Cold Cold and Cold

One of the most dangerous aspects of Winter is the Extreme Cold. Even in the warmest of winters temps do go down to the teens with wind chills near zero at least briefly. The most dangerous aspect of winter is the Wind Chill.

Wind Chill is not the actual temperature, but what it feels like to your skin and skin of animals when the wind blows on a cold day. That is why a winter day with a temp of 40 feels so cold when there are 20 to 30mph gusts to the north. The wind removes heat from your body quicker. Also even in calm winds activities like riding in a car with the window down, ATV riding, snowboarding generate their own wind to the mix.

So riding on an ATV at 20mph on a calm wind day with a temp of 20 degrees (if it isnt a calm wind day add to the wind that is already there) cools the riders of the ATV to a 4 degree windchill.

In some intense cold snaps like the Feb 96 and Jan 94 one or even Dec 2004 after the storm can chill you if wind was blowing to wind chills below -40 degrees causing frostbite to exposed skin within 10 minutes. So even in West KY the frostbite and freezing you to death can actually happen. Severe frostbite and hypothermia can result in pain, loss of limbs, and pot. death and organ failure of kidneys and liver.

- In the intense cold snaps of Feb 96 and esp Jan 1994 temps reached as low as -22 in Henderson KY in Jan 94. This is a big time cold and that alone can produce dangerous temps. So record lows in the -10 to -24 range have been set so extreme cold can happen here.

Remember that improper use of space heaters and candle are also a cause of damage and death during winter time to.