You helped me a lot with my move! I appreciate it.

The forecast for my area next week has temps as low as -20F (-28C), with a lower windchill (I think around -30F/-34C). We will have snow on the ground but I don’t believe it is expected to snow on the coldest days. Side note - we are around 4500ft/1372m above sea level.

So far the winter has been pretty mild and hasn’t gone below 0F/-17C at all. Snow has also been sparse with I think less than 2 inches (5cm) each time, quickly melting. So I haven’t gotten a chance to really get used to such cold temps. We can get some pretty fast winds. I think it mostly sticks between 20-25 mph (32-40 kph). Also a very arid climate. I have a hard time getting my home above 30% humidity. Not sure on the outdoor numbers.

Is there anything different I should be doing for myself and for my dogs? I feel like these temps are dangerous for exposed skin? Not sure.

One of my dogs has medium length hair and the other one is short hair.

For me I have stuff like longjohns, thicker sweatpants, sweatshirts, windbreaker, I also have a wool coat. Then like thicker socks and some fur lined boots. - I’m thinking I need to add a scarf or something for my face and then also make myself wear gloves? I have some sheepskin gloves so I was thinking of putting on like regular winter gloves and then the sheepskin over it?

For the dogs they have a wind resistant fur lined coat and then some winter shoes. So I’m guessing they need something for their head - I have a soft head covering for them but it is slightly too big and keeps falling over their eyes when we practice wearing it. Do I need to get them something that covers their legs and belly better as well?

I was also wondering if I should even be taking them out at all when it’s that cold. I mean I know it is that cold often elsewhere but they are used to the dry heat of the south of the US and I don’t want them to end up not wanting to go outside ever again haha.

I still feel very unprepared for winter weather so I hope my fellow Lemmings can help!

  • orbitz
    7·
    3 days ago

    I grew up where it’d get that cold for awhile yearly in Canada, I can’t say much about dogs but that’s about where it starts to feel really cold without wind. Like another level was reached compared to say -20 or -25C (-20F = -30C). I also used to do a lot of outdoor stuff with a school, when we went out layers was a big thing (probably not as necessary for walks but it doesn’t hurt, extra layers can trap heat to keep you warm). You’ll want some will socks, insulated footwear, probably a scarf or some face covering at the very least. When it’s windy it bites really hard and you don’t feel like you’ll get warm for ages. As for layers, well in that weather we’d wear polypropylene underwear, beneath everything may be overkill for non active work but you’ll probably want some full underwear for anything longer than 30mins. Of course exposed skin is bad so gloves, mittens are better since your fingers stay together. If it’s windy you’ll want some sort of windbreaker outerwear. My experience is out of date so I’m unsure if the materials are correct.

    As an example when we went out with the school we had day packs with us, carried extra wool socks and had multiple outer layers to swap with (fleece is very good but not good for final layer). There was also food and water in our packa but that’s not really what you’d need.

    So have a few outer layers with some wind protection, make sure to cover any skin for the most part (toques, scarves, mittens). For any dogs I’d think they should be above small side before going too far. We had a tiny dog growing up and his feet would be obviously too cold just from peeing outside in that to -40 weather.

    Unsure if that helps or not, stay warm.

    Edit thought I’d add, I’ve seen blisters on ears from -35-40C weather, but the person was playing hockey for an hour or so, but I’ve also walked home drunk from the bar at around -30C with wind, which wasn’t awful but I did make a pit stop at a buddy’s place after about a km, that was just jeans and parka type coat. I don’t think I’d have tolerated as well sober heh. Also this info is close to 20 years old now so may be a bit fuzzy on some specifics, moved to a much warmer place thankfully.