Replies to post #276186 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

thanks, would 15mph blowing dry snow be enough to force a bus to be stranded at a truck-stop for hours? Doesn't feel enough.

When Greyhound finally decided they had to put us up for the night we struggled to a motel about ?? 15 min. away. As the first off the bus,
we were the first to be sent to a room. And the first to get back to reception because the doorknob lock was frozen, and hands too cold
after couple of minutes. It had to be loosened with a handy little blow-torch. How cold would it have to be to freeze a lock like that?

Now guessing it was likely in Pennsylvania .. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._state_temperature_extremes .. as it's about 8h to Ohio.

[DesertDrifter]

I think that when the dry bulb gets to about -30 that wind chill is basically irrelevant, as exposed flesh is frozen within minutes. I remember in high school walking home from basketball practice after showering and having my hair freeze so hard that you could break it. Also, the plastics and pot metal in cars of the sixties were not designed for -40; door handles would snap off, and if your car wouldn't start and you hit the plastic dashboard they would shatter into a thousand pieces. I don't recall any actual frostbite, as if you got to that stage, such as a stranded motorist in a blizzard, the line between being prepared and dieing of exposure was a pretty crisp one.