Arctic Airmass Thoughts

[Jason McIntosh]

As many of us in the Upper Midwest now know; Winter has arrived. The blast of cold air from Canada was a return to what Winter can be like here in WI. I was at work tonight and got bored so I tried a couple of weather experiments with the cold air. I wanted to see how fast water at hot and cold temperatures would react to the cold air outside. It was approx -8 F and a wind chill of approx -21 F when I conducted this experiment. I tossed a cup of hot water into the air onto the concrete outside and timed it at 40 seconds to freeze. The water vapor that arose from the water hitting the ground was wicked. Instant fog! I then took a cup of cold water and did the same thing. It almost instantly froze on contact with the ground! I thought to myself, as my hands were now starting to sting from the cold, what temperature would it have to be outside for water to freeze in mid-air. Is it possible? Kick some thread on this topic. Maybe you have seen it before.

 

[David Wolfson]

My parents and I moved to Vermont while I was in high school. I think it was the winter of 65-66 that was really cold and snowy. We lived 400' above the valley on a hill. One morning our own car wouldn't start even with a block heater. My Taylor thermometer was registering -32F. The neighbor was able to get his Jeep started. While waiting to catch a ride, I filled a pot of tap water and poured in on the granite paver. It ran for a second, then froze solid with a *snap*.

It took the neighbor awhile to back-and-fill to turn around because his steering grease was hardly lubricating. Then he drove us down the hill and into the valley on the way to school. We'd gone maybe a half-mile along the valley when suddenly the jeep jolts screetching to a stop. One of the rear wheels had twisted off the axle, and we watched it bounce off down the road and into the river. The axle grease had frozen solid! It must have been at least -50F in the valley. Now that's cold!

 

[Aaron Kennedy]

Friggin cold is my offical conclusion. The low last night was -29F. I completed the boiling water into air test... instant ice cloud that filled up the entire driveway. Not looking forward to this month's heating bill!

 

[Joel Wright]

I hear ya on the ol' heating bill Aaron!

You guys have got me curious now. It's supposed to drop to -16 tonight, with windchills to -35. I'm thinking after the superbowl I'll try a few things. I'll post back anything interesting I can do.

 

[Joel Wright]

Well I tried the boiling water thing here tonight as well. The temperature was -9F at the time. It seemed to work pretty well. Most of the water froze as I launched it. Some of the water made it back down to the ground, but I think that's because I may have used too much water and may not have thrown it high enough.

Pardon the little burp at the end, but I had to have a few beers after watching my Bears get beat in the Superbowl.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTOVZlS-wG4

 

[Joel Wright]

Okay, here I am after a few more beers. It's now about -11F at this point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtmq_KBtBuA