Weather Memories

This morning driving my younger son to high school swim practice (next to last time!) it was cold for this part of North Carolina - about 16 degrees F (-8 C). I mentioned to him that I had lived in places where it got much colder.

But it got me thinking. Was this one of those memories that when investigated turns out to be wrong?

Had I really walked to school 3 miles uphill (both ways) against the wind (both ways) barefoot in the snow in 20 degree below zero weather or what?

So I did a little research.

I lived in Bellevue, Nebraska from 1961 to 1965. How cold did it get there during that period?

From here I see that it got down to -17F (-27C) on 23 Jan 1963, -16F (-26C) on 30 Jan 1965, -14F (-25C) on 28 Feb 1962. That's cold enough, so I won't bother you with the years I lived in Wyoming.

Now, about that snow . . . according to this site, the years between 1961 and 1965 were snowy in the Omaha area with over 50 inches of snow in the 1961-1962 and 1964-1965 snow seasons. Only in a couple of years were those snow totals topped. I think in 1965 we got one of those 24-inch + snow falls that bumped up the total. It was good for sledding. Not so good for that uphill walk to school. (Update: "THE HEAVIEST 24 HOUR SNOWFALL FOR THE OMAHA METRO AREA IS 18.3 INCHES WHICH OCCURRED ON FEBRUARY 11 1965.")

So, my memory was correct and it was not one of those "wrongly remembered" senior memories.

Of course, the wind, uphill and barefoot stuff you'll just have to take on faith.

Brrrr.

UPDATE: Of course, it's supposed to get up to about 70F (21C) here in a couple of days.