And the Weather Is ...

Cold.

A few weeks ago, the temperature dropped to -13 F (-25C). During the same period, I called my mother in Texas. Without knowing about the weather here, she complained about the bitter Austin winter weather that been brought to town by a nasty norther. The temperatures had dropped to a miserable 41 F (5 C). I just commiserated with her.

I was in Austin for Christmas (the Western one celebrated on Dec. 25). On 23 Dec., I was walking around in a T-shirt enjoying the 70 F (21 C) weather. Here, in Moscow, it is 7 F (-14 C) now. Incidentally, that is the warmest it is supposed to get for the next 24 hours. This snapshot of wunderground.com-provided info will give you the full picture.

Weather tales like these send shivers down the spines of my friends, most of whom are located in the San Francisco Bay area. However, those from colder climates will chuckle upon reading this blog. Frankly, -12 F (-25 C) does not feel as cold as you might think. My poor mother has a point when she complains about Austin's frosty weather. At 98% relative humidity, 41F (5 C) feels very cold as the plentiful water in the air effortlessly sucks the heat off the body. At -12 F (-25 C), the relative humidity is a trivial figure because the absolute humidity is pretty much zero. There is, effectively, no water in the air to make you feel miserable. So, as long as you have decent thermal underwear, a good jacket, a hat, and a pair of gloves, you will do just fine. A 2 mile urban hike with my breezy Asics running shoes was no problem.

To be honest, weather is a mundane conversation topic, but everyone partakes of it. If you are curious about Moscow weather, you can pick up some conversation material here.