WEATHER Down to -50C: Russians freeze to death as strongest-in-decades winter hits

[Fisher]

Fair use
http://rt.com/news/russia-freeze-cold-temperature-379/

Down to -50C: Russians freeze to death as strongest-in-decades winter hits
Published: 19 December, 2012, 19:00

Russia is enduring its harshest winter in over 70 years, with temperatures plunging as low as -50 degrees Celsius. Dozens of people have already died, and almost 150 have been hospitalized.

The country has not witnessed such a long cold spell since 1938, meteorologists said, with temperatures 10 to 15 degrees lower than the seasonal norm all over Russia.

Across the country, 45 people have died due to the cold, and 266 have been taken to hospitals. In total, 542 people were injured due to the freezing temperatures, RIA Novosti reported.

The Moscow region saw temperatures of -17 to -18 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, and the record cold temperatures are expected to linger for at least three more days. Thermometers in Siberia touched -50 degrees Celsius, which is also abnormal for December.

*The Emergency Ministry has issued warnings in 15 regions, which have been put on high alert over possible disruptions of communication and power.

Across the country, heat pipelines have broken down due to the cold. In southeastern Russia’s Samara, the cold has broken down many heat pipelines, leaving hundreds of homes without heating, including an orphanage and a rest house. Many schools and kindergartens have been closed for almost a week.

The cold spell, along with snowfalls, has disrupted flights all over the country, and led to huge traffic jams. In the southern city of Rostov-on-Don some highways were closed due to snowfalls over the past two days, triggering a traffic collapse.

 

[Publius]

A few days ago they were complaining about the minus 20C and I think I would too and Minus 50C=minus 58F.

 

[Kent]

A few days ago they were complaining about the minus 20C and I think I would too and Minus 50C=minus 58F.

But it's a dry cold.

 

[PCViking]

But it's a dry cold.

Of course it's a dry cold... all the humidity has rained out of the air. The air is so dry it's sucking the moisture out of exposed skin.

The critical factor is how long can skin be exposed before frostbite set in.

http://www.atc.army.mil/weather/windchill.pdf

 

[China Connection]

Um, don't really want to hear it as it means that it will start to hit where I live in China. I've seen heavy snow one year out of the last six. So probably get another this year by the sound of it.

 

[TXKajun]

Darn global warming! Where is it when ya need it?? *sarcasm off*

Kajun

 

[LightEcho]

Interesting. The magnetic north pole has been drifting into Russia. Sunsets for north America seem further north. Can the perception be followed by actual measureable changes in the earth's rotation/ axis? We shall see. Last I heard, the sun was still not completed in its 11 year polar reversal. The north pole shut down but not the south.

If there are more groaning noises out of the earth, my bet is that the internal rotation is shifting with respect to the crust rotation. That is the beginning of great cataclysms. Because the earth is not perfectly spherical, at least the crust is not, the stability of the spin wil depend on how distorted the core is.

If the crust really is shifting so that the Russian side is moving northward, and the core is moving magnetic north into Russia, then we are likely to see a wobbling effect with noises from the northern hemisphere alternating with the southern hemisphere and a whole lot of earthquakes/ volcanoes in between.

 

[Bubble Head]

Did Al Gore show up in Russia to give another one of his Global Warming speeches?

 

[ittybit]

Did Al Gore show up in Russia to give another one of his Global Warming speeches?

Ha! Probably.

Drunk Russians still not invulnerable to the cold, I see.

CC, we all have difficult times. At least you know what to stock up on.

 

[smokin]

http://rt.com/news/frost-deaths-traffic-europe-437/

Last years news about the snow and freeze in the Ukraine

Deadly freeze: Hundreds dead in Ukraine, Russia and Eastern Europe

The wave of frost that has rolled over Eastern Europe has carried away hundreds of lives, paralyzed road traffic, and pushed the cost of heating homes and offices sky-high.

The most alarming reports have come from Ukraine, where the death toll has topped 100. To fight the -34-35C freeze, Ukraine has opened some 2,940 “warming posts” which have been visited by more than 17,000 people since last Friday. In just over three days, the country used 1 billion cubic meters of gas – a huge jump from the usual rate of 160 million cubic meters per day.

In Belarus, over 900 schools had to close as temperatures there hit the -25C threshold, which is extreme for the country. Kazakhstan’s authorities took similar measures, with the temperature dipping to -52C.

The Russian capital, meanwhile, has seen a series of record low temperatures, with last night’s temperature plummeting to -28, the lowest for more than 60 years. On February 1, Moscow also broke its record for daily energy consumption, with 17,333 Megawatts being used.

