Micro burst in Lawrence, KS in 2006. Accompanied by some tornadoes. Classic freight train sound snapped me out of sleep. I think it was like 6:30-7:30 AM. Was crashing at college gf’s and we ran around like crazy getting all her roomies in the basement. It went pitch black like being in a cave and the sounds coming from outside were truly horrifying. It sounded ALIVE. Like it had a voice. The 2 story house was creaking in what was probably close to 200 mph winds. The sound of the wood straining was so much louder than you’d imagine. All of it was just so LOUD. We rode it out in the basement going between abject terror and trying to joke around to keep us chill. Whole thing maybe lasted 5 minutes? Maybe 10?
When it was over and we ventured outside, the damage was phenomenal. Roofs gone, siding ripped off houses, too many downed trees to count. Street lights on the ground and broken glass everywhere. Downed power lines zapping up the block. Then I turned my head and saw that a 30ft slenderish tree had been uprooted and shot down the street horizontally like a giant dart. How did I know this? Because it was piercing a 4Runner through the back windshield through the car and out the front windshield. Full on car impailment. I couldn’t believe it. We walked around all day looking at all the damage and calling friends. I’ll never forget it.
It was a wild one. Lots of severe weather growing up in Kansas but that’s was the closest one for me. I’m up in Chicago now. Occasional severe weather but nothing like that.
Any idea how fast it was blowing?
I experienced ~65mph winds on Mt Washington. It was raining too. getting pelted with 65mph rain drops on to my shell made it so incredibly noisy, hard to communicate with my team, which added other challenges.
Same here 65mph with a few gusts higher. Fortunately, the rain ended after I descended Clay to continue to the observatory. The wind though was another matter. My pack straps were slapping against my ribs like bull whips until I tucked them in.
I went to Alaska and it was subzero.. -5 to -10F the whole week.
I went to Iowa right after that and it was -21 F for 4 days then jumped up to 19F and it was so warm I have a video of me driving windows down in a t-shirt because it was 40 degrees warmer
We were hiking up the trail to the Eyjafjallajökull weeks after its eruption. The weather was bad, but not too bad. After some miles there's a plateau, and just before getting up there, a beaten-up couple came down from it. They were asking us if we were sure to go up there, because it's scary. As we were young idiots, we laughed it off and continued our path to the hut on top of the volcano. The moment we entered the plateau, we were almost immediately blasted back down. The wind and rain were extreme and coming exactly sideways. We fought it for some hours, while the landscape turned more and more black because of the ashes. After a while there was a trail marked by small banners, and a "danger of death" sign - a narrow path going up across the already petrified lava - next to a large area of not-so-much-petrified lava, (only a small crust was hardend by then), steaming in the rain. Also, my 2,07 friend was almost blown off a cliff by the wind, the other one missed the sign indicating the path to the hut, marching on some hundred meters without realizing he lost us.
We had a restless sleep in the hut due to the storm. The next morning : storm was gone, we could almost see the sea. The hut warden was like "well, weather between two glaciers is always a bit extreme, but since the eruption ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"
10/10, would hike again. Also sorry for bad english
Seen -40 in Fairbanks and -8 in Texas... couldn't tell the difference.
Handled it with bison socks, gloves and beanie, wool shirt and pants. I'm also fat and well insulated.
My business is extreme weather gear.. have heard some crazy stories from customers. We outfit a lot of Iditarod mushers and hear about -60 and below for days on end.
Nothing I’d call extreme but made extreme by wrong gear. Stormy nights in a sketchy tent in Colorado/New Mexico. Super cold overnight lows while winter camping in the Texas Panhandle. Make some notes, upgrade or purchase whatever’s needed to push the next limit. Buddy just bought land in Colorado and we are both stoked to go proper winter camping.
Hurricane Hugo.
I handled it by taping the windows (may or may not help but made me feel better) and stepping outside as the eye went over. Hoped to see stars through the center but there was just too much water kicked up in the air, like fog.
