Cold Weather

[willedoo]

I see on the news some good falls of snow in NSW. It was predicted for Stanthorpe in Qld., but I haven't heard of any there yet. The usual flock of snow tourists have headed up there on spec. Also a bit cool here on the coast in S.E. Qld.. Today was a maximum of about 14 with virtually no wind.

 

Here's a tip for cold weather. eBay often lists Russian pilot two piece winter flight suits. If you have serious cold outside the full suit with the jacket is the go. Otherwise, the bottom section is the best thing since sliced bread. They resemble bib and brace overalls with elastic shoulder straps. A zipper from the groin up to chest height, and the top bib section goes right up to chest height, including the back section. It covers the important area of kidneys etc.. The standard ones have a quilted warm lining; I think it's a polyester blend and very warm. For serious cold, there's an arctic version with lambswool lining but they are thicker and more restrictive. The overalls also have lower leg side zippers so you can put them on without taking boots off. The main front zipper is two way acting, so can be used as a fly zipper as well without unzipping the whole front.

[spacesailor]

I hate this bludi cold !.

I,m sure l,ve put on more kilo,s than l lost all summer.

Too cold to go camping with the dog club, as l can,t take my Cat, ( to keep me warm  ). LoL

spacesailor

 

[Yenn]

Thats global warming. I have never known it so cold here. I lit the fire in the house on 17 May, previous years it was never before about 28 may. Then it used to go warm again till mid June, but so far it has been a fire just about every day.

[spacesailor]

How can That be Warming! .

Coldest day for a long time.

spacesailor

[red750]

You think you know cold -- get a load of these. (Particularly the large dump truck.)    

 

 

Iarna ruseasca.pps

[onetrack]

Back in the 1960's, when we used to operate tractors and dozers in the W.A. wheatbelt with open cabs (or no cabs at all) - and the Southerly gales with their massive wind chill factors would bring temperatures in the open paddocks down to low single digits - and you had to work nightshift as well, in that weather - we'd buy the ex-RAAF flight suits from military surplus stores and wear them on the tractors.

 

The great advantage with them was that they had inbuilt heating elements that were 24V, so we could plug them straight onto the 24V electrical systems on the tractors. Their downside was they didn't have a durable outer material, it was only a cotton type of material and it didn't stand up too well to dirt and dust and grease and oil stains. We bought and rapidly wore out a few of them, then we started making enclosures for the cabs, which was a better arrangement.

 

About the early 1970's the supply of these ex-RAAF flight suits dried up from the military surplus stores. Possibly because the RAAF had purchased newer aircraft with heating and insulation, I'm not real sure on the reasons.

[willedoo]

Coldest I've experienced was -40C in the north of Canada. It dropped from -30 to -40 in half an hour and was amazing how much colder the latter was. A lot more so than the relative difference between -20 and -30.

 

Check out the fun these North Korean sailors are having on their way into port at Vladivostok.

 

 

Edited June 10, 2021 by willedoo

[pmccarthy]

I’ve been in minus 40 in northern Sweden but properly dressed. The coldest I have ever been for a period of hours was in the City of London in February wearing a business suit. The cold seemed to come up out of the cobbles. We have had our fire burning at home continuously for several weeks now, two logs keep it alive overnight.

[spacesailor]

Iv,e experienced that Cold , icy ,freezing weather in England !.

Almost every winter l had ' Chilblains ' , two pair of socks stuck onto my feet with blood, from my bleeding toes.

NOW you know why l,m here in this warm country.

SO why do people live in a warm country, then complain about the heat ,.

I moved from the other-side of the world for a more suitable place to live without frozen feet

spacesailor

[Marty_d]

13 hours ago, willedoo said:

Coldest I've experienced was -40C in the north of Canada. It dropped from -30 to -40 in half an hour and was amazing how much colder the latter was. A lot more so than the relative difference between -20 and -30.

 

Check out the fun these North Korean sailors are having on their way into port at Vladivostok.

 

 

Is that snow or firefighting foam? Hard to understand how it's on the underside of the gun barrel. 

[willedoo]

11 minutes ago, Marty_d said:

Is that snow or firefighting foam? Hard to understand how it's on the underside of the gun barrel. 

It's ice, or frosty ice. The photo was taken a few years ago during a big cold snap. The North Korean ship was on a good will visit to Vladivostok. I'm fairly sure from memory the pictures were taken when they were arriving in port, hence the sailors on deck. So whether the ice formed while under way or anchored out in the bay, I don't know.