The frosts have also brought a rash of house fires, with homes using stove heating particularly badly hit. The number of domestic blazes went up by almost a third, said Russia’s emergencies minister, Sergey Shoigu

Freezing planet

Eastern Europe is not the only spot hit to be hit by the freeze. In Japan, around 50 people have died from a variety of weather-related accidents as temperatures dropped to -26С. The snow blanket in Aomori prefecture reached a thickness of 4.3 meters.

In Kazakhstan, the frosts paralyzed traffic in five regions, with emergency workers allowing only public buses onto the roads. The vehicles are being accompanied en route to big cities in a bid to prevent accidents. Over 100 people were evacuated from frozen cars; another 50 were saved from a bus that was on the verge of turning into ice.

The extreme weather is ravaging wildlife, too. Kazakhstan’s main artery, the Ishym river, has frozen from top to bottom – killing all the fish.

Animals in local zoos are also suffering from the severe weather conditions, leading zoo-keepers to dream up original ways to keep their spirits – and temperatures – up. . Staff at a zoo in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, are giving their apes wine mixed with lemon, sugar and apples. The cocktail helps the animals keep warm in the -38C freeze.

In addition, large swathes of the Black Sea coastline are now set in ice, with some beaches in Ukraine's coastal city of Odessa completely frozen up to 100 meters from the shore, trapping boats in the ice. The freezing of the Black Sea is far from a regular occurrence, although abnormally low temperatures also caused it to ice over close to Odessa in March of last year.

A woman, wrapped up against the cold walks in the center of Kiev where temperatures drop to -20° degrees Celsius in the Ukrainian capital Kiev on February 1, 2012 (AFP Photo / Sergey Supinsky)

Give the catalogue of casualties, it may come as some surprise to hear that winter 2011-2012 is not the coldest ever in Europe, say specialists from the World Meteorological Organization.

Two years ago, they say, the winter was far more extreme, with the frosts lasting for all three of the months of winter.This year, by contrast, the cold only hit the region in late January.

How the situation will develop depends mostly on the anti-cyclone that is now blocking warm air currents.

Russia’s meteorological center says the frosts may last for another month. They compare the anti-cyclone to the one responsible for the extreme summer of 2010 when temperatures hovered between 30-35C for over a month.
Icy business

There is, however, a brighter side to the deep freeze. Factories making traditional Russian valenki boots cannot but rejoice, as sales have almost doubled. Takeaway restaurants are also counting and re-counting the profits.

The frosts have also contributed to the drop in crime: Moscow alone, the figure has fallen by 25-30 per cent.

Doctors say that the cold is also holding back the traditional winter flu epidemic.

The freeze is grist to the media mill as well, making headlines across the press.Journalists have been collecting a myriad of recipes for overcoming the cold, and telling funny and tragic stories about European’s frosty adventures. Some reporters have even offered instructions on how to breathe in frost, as well as penning detailed guides to dressing for warmth.
Here is some advice from RT:

Doctors recommend people wear as many layers of clothing as possible. A hat is also a necessity, as 30 per cent of heat leaves the human body through the head.

Dieting is strictly discouraged – consume enough food and drink to allow the body to keep generating heat.

In case of frostbite, heat the affected area gently with warm water, starting at +24C and increasing the heat gradually. Rubbing is not recommended as it can further harm damaged tissue.

Do not hesitate to call an ambulance if you feel you are unable to cope on your own.

 

[bassaholic]

According to my grandpa this ain't nothing.

He used to walk in colder weather than this just to get to school and that was uphill!

 

[Y6K]

Darn global warming! Where is it when ya need it?? *sarcasm off*

Kajun

Sounds like the Russians need a site like this: http://minnesotansforglobalwarming.com/m4gw/

;-)

 

[trkarl]

Darn global warming! Where is it when ya need it?? *sarcasm off*

Kajun

Had a Lib friend of mine once tell me that global warming predicts cooling.

 

[Kevmoley]

Worse news ... stores running low on Vodka

 

[Flippper]

Had a Lib friend of mine once tell me that global warming predicts cooling.

Ahhh yes, the 'hot' is 'cold' position. People who hold it need to be medicated. They also hold the 'black' is 'white', 'right' is 'wrong' and other insane nonsense which is followed by laws for or against.

I've been in -25F before, and it was painful to breathe in, all the hairs in my nose froze up, my sinuses felt like they were exploding, and like someone hit me in the forehead with a brick. I can't imagine -50F.

We've been getting a lot of snowfall, which is usually followed by extreme cold. I hope that pattern breaks this go round, I see the neighbor shoveling off his roof as I write this.

An hour ago, and it's still snowing...

If the crust really is shifting so that the Russian side is moving northward, and the core is moving magnetic north into Russia, then we are likely to see a wobbling effect with noises from the northern hemisphere alternating with the southern hemisphere and a whole lot of earthquakes/ volcanoes in between.