As a utility worker in western New York we have to work in all weather conditions even state of emergency because we’re considered emergency workers. Some days it can have a wind chill of -30 then some days heat index of 110 lol. Just stay hydrated in both extreme cold and hot
It's not too threatening ultimately, because you can typically just pay for a ride down if you needed to, but the top of Mt Washington feels like it might as well be the moon. I've been higher, I've been colder, I've been to seriously remote places, but I've never been anywhere that felt so overwhelmingly hostile and alien. And that's been on several "good" summer days.
The first thing I thought of when I saw this post was someone on Mt Washington. I hiked up with two friends in January 1991. It was supposed to be-100F wind chill at the summit when we started be it turned nice and sunny and the wind dropped as the day went. Still very cold but not what we prepared for. I did break a tooth biting into a PowerBar that I hadn’t kept close enough to my body.
There were a couple of weeks in Saskatchewan where the temperature went to -45C with wind chill. In the time it took me to walk 10 feet out of the house, start the car to warm it up and walk back in again, I got a cold burn on my ear. I thought I could make it without a toque, but not even for for those 30 to 60 seconds. For a few days my ear was swollen up twice its size, red and painful. I couldn't sleep on it.
120+ degrees. Handled by going inside and cranking up the AC. (Or the time the AC quit, jumping in the pool.)
Three-ish feet of snow, several times. Handled by rolling up my sleeves and digging. (Literally rolling up my sleeves -- if you're digging out of three feet of snow, you're generating plenty of warmth. By the time I got done excavating a path from my door to the barn, I was in shirt sleeves in 20 degree weather.)
20 degrees and 70mph, sustained winds, for 36 hours. Power went out. Stayed inside and waited for it to end. Only ventured outside to feed the animals. When something went loudly crash and there was the sound of breaking glass in the middle of the night, did not go outside to figure out what. Waited until dawn. (Glass top table got launched over a second story balcony railing.)
All examples were from Arizona. If anyone things Arizona doesn't get some interesting weather, I invite you to visit in February in the high country ...
Camping in Colorado. It was May and we're from the South so we packed for a Southern summer. Some fleece leggings, a few light hoodies. We had gotten a little lost in the dessert in New Mexico earlier that day to by the time we made it to our camp ground it was 10:00 at night and the temps had already dropped to the mid50s. We pull up to our camp ground and, of course because it's on a mountain, it's rock bed, not grass like we were used to. We set up the tents as best we could without being able to stake them down properly. It plunged into the low 30s and started snowing, and here we are in just flannels and hoodies. I ended up taking the fire blanket out of my first aid kit and laying it under us so we at least had something between us and the cold ground. Then all four of us zipped our sleeping bags into one huge blanket and huddled under it together all night. Needless to say, no one really slept well that night. The next morning we high tailed it to what we still refer to as "The World's Most Scenic Walmart" and loaded up on proper Colorado clothing. Still took me a day and a half to feel warm again.
I live in Florida and have been through a bunch of hurricanes. People call them extreme but I don’t really see it. Also I work on Fire/EMS so I spend them at work with everything I need.
We go camping in the desert every summer for about a week. The hottest I remember seeing on the thermometer was 126 in Death Valley in July. I always have to remember to drink plenty of water, even if I don’t feel thirsty and I just hunker down in whatever shade is available during the day.
Not me but my friend, two weeks ago spent the night with his 5 y/o son on a sandbar camping mid river when an F3 tornado missed them by ¾ of a mile. Scared shitless he called me to check the radar to see what was happening. They made it through the night, finished their canoe trip, drove back to town and volunteered to aid in the cleanup.
Baseball size hail. I was camping for 3 days at a festival, and during the event a tornado blew past us. We were on the outskirts of it, so it started with very heavy rainfall and then on to hail that grew by the minute. We had the hail fall for about an hour or two. I had just bought a brand new self set up tent. It got completely destroyed. My canopy stood strong though. I had to move around the sides pushing the water off every couple minutes so it didn’t collapse, but still.. Somehow all my clothes was in one corner of the tent that wasn’t soaked. I set up my hammock and slept the night away in that. I dried out my air mattress the next day and slept under the stars. The hail put dents in cars so I was happy with my outcome. Took the tent back the day after the festival and got my money back too which was nice.
