Record-setting cold today in Syracuse. Awoke this morning to something like -8
F, and now the temps have steadied at -1 for the rest of the day, according
to weather.com’s trender. The winter weather warning running through late this
afternoon involves the cold air more than the snow. D. and Ph. are celebrating
cancelled school due to cold temps; the city school district tends to cancel
because of the number of walkers.
I know: cold day in Syracuse–big news. (!) It’s January. Actually, I wanted
to note the morning’s household debate over the threshold beyond which it’s
too cold to sled. See, we live just two blocks from Thornden Park, the largest
city park in Syracuse, inside of which is Thornden Hill (yeah, I made up the
name)–the best public sledding/snowboarding hill around. On the weather report
earlier, the meteorologist warned of a wind chill as low as -30 F, which, when
met with exposed skin, he said, renders said skin frostbitten in 15 minutes.
About that debate: Ph., bundled up, sled in hand, seeking family-wide approval
to venture to the hill, doesn’t agree with the meteorologist (who I, more or
less, have begun to sound like in my frequently imitative style). Back and forth
for a few minutes before we decided to let the weather prove itself. Makes me
cold just to think of it.
Yikes. I’m cold just reading about the sledding on the hill. We’d cover our faces with our scarves in this kind of weather, which is just a distant memory, I’m happy to say. In the 60s here today.
I’m busy looking for recommendations about how cold is too cold to run.
Have any idea?
How did Ph fair yesterday?
Yeah, it was cold, and you conveniently worked it so you didn’t have to go to school. The walk over wasn’t that bad; not much wind.
They have signs posted in Thornden re: No Sledding. I think it’s a cya for the city so that people who might get injured sledding (it’s a big hill) can’t sue. I’ve never seen a cop bust people for sledding, and there are often copious tracks. However, didn’t know if you had seen those on your jaunts to the park.
Last year a couple of boarders built a 3′ jump. It was pretty cool, but I didn’t ever get over there to hit it.
It seems extreme (here, not there!), but I just stay bundled up. After a certain point, I can’t make sense of the differences in temperature. Negative 8 doesn’t seem so much colder than positive 8.
I don’t know the cut-off for healthy running exposure (but I’d guess it’s somewhere between 0 and +10…negatives seem risky to me for long distances, but then I’m not cold-tough). In KC, D. and I jogged all winter one year; used face thingies to breathe through and it was just fine. But we were only going two miles, nothing like the long treks you endure, Madeline.
And I didn’t have to get to campus for work, which was nice, but we made out usual Friday afternoon crossing for weekly basketball in Flanagan and the walk wasn’t too bad. The bad part was that after two hours of ball I came down on somebody’s foot and claimed my first severe ankle sprain in about five years. Maybe I’ll post a picture of the swollen purple splendor that is my right ankle (same one I had surgery on in ’95). The upside: a ride home from the gym. The downside: can’t walk. Oh well, I planned on having a feet-up reading/blogging day today anyway.
Okay, but what about Ph? Did he ever return?
He made his way back home just in time to prove his case: he was fine. “Not cold at all,” I think he said. I’ll learn to stop listening to the weather forecasters one of these days.