Isaiah 24:20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage...

Rather sounds the same, doesn't it. I've noticed the sun setting in new places now, it's shining into the house in areas that have never seen direct sunlight before, and have noted for 3 years running that sunset is nearly an hour off of normal times.

 

[LightEcho]

Isaiah 24:20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage...

Rather sounds the same, doesn't it. I've noticed the sun setting in new places now, it's shining into the house in areas that have never seen direct sunlight before, and have noted for 3 years running that sunset is nearly an hour off of normal times.

I saw the sun coming in a southern window and hitting a wall early this AM, where I never saw it before. We are at the Winter solstice so you would have to be looking within a few days of this time- making it a hard thing to do. But the sunrise in Winter seems further south and the sunset in Summer seems further north. I don't know how I would explain that... and if it were true, we should be seeing a change in the star charts. Navigation charts are changed regularly, I think, and maybe the changes are bigger than anyone cared to notice?

 

[Publius]

I know some here can attest to this! At minus -15F many cars will turn over/not start, in older homes the boiler or furnace will run non stop for hour only to shut off for 20 min and start again. Tires on cars start getting stiff and seem to have a flat spot when you first start moving, the boot for the shift in a car or truck is so stiff the shift feels like it something is wrong with the transmission. Some plastics become brittle and break easy. At Minus-25F or-30F things start getting worse and cars need to have a cold weather package installed to keep the engine block warm or you will never get it started, some car batteries may start to freeze split open, exposed flesh can freeze very fast. Its said some metals will start to fail at -50F to -70F

 

[JustCause]

I know some here can attest to this! At minus -15F many cars will turn over/not start, in older homes the boiler or furnace will run non stop for hour only to shut off for 20 min and start again. Tires on cars start getting stiff and seem to have a flat spot when you first start moving, the boot for the shift in a car or truck is so stiff the shift feels like it something is wrong with the transmission. Some plastics become brittle and break easy. At Minus-25F or-30F things start getting worse and cars need to have a cold weather package installed to keep the engine block warm or you will never get it started, some car batteries may start to freeze split open, exposed flesh can freeze very fast. Its said some metals will start to fail at -50F to -70F

I had this happen in -15F. Even with a block heater running for a few hours it didn't want to start easily. Transmission felt full of molasses (even after putting the auto in N while the truck was warming up to get the fluid moving), calipers were almost froze open - didn't want to stop. Power steering fluid felt like glue, so it didn't want to turn. Tires and suspension were hard as a rock.

And that was only at -15F, I can't imagine what -50F does to a truck.

 

[Lone Eagle Woman]

Here is a website that daily details what is happening in the world as to the weather - climate and such. It is wonderful site and the global warmists idiots would NOT

be a fan of the site. It is: www.iceagenow.info

 

[Publius]

I had this happen in -15F. Even with a block heater running for a few hours it didn't want to start easily. Transmission felt full of molasses (even after putting the auto in N while the truck was warming up to get the fluid moving), calipers were almost froze open - didn't want to stop. Power steering fluid felt like glue, so it didn't want to turn. Tires and suspension were hard as a rock.

And that was only at -15F, I can't imagine what -50F does to a truck.

In them low temps it helps if the car in a protected area like a garage as the wind will wick what little heat the block heater puts out. Most of these heaters are just like the electric element in a hot water heater but made to fit in a freeze out plug on the engine block and sometimes best to install two of them to insure the engine will warm enough to turn over to start. Todays synthetic oils will allow starting at very low temps and will flow when standard oils turn thick like grease and can't be pumped.

 

[China Connection]

Well I lived in South Korea for over eight years and it get down each year to -!7 for a couple of weeks around Seoul. Most places will have a least a few days of-17 temperatures. The only thing I hate is black ice.

 

[Laurane]

Our schools close at -30C in Canada.......it is hard to start the buses even plugged in......we all have winter block heaters for our vehicles and many won't start at that low temp......my Toyota usually did, but only out of the wind, but it is too hard on them not to plug them in.

The wind makes those kind of temps unbearable and too dangerous to be out for more than 30 seconds.......then frostbite......always need a scarf over the mouth and nose and ears.

But that is why don't stay around in winter in Canada LOL - although it was supposed to freeze last night in Phoenix.

 

[raven]

Oymyakon (Russian: Оймякон), a village (selo) in Oymyakonsky Ulus of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located along the Indigirka River.[17] It has the coldest monthly mean with −46 °C (−51 °F) as the daily average in January, the coldest month.

When i was in Fairbanks we would get a few -50 days - in January.
I think the point they are making is that this is very early - it's only mid December and it is -50
Mid January could see temps drop another 20 degrees to -70

LOL - you think I am kidding
It was no wonder they chose to send exiles to Verkhoyansk: In January the average temperature is minus 50.4 degrees F and mean monthly temperatures stay below freezing from October through April.
In 1892, residents recorded the still all-time low of minus 90 degrees F.