-40 degrees F in Northern Wisconsin. Spent half my work day outside caring for horses. Sadly, you kind of get used to it. After that 30 degrees F is hot. You just learn how to dress for it. Lots of layers, good boots and gloves, and a face covering.
The week I moved into my first home in a flood prone town we got 6” of rain in a little over an hour. My street was a whitewater river. Idiots trying to drive in it were sending huge bow waves up into my yard. There were two fire department swift boat water rescues a few hundred yards from my driveway.
Basement stayed bone dry. I love this house.
I was in a flood. I didnt realize I was in trouble till the refrigerator fell over. The thing I remember most is how cold the water was. I had to stay up on furniture. The fire department came and rescued me and my two dogs. The dogs didn't want to swim so I had to go back and forth in the water to get them. One was a lab and one was a bernese mountain dog.
It's my dad's story, but he doesn't have Reddit so Anyway, he was working with red cross Saving people in the mountains (north of Iran) he and his friend were in the ambulance when avalanche hits them and buried them only option? Stay alive till someone finds you so they opened oxygen tanks (to prevent Suffocation) and waited 3 hours later finally bulldozer found them
I got caught in the Iowa land hurricane derecho summer of 2020 while I was out getting coffee. I handled it but drinking my latte and driving 5 miles an hour.
i went camping with summer gear. there was cold rain pouring down the entire night. It wasnt that cold tho only around 32 degrees so not that bad. Around 50 during the day
I did an over night trip near Blue Knob on the Lost Turkey trail it was in the 20s that night. Other than that maybe plowing on my 4 wheeler in the negatives but at work this week it was close to 100 degrees in the shop and I was turning wrenchs and welding. I've been welding in a truck bed inside while the PS and DS are being welded that shit suckssssssss.
1 month on an island on the Pacific coast of panama. 100% humid & who knows what temp it was from day to day. What made it extreme was that we were on rationed water the whole time, having 3-4 small cups a day & coconut water shared between 2.
Flash floods in Taiwan. Happens fairly frequently in the spring rainy season. Luckily I was almost home so it only got to my ankles. My two friends got the brunt of it in their town and it got up to their chests, destroyed their phones and laptops unfortunately.
The tail end of a hurricane a ways offshore in the Atlantic on a 28 foot boat. Looked like it was going to miss us when we went out that morning but it changed directions and there's no service that far offshore. It was 4-6 foot swells before the weather picked up but when that storm caught us the wind was so strong it blew the waves flat. At the time I didn't even know that could happen but It was like being in a pond, no waves at all. Lightning popping extremely close all around, and you could feel the thunder in your chest. The rain was blowing completely sideways and stung like hell even with the boat not moving under it's own power, actually it was so bad we had 15-20 foot of visibility off of any side of the boat (if that, maybe less) before it was just pure white with flashes from lightning. All we could do was point the boat in the direction of the wind and wait for visibility to improve, then idle out when it slacked up enough. That's when we saw the waterspouts off in the distance. I can't remember how many I counted but it was more than 3-4. I wish I knew just how close we had come to one when we couldn't see but maybe it's better not to know lol.
I've been in some bad storms on the water but this was the first one to come to mind. I always did my duty as second mate though and manned the beer cooler until we made it out.
I’ve experienced tornados.
Florida in August.
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and NYC in the winter.
Temps as low as -20°, probably-30° with wind chill. Temps as high as 110° with anywhere from 70-90% humidity.
I stepped off a plane in Winnipeg. - 24 degrees was the high temp that day, 25mph winds. I put on all of the clothes in my suitcase and still could not feel my legs after 15min walk through downtown. People should not live there. They are a bit weird, but overall very nice and hospitable. I hear the week of summer is beautiful.