 

At a guess, the ice has formed in that shape on the barrel by ocean spray contacting existing ice and gradually covering the underside. On the bridge, most of the ice is at the front which would indicate frozen ocean spray while under way.

Edited June 11, 2021 by willedoo

[onetrack]

I hate cold and have no desire to ever experience the bitter cold of the Northern U.S. or Europe. I've only seen snow once in my life, I drove up to the snowline on Mt Kosciusko in 1970 to see it - and then drove down again, unimpressed.

 

I can recall an associate telling me how he was in Chicago in the early 1980's when it was -14°,  and how you had to be careful about taking deep breaths, or you'd have icicles form in your lungs.

 

One of the mad Canadians on our tractor forums lives in a place called Lynn Lake, Manitoba. I think his location is within about 250kms of the Arctic Circle. He used to regale us about "warm mornings" when it was only -30°.

 

He calls himself "King of Obsolete" because he deals in scrap, owns scrappy vehicles, recovers scrapped and abandoned vehicles and machines, and rebuilds them in the Frozen North. He's a real character. His actual name is Joey Barnes, and he's written a number of books about his mad exploits and daily life in the freezing cold.

 

https://www.kingofobsolete.ca/

 

 

Edited June 11, 2021 by onetrack

[pmccarthy]

Machinery maintenance gets very different in arctic temperatures. Things like chassis rails can just snap. Lubricants turn solid. Welds break. I would not enjoy it.

[onetrack]

Yes, I can remember reading a story about how the Japs conned the Russians as regards coal supply in the 1970's. The Russians had found huge coal deposits in Siberia, and wanted to develop them, but they had no money to do so.

The Japanese heard about these coal deposits and wanted to ensure their energy supplies were secure. So they said to the Russians, "We heard you have lots of coal? We need lots of coal for our manufacturing industries!"

 

And the Russians said, "Yes, we've got heaps of coal, but no money and no equipment to get it out of the ground!" The Japs said, "We'll lend you the money to develop those coal deposits, and we'll take all the coal you can produce!"

 

The Russians thought they'd won lotto with this news - but when the finance details were revealed - the Russians had to buy all Komatsu equipment, to mine the coal!

Somewhat dismayed, the Russians went ahead with the mega-dollar Komatsu equipment purchase anyway, and shipped the equipment in to the coal mine site. 

This minesite was in about the most remote region of Siberia you could imagine. It regularly went to -55°C, and the Komatsu machines had to be kept running 24/7/365, or they would freeze solid, and take days to get operational again.

 

As Peter says, the steels in the Komatsu's snapped in the bitter cold. Hydraulic hoses would freeze solid and snap or burst. It was the most extreme of extreme conditions.

On top of that, once the coal was mined, it was a 2200km rail trip to the port, to get it loaded onto a boat to take it to Japan. The costs to the Russians were horrendous.

The only thing that kept them going, was coal was in short supply, and prices were high. But as the Russians struggled to get the mine into production, global coal supplies increased, and the coal price fell.

 

So, as the first shipload of coal was readied for the Japanese, the Russians said, "Your coal supplies are assured now, we have heaps of this coal ready for you to purchase!"

And the Japs promptly turned around and said, "Oh dear. It seems like we miscalculated our coal needs. We have all the coal we need now, from other sources - but if you like, we'll take it off your hands for a low price".

 

The Russians were furious with the Japs, apparently, convinced the Japs had conned them completely. No doubt the Japs encouraged over-production to ensure they wouldn't run out of suppliers, but the truth is probably a little more nuanced than just a simple con job, I would have to say the Russians over-enthusiasm to develop their coal operations, blinded them to the fact that they were sitting ducks for the Japs craftiness.

 

There's an interesting story below, about how Russia is once again developing a massive coal mine in Siberia - but to supply China, this time. This could see a re-run of the previous Russian-Japanese coal-mining fiasco, if the Chinese start to reduce their coal consumuption. The Russians are once again facing huge climatic problems (cold) with their coal mining. But this time, they're probably utilising a lot less Komatsu equipment!