 

[Argonath]

Ahhh yes, the 'hot' is 'cold' position. People who hold it need to be medicated. They also hold the 'black' is 'white', 'right' is 'wrong' and other insane nonsense which is followed by laws for or against.

I've been in -25F before, and it was painful to breathe in, all the hairs in my nose froze up, my sinuses felt like they were exploding, and like someone hit me in the forehead with a brick. I can't imagine -50F.

We've been getting a lot of snowfall, which is usually followed by extreme cold. I hope that pattern breaks this go round, I see the neighbor shoveling off his roof as I write this.

An hour ago, and it's still snowing...

Isaiah 24:20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage...

Rather sounds the same, doesn't it. I've noticed the sun setting in new places now, it's shining into the house in areas that have never seen direct sunlight before, and have noted for 3 years running that sunset is nearly an hour off of normal times.

When I was stationed in Omaha back in the day, we had a 2 week stretch of -60 degree wind chill.

One of the PRIMARY reasons I bailed on there after getting out of the military, and finishing college.

 

[The Mountain]

I had this happen in -15F. Even with a block heater running for a few hours it didn't want to start easily. Transmission felt full of molasses (even after putting the auto in N while the truck was warming up to get the fluid moving), calipers were almost froze open - didn't want to stop. Power steering fluid felt like glue, so it didn't want to turn. Tires and suspension were hard as a rock.

And that was only at -15F, I can't imagine what -50F does to a truck.

Just so you know, with an auto transmission, N and P are the same thing as far as the internals go. P just adds a small latch so the rear output shaft can't turn. The rest of the internals turn all the time. If you really want to heat the transmission, run the motor for a few minutes just to get the fluid in the tranny flowing, then put it in Drive with the E-brake on (BE SURE THE E-BRAKE WILL HOLD THE VEHICLE!!!); most of the heat in an auto comes from the friction generated by the torque converter, not from the actual internals, so by locking all the internals, the torque converter will really start to churn and will heat up quicker.

Also, if you have added an external cooler for the tranny, have it re-plumbed so the return line goes through the original cooler in the radiator; in the summer it'll still cool the fluid, since the temp coming out of the cooler is still well over 300 degrees (it's sometimes 500 going in), and the rad fluid will bring it down further, but in the winter, the rad fluid heats up faster so it will impart some extra warmth to the fluid as it circulates back into the tranny.

 

[Uhhmmm...]

According to my grandpa this ain't nothing.

He used to walk in colder weather than this just to get to school and that was uphill...

... both ways.

 

[momof23goats]

the coldest I have ever been in, and it was actuial weather, not the wind chill, was -38, that was years ago, and it was cold, Iwas in the house, not out side. 2 years ago, we got down to I think -20 and I was milking, yeah well when I got out of the milking parlour, and went to walk the doe back to her pen, I felt likebricks hit my chest. didn't think I was going to make it inside. it was cold, now always have a scarf for them cold days.

 

[DrJerry]

Worked in St Petersburg Russia in the mid 90's. 60*North Latitude It got so cold they shipped Euro workers back to Moscow for a month. Our Mercedes trucks wouldn't start in -45 temps. Russian trucks started right up but they sounded like a cement mixer full of empty beer cans.

 

[Warm Wisconsin]

In 1994 in Appleton, WI it was -28. I worked at a restaurant at night for some extra cash. I went out to start my car in the parking lot at 3am, and pulled the door handle and it came off in my hand. I went in the passenger door and started my car. It had those flip up lights, and when both opened they it broke the plastic gears and they fell back down. It cost me what seemed like a fortune then to fix those lights and the door handle.

That was the night I learned to put a cardboard box or three on the floor boards so your feet don't freeze. You might warm the air in your car some, but you will not get the floorboards warm.

I also learned why people have driving gloves in Wisconsin. (Even I grew up here) The steering wheel does not really warm up either. (At least on older cars)

 

[Christian for Israel]

the worst i've seen was a low of -45 for a few weeks while living in great falls mt (the highs were around -25, lol). at those temps the gasoline gels in the lines and the oil is as thick as molasses. just starting your car (if you CAN start it) can do major damage to the engine.

 

[SquonkHunter]

Coldest I have ever seen was -12F Christmas Day 1989. Yes, the Texas Hill Country can get that cold, average maybe twice in a lifetime. But it does happen. Quite a different experience for us natives who had never seen such a thing. We really aren't equipped for that around here. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if you were ready for it. Brrrrr... it's only +40F here this morning and it still seems cold to me. Don't think I'd make a very good Yankee.

 

[Warthog]

Let em freeze.