Record cold for northern Minn.: 40 below

[Richard]

By JEFF BAENEN, Associated Press Writer
Mon Feb 11, 10:43 PM ET

It lived up to its name: The temperature in International Falls fell to 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."

It was so cold that resident Nick McDougall couldn't get his car trunk 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 for Feb. 11 in International Falls was 37 below, set in 1967, said meteorologist Mike Stewart at the weather service in Duluth.

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.

It was also a cold day in Winter. The town in northwest Wisconsin chilled to a low of 25 below.

"You don't want to be out there too long," said Winter area resident Bill Warner, 37.

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

New York state got more than 3 feet of lake-effect snow Monday along the east end of Lake Ontario as the cold wind picked up moisture from the lake. "The highway crews are having a difficult time keeping up with the amount of snow and blowing conditions," said Oswego Town Supervisor Victoria Mullen.

South of the coldest air mass, freezing rain hit southwest Missouri, making roads hazardous and closing schools. Ice was more than an inch thick in places, authorities said. Several thousand lost electricity in the Springfield area when lines iced over and ice-covered limbs crashed onto power lines.

"It's treacherous" Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Dan Bracker said in Springfield.

As the precipitation moved eastward out of Missouri, the weather service posted winter storm and snow warnings for parts of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.

Hundreds of West Virginia homes and businesses had no electricity Monday, down from several thousand, after 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 there.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cold_weather;...6qVmMDW7oF

[Sily]

Brrrrrrrr!!!  In 40 below, I hope all the squirrels went into their trees to get warm and all the dogs with short hair stayed inside!  Come on Spring.

          

I hope Anubis is wearing his winter booties on his feet and winter coat when he goes out to potty.  icon_anmachen

[Polly]

The coldest temperature I have ever witnessed here in Southwick is -35 and that was in February of 1994, I think.  I was shocked that morning when I looked out the window at the thermometer.  I thought I was hallucinating.

[Richard]

Sily, we have a coat and boots for Anubis but he refuses to wear them for some reason. Instead he is lightning fast doing his business. icon_lol

Polly, I remember in 94 we had record cold temps too. I remember it getting to -30 below 0. Yesterday it was around 0 and we got more snow. Today we’re having a heat wave at 23 degrees and more snow. icon_cold

[DreamTime]

Yeah...we have a few coats for Anubis, but he runs away whenever I try to put them on him. He is not always "lightening fast" when he goes out. In fact, sometimes it is me who is begging him to hurry up so that I can go in. I don't know how in the heck he can stay warm in all that cold and snow, because he only has one layer of coat - you can see his pink skin in a lot of his stomach area - but he doesn't seem to shiver much. I think he is just a natural hot-water bottle! I know that he really heats up the bed whenever he is under the covers with us!

[Sily]

Richard and Dreamtime:

Well, my three dogs love to spend time sniffing the ground when out... that takes up most of the time.  I guess it's a sin to do The Business just any place... the prime spots must be sought out, you know - - > *sniff* *sniff* *sniff* then the all important back foot scratching in the dirt to leave a scent.

All three of my dogs must also give a few strong barks of dominance before they will come inside.  This, I suppose is for the stray cats that roam in and out of the yard, that my dogs watch aggravated, from the living room window, and to just let everyone and anyone who might be listening that they are the Boss of *their yard*.

You want a miracle story?  How about this one involving a Basenji mutt named Medusa. I thought of Anubis when I read this as Medusa stayed by this couple's side during the whole ordeal. Link to full story   The red on his nose is from the sunburn and wind, but Medusa is quite okay and back home.



Thomas and Tamitha Garner's amazing tale of survival captured the attention of the entire state last week.

After getting stuck in deep snow Jan. 26 in remote Modena Canyon, about 60 miles west of Cedar City and in an area with no cell-phone reception, the Garners were found alive by a road crew Feb. 6. The couple had stayed in the shelter of their truck until Feb. 4 at which time they decided to try to hike their way to safety.

But it wasn't just Tom and Tamitha who survived the week-and-a-half ordeal. By their side the entire time was their daughter Krystal's 40-pound dog, Medusa.

While the Garners were trapped in their truck, Medusa would calmly sit on Tamitha's lab, Krystal Garner said.
"She was more just confused as to what was going on," she said.
The Garners had granola bars for them and dog food for Medusa, although after a couple of days the couple began sharing Medusa's food, too.

When Madusa had to go to the bathroom, Tom would turn on the truck, heat up the car and defrost the windows so they could be rolled down. The snow by that point was up to the truck's window, Krystal said. Medusa would step through the window into the snow, do her duty, and then hop back into the truck. The Garners adopted Medusa, a Basenji, from an animal shelter in Magna nearly a decade ago. Despite her age, the hike to safety though the canyon was like any other weekend walk for Medusa, just longer.

"She still thinks she's 1 or 2 years old," Krystal said of her energetic dog. "She loves to play in the snow. She hops around and just gets a kick out of it."

When the Garners decided to take their chances hiking, Medusa was right with them. Tom turned a pair of seat cushions into makeshift snowshoes. Tamitha followed Tom's tracks, in her tennis shoes. Medusa was also able to find enough tracks to keep up, using tracks already made in the snow by deer and coyotes, Krystal said.
At night, Medusa would curl up between Tom and Tamitha, helping everyone retain heat.

When the Garners were found, Tom and Tamitha were taken to Valley View Medical Center in Cedar City. Medusa was taken to the Cedar City Animal Shelter until the Garners were released from the hospital.
In the shelter, several of the Garners' ripped shirts were kept in the kennel with Medusa to make a bed.
Overall, Medusa came out just as well as Tom and Tamitha.
"She's real tired right now," Krystal Garner said Saturday. "She's just taking it easy, which is unusual for her. She's just drained."
The only minor injury Medusa suffered was some wind and sunburn on her nose, visible by some redness on top of her snout.
"Surprisingly she did not have frostbite," Krystal said. "I was worried about her paws. She took it well."

After being reunited with Krystal, Medusa went straight for her second love the minute she got back to her home in Kearns.

"She went straight for the bones. She loves her bones. The first thing she did was get the bones," she said.

[Sily]

Sily, we have a coat and boots for Anubis but he refuses to wear them for some reason...

I have a variety of coats for my three dogs.  The two smaller dogs Froaderick and Igor want nothing to do with the coats and try to roll them off.  So I just don't put them on...

.... the Keeshond, who interestingly enough has a ton of fur on her, love's her black and white tweed coat.  She gets excited when I get it out and jumps around... it's very special and I think she knows she's *The Shiznits* in her coat.  She even has an air of looking down on the other dogs when she has it on.  They just go on playing and ignore her... :D

 

[DreamTime]

What a wonderful story of survival. Thank you for that Sily. I wish that Anubis would put his coat on. It would make me feel better. But I guess he doesn't care how I feel...he just knows he hates the coats.

[Sily]

Hehe... a new picture of Anubis!

Hello Anubis! 

[DreamTime]

He opened his lazy eyes and said "hello" back!