Currently the thermometer is showing minus 14 but it's all relative.
For a start, if a person has a car, the criteria are different. The light jacket and cap are enough, as there is no intention to spend more than ten minutes outdoors, except for the walk to the vehicle park before and after.
However, the slightest detour outside the city limits and that can be foolish. I had a situation some years back where there was a blizzard, the car slewed off the airport road into soft mush and the inevitable happened.
Got out of the car, the wind closed the door, the auto-lock clicked, the engine was still running and there I was in minus 20 with only light gear and no spare keys. Escaped that one by a fortuitous set of circumstances but it was a prayer of thanks I said, I can tell you.
If you have no car, things are not necessarily dire but you really must select your gear carefully. Most Russians have a range of coats, jackets and paraphernalia which would be the envy of the west. Some of these coats and boots can be around $700 and for the low-salaried majority, that is a cross they have to bear.
There's no choice.
Tomorrow, the first part of the day is at home and then a car ride into town but the end of the day is a walk to the windswept tram line [the wind whips up the road off the lake] and that needs serious rugging up for.
If it's done with slight overkill it's better - for example, my fur coat is best in about minus 25-30 and in minus 15 it's way too warm for comfort, even without a jumper underneath, which I haven't worn for some years.
Gloves are going to be the issue. The monsters are too bulky to take but the light cloth ones I bought in London [they amusingly called them "extreme weather" at the time] - they might be the killer. It only takes one underweight clothing item and you're gone within about five minutes.
The other factor is the wind. Whereas the humidity level, the moisture, is the UK issue, here the wind chill factor is everything. Even a light breeze drops the real temperature by up to 7 degrees or so and that can make a huge difference.
I've been out walking of an evening when there was no breeze but about minus 20 and it was delightful. I've been in minus 5-7 and it was near impossible. Similarly, the coldest I've ever been was on Hadrian's Wall at 06:00 - I've never felt cold like that either before or since.
So - the clothing issue is one to sleep on tonight and I'll tell you which gear I'll go with tomorrow.
For now, the payoff is the beautifully heaped up snow through the window and that makes up for any vicissitudes, real or imagined.
For a start, if a person has a car, the criteria are different. The light jacket and cap are enough, as there is no intention to spend more than ten minutes outdoors, except for the walk to the vehicle park before and after.
However, the slightest detour outside the city limits and that can be foolish. I had a situation some years back where there was a blizzard, the car slewed off the airport road into soft mush and the inevitable happened.
Got out of the car, the wind closed the door, the auto-lock clicked, the engine was still running and there I was in minus 20 with only light gear and no spare keys. Escaped that one by a fortuitous set of circumstances but it was a prayer of thanks I said, I can tell you.
If you have no car, things are not necessarily dire but you really must select your gear carefully. Most Russians have a range of coats, jackets and paraphernalia which would be the envy of the west. Some of these coats and boots can be around $700 and for the low-salaried majority, that is a cross they have to bear.
There's no choice.
Tomorrow, the first part of the day is at home and then a car ride into town but the end of the day is a walk to the windswept tram line [the wind whips up the road off the lake] and that needs serious rugging up for.
If it's done with slight overkill it's better - for example, my fur coat is best in about minus 25-30 and in minus 15 it's way too warm for comfort, even without a jumper underneath, which I haven't worn for some years.
Gloves are going to be the issue. The monsters are too bulky to take but the light cloth ones I bought in London [they amusingly called them "extreme weather" at the time] - they might be the killer. It only takes one underweight clothing item and you're gone within about five minutes.
The other factor is the wind. Whereas the humidity level, the moisture, is the UK issue, here the wind chill factor is everything. Even a light breeze drops the real temperature by up to 7 degrees or so and that can make a huge difference.
I've been out walking of an evening when there was no breeze but about minus 20 and it was delightful. I've been in minus 5-7 and it was near impossible. Similarly, the coldest I've ever been was on Hadrian's Wall at 06:00 - I've never felt cold like that either before or since.
So - the clothing issue is one to sleep on tonight and I'll tell you which gear I'll go with tomorrow.
For now, the payoff is the beautifully heaped up snow through the window and that makes up for any vicissitudes, real or imagined.
Sounds lovely outside your window but only from the inside... wrap up well, then. :-)
ReplyDeleteMinus 14? Minus 20? I'd be a goner! Do take care, dear James. Here's a hug from Sicily to warm you - oh, you don't like being warm , though, do you? x
ReplyDelete"Currently the thermometer is showing minus 14 but it's all relative."
ReplyDeleteC or F degrees? If it is C, that isn't too bad. I've spent nights in -30C to -40C weather while deer hunting in our local mountains in October.
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ReplyDeleteI was seven when I first saw snow (I was raised in South America) and it was an unnerving experience! I was aware of the concept, but the reality of sort-of-solid-white-water was a shock.
ReplyDeleteThat having been said, I can recommend the Barbour classic coat for almost any weather.