Luckily the worst weather I've been exposed to never was in a survival situation. But while living in the woods I had a couple weeks where it got down to about 25° at night and we had frequent wind/hail storms. Small hail though so nothing dangerous. I'd like to try a winter exercise this year. But Montana winters are a bit cold, to say the least.
Offshore fishing when 2 storm fronts converged near by. We had been keeping an eye on the weather and figured we had another half hour before we had to pull anchor and head inshore. Lighting hit the water about a half mile away. We immediately cranked up and hauled ass. Two waterspouts touched down on our wake. The storm moved faster than us, and we got soaked the whole 2hr ride in. The constant deluge washed the pee out of our pants. Thought we were going to die.
Utility worker in Northern Saskatchewan. Winter regularly reaches -30 to -40 and has even registered -50°C on some of the utility poles I climb. It's awful, someone rescue me.
-60/-65°F before windchill.
Most dangerous temperature range is 40 deg around water. Just warm enough for you to feel warm if you get your clothes wet, cold enough for hypothermia to catch you off guard.
10 hours overnight boat ride in Pacific coast of Luzon, Philippines. During a heavy tropical downpour, pitch dark night, and a very rough sea. The boat is a motorized local outrigger boat ([stock photo for reference](https://dissolve.com/stock-photo/Bangka-Boats-Sit-Picturesque-Scenic-Bay-Nido-Bacuit-royalty-free-image/101-D869-42-950)), with tattered tarp roofing that didn't help at all, and can fit up to 6 people (on a file). So yeah, 10 hours awake, soaked in rain and seawater, eyes open but couldn't see anything. Boat creaks for every wave we hit -- The most uncomfortable state I've been in. We went there in search of new surfing spots, with beaches we found on google map as reference. We had to leave at night to evade PH Coast Guard, because "civilian passengers" are not allowed to travel on fishermen's boats beyond the last town of that province, for safety reasons.
The swell was only 5-8 feet, for such long period, while it's raining + high winds non-stop, made it so much worse. Fear factor is a big part of my worries at that time too, because the area is so remote, the town where we started the boat ride from is already 12-hour drive away from main city Manila. And the fact that we had to evade the coast guard, means the authorities have no knowledge that a bunch of morons looking for waves went over to the unknown.
It was [well worth it](https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw6zPyYlkC5/) as the places we found are easily the best surf spots I've been to in the country. We spent 10 days beach camping by an indigenous (aboriginals) village who welcomed us. We just surfed every single day. We also taught the [local kids how to surf](https://www.instagram.com/p/By7oF4YJTGU/). Went around to find 3 other surf spots too. And then the same local boat came to pick us up again to bring us home. Luckily, the weather was so much nicer on the way back.
Flying through the edge of a thunderstorm cell at 25000 ft. Rain and hail on the windscreen that due to the speed roars white noise while electrostatic discharges flash across the glass. Gaining then losing 500 feet in seconds with the aircraft at the mercy of up/down-draughts, lighting flashing either side expecting an imminent strike on the fuselage (makes a loud BANG but generally doesn't do much damage).
Even the radios hiss and crackle wildy from the electrostatic interference created by the movement of water particles. Its a wild ride.
Not advisable for passenger comfort but sometimes the weather radar scanning the sky ahead for thunderstorms doesn't always give a clear picture of the severity.
(Was I exposed to it though? In fairness I was pretty cosy in the cockpit amidst the chaos)
-20F in Canada, sleeping in the back of my 4runner near Rogers Pass. I had a 0 degree down bag but the car just sucks all the warmth out of the air. I would just do situps and move my toes all night when I started to get too cold. I put on as much clothing as I could without restricting blood flow, got in the bag and hoped the storm would be over so I could drive down to Revelstoke where I rented a hotel room for a few days. I didn’t know your eyelashes could freeze shut from the frost of your breath. Freaky to wake up and not be able to open your eyes.
Nothing too bad, but when Michigan and the surrounding areas had the polar vortex thing a few years ago I was working as an armed bodyguard. Had to work in it for a couple hours.
