parking lots were packed wherever I went.

2. The faux-fur-lined parka / heavy boots get-up seems unknown to some in the under-30 set. They came out of the mall hatless in pea coats, hands shoved in pockets. My wispy hipster sideburns will keep me warm.

3. New standard for winter: at the carwash, the rear-view mirrors and windshield froze up the second I rolled off the line, and had to be hand-scraped. The carwash is indoors.

4. At Target, I saw a woman in a luxurious fur coat. I can’t tell real from fake, but it looked rich enough to be genuine. I wondered how she dared wear such a thing in public, given the number of supermodels who have publicly renounced fur. Then she spoke, and she spoke Russian. Well, there you go. Not to say all native Russians are unsentimental about fur, but I think the collective memory of Siberia created one of those no-atheists-in-a-foxhole paradigms.

The Green Bay Packers will be hosting the New York Giants on the frozen tundra tonight. Here's today's forecast for Green Bay:

Today: Sunny and cold, with a high near 3. Wind chill values between -25 and -35. West wind between 10 and 14 mph.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around -9. Wind chill values between -15 and -20. West northwest wind between 6 and 8 mph.

I want to see somebody in the stands with their shirt off and "Stop Global Warming" painted on their chest.

I just checked the weather in Harvey, ND (home of KHND and a weekly radio interview that I do) at a 8:30 am it is -15. That's pretty brisk. The wind chill map shows sub-freezing wind chills over much of the country and sub-zero wind chills across nearly half of it.

Meanwhile, I need to go pick out my Hawaiian shirt for today. I don't want to get too warm.