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-coal-elga-mine-specialreport-idUSKBN2CG18W

[facthunter]

 Flying along in a jet the OAT is often minus 50C or lower  One wonders how brittle the airframe is. Nev 

[Old Koreelah]

28 minutes ago, facthunter said:

 Flying along in a jet the OAT is often minus 50C or lower  One wonders how brittle the airframe is. Nev 

I’ve heard most big jets have some sort of recirculating system to keep the fuel from getting too cold. If so, perhaps that would help get some heat to load-bearing internal components.

[facthunter]

Heat exchangers for the engine oil heat the fuel so it doesn't block the filters. Bleed air does the wing de icing and THAT uses FUEL.. ie You only use it in icing conditions It does affect your climb rate and what level you can reach. Your speed through the air at cruise warms the plane about 32 degrees C. Nev

[willedoo]

On the bright side for high altitude flight, it doesn't get any colder once over 40,000' and if you can make it over 65,000 it gets warmer. Bailing out at 65,000 is no colder than 37,000.

[ClintonB]

I froze in Hawaii on a trip to top of volcano, told to bring a light jacket. I had shorts on and a tee shirt. Get to 10000 feet peak to watch sunrise and it was 7c with wind chill taking it into the minuses. The Americans comment on how tough us Aussies must be to tolerate it. I was frozen when I got in the van for the ride down for breakfast at a tropical plantation. Had my hands jammed into armpits all the way back to get feeling in them. Well into mid 20’s when we got down.

[Yenn]

I haven't been in those cold temps. but when I was in the English army and stationed at Ellesmere in Shropshire, we had the walkways completely enclosed in Ice. It thawed just enough in the day to run down and freeze int a stalactite formation. We had no fuel for our heating stoves in the billet. typical of that army.

We had no lockers so hung our battle dress on a nail in the wall. One day a bloke grabbed his BD and pulled, leaving the back frozen to the wall and only having the front in his hands. That is when we took matters into our own hands and raided the fuel dump.

Britain is mot really cold, but the high humidity makes it seem much worse.

Later I used to drape sacks around the bonnet of the Fergy tractor to deflect heat back to me when i was ploughing in winter.

[willedoo]

48 minutes ago, Yenn said:

I haven't been in those cold temps. but when I was in the English army and stationed at Ellesmere in Shropshire, we had the walkways completely enclosed in Ice. It thawed just enough in the day to run down and freeze int a stalactite formation. We had no fuel for our heating stoves in the billet. typical of that army.

We had no lockers so hung our battle dress on a nail in the wall. One day a bloke grabbed his BD and pulled, leaving the back frozen to the wall and only having the front in his hands. That is when we took matters into our own hands and raided the fuel dump.

Britain is mot really cold, but the high humidity makes it seem much worse.

Later I used to drape sacks around the bonnet of the Fergy tractor to deflect heat back to me when i was ploughing in winter.

I was in the U.K. in the mid 80's for about four months and regret not going to Shropshire. It would have been interesting to see where the ancestors came from. The great grandparents came out here in the late 1800's  but were originally from Walford Heath south east of Baschurch. Google maps street view is a wonderful thing: easy to have a virtual drive around the roads and see a few of these places.

[Old Koreelah]

1 hour ago, ClintonB said:

I froze in Hawaii on a trip to top of volcano, told to bring a light jacket..

Latitude and season aren’t the only cause; my most life-threatening cold experience was crammed in the back of a ute with several other hitch-hikers, traveling thru the night between between Mackey and Townsville. Air temp may have been in the teens, but wind chill factor thru the T-shirt was agony!
 

I’m currently standing in front of the fire, wearing an old goose-down workman’s jacket I bought in the Yukon.
When I look at the poor buggers on that North Korean warship, it’s clear that we lucky rich modern people are getting soft. 

 

 

[red750]

[facthunter]

He's probably from Tasmania. The school kids are tough down there. 

 HOT Near the equator

 Cold Near a pole.( Look up geographical meaning of pole if in doubt)

  Geography for Queenslanders.  Ref Mexicans. where they live.... Nev

[willedoo]

1 hour ago, facthunter said:

He's probably from Tasmania. The school kids are tough down there. 

 HOT Near the equator

 Cold Near a pole.( Look up geographical meaning of pole if in doubt)

  Geography for Queenslanders.  Ref Mexicans. where they live.... Nev

If it wasn't for the snow, I'd say a Queenslander. It seems to be a Queensland thing in winter to wear a big coat with shorts and complain about it being cold.