[jhein]

Originally Posted by The Champ

FWIW - if you don't want to go out in cold and wind "at all" - you probably wouldn't want to live where I have.

When you live with sub zero temps and wind routinely (northern MN), you accept it as a fact of life.

Back in January of 1983 we had a stretch of 10 days where the HIGH temp was -20 below. During that stretch we had wind chills in the neighborhood of -135 below.

People dressed for the occasion and went about their lives for the most part.

Was school canceled on a few days? Yes. Did we go on the weekend horse drawn sleigh ride we had planned of for weeks? No.

But most of us went to work as normal. Most of us did our routine grocery shopping.

I remember a Christmas Eve fire year's ago - my mother-in-laws neighbor. -40 or so. Should the fire department have refused to come out because it was cold? My mother-in-law made pot after pot of hot coffee for the fireman as they fought the blaze before they got it under control.

Yeah, I'm not talking about emergency services. Although, under some circumstances they are interrupted. Like for example hurricanes, flooding or other natural disasters where emergency personnel can't safely get access. That's a real thing.

Also, you've lived in a place where this kind of winter weather is routine. It becomes part of life and people and the road crews are prepared for it. I grew up in Miami, FL. No winter. But, I also lived in WI for 2 years and experienced that weather. They/we/I were ready for it. Life went on at -20. But, with storms like this, people get severe winter conditions in places that are not prepared for it. Not the individuals and not the road crews. So that's a different story. I also lived in Muncie, IN. We got some snow there but not much. Then we had a storm that dropped 3 feet of snow in 24 hours. Everything stopped. It took several days to get the roads cleared in residential areas. They were just not prepared for that.

And no matter how you slice it, driving is way more dangerous in these conditions. I think that's indisputable.

But, I get that for people who live in those climates, it's just accepted.