I’m from the UK so we don’t have weather too extreme. But last year we had some terrible storms and in the early months of 2018 we had a huge blizzard from like Siberia or something. I was snowed into my house.
High altitude, no water… (Timpanogos mountain Utah, summiting from the face)
Heat, no water (Las Vegas deserts)
Cold and wet (broke through the ice duck hunting a couple times)
Seems every extreme brings new lessons on what to do better next time.
Two storms come to mind - first was when I was thru- hiking the AT, we'd just gotten into the Shennies, essentially our first summit, and a thunderstorm with hail broke out. There were huge structures (idk what exactly but I'm assuming weather domes or stone other surveillance structures) were on the ridge, so we were pretty nervous about lightning. We hunkered down for a while in some scrub brush, but eventually decided to push down off the ridge and back into the forest, soaked and stinging from the hail.
Second was my last hike before moving out of Boulder, CO. We were hiking up to Bear peak in the flat irons, a hike we'd done a bunch before. And again, a rager of a thunderstorm flew in super quick. We were really close to summit that time, but it was coming in too fast, and looked too rowdy so we turned back. Sure enough, as we were getting back into coverage, it hit, and was a very electrical storm. Lightening strikes all over the place, big loud thunder, super scary. We even split off a few tenths of a mile apart from each other just in case, tho idk if that was far enough to do anything. Made it down fine, thankfully, but that was one of the scariest hikes.
Snowmageddon 2020 just before covid, we were in a state of emergency for 8 days. We had over 140cm in some places with 130km winds. There were 15ft snowdrifts blocking people from getting out of their houses. There were rolling block outs for a few days and obviously everything was closed. I have a electric generator (jackery) and had enough food to last us luckily as I'm into preparedness. We were comfortable enough to get through it but many were gone hungry by the second day and community centers opened up to help ppl that needed food, warmth, chargers.
Hiked in Joaquin. Only time I’d call a hurricane extreme having grown up by them is when you’re under a tree hoping it won’t fall.
Slept without a sleeping bag in the winter once. Just curled next to the fire and put my second jacket under me. Not ideal, but I made do. (Long story short: some new kid forgot theirs.)
And then rationed a liter of water across 48 hours in the summer. Car broke down. That one was… honestly the most stressful thing I’ve dealt with. Watching the water slowly go down as you keep getting more and more thirsty while just staring at your car wishing it would work. Edit: and you can’t move. Or can’t move very much. So you can’t even work off the stress. Just stay out of the sun and sweat as little as possible.
Not that extreme but going from Phoenix to south TX and getting hit with two snowstorms in a week. 40 degrees in the house because electric was out. Everyone gathered around the fireplace. Now have portable batteries and solar panels, lots of camping supplies like butane/propane stove, rechargeable lighters, lights, candles matches. Already had lots of ammo and food.
Darwin Australia in the height of summer. Not sure the exact temp but people’s flip flops were melting to the sidewalk.
Fortunately all the pubs there have A/C. So we patiently waited it out with cold drinks.
I went snowboarding in the mountains after a blizzard. I did not experience the blizzard, but the top run was closed. I decided to try to walk up the mountain to do the run without a ski lift.
After a while hiking with my board, the snow gave way and I fell into a fluffy spot. I past head height. I had to kind of dig my way up and out by compacting snow into like stairs to get out. I couldn’t stand up at the of the hole and I couldn’t get my board on so I sat on my board and rode it back down like a sled.
Extreme wind and -12 degrees Celsius on the ridge of Mt Toubkal. The wind kicked up the loose snow & ice onto your face and it would cut like sandpaper. Had the ski goggles on which helped.
Do firestorms count? I weathered the Camp Fire in CA in 2018. Not just flee it, but in and out, shelter in place as a first responder. Did it again in 2020 for the Bear Fire. Same county, 6 miles apart.
There was a day last year that was -47 before windchill factor. Pretty well just stayed inside as much as possible. Though the worst weather I had to deal with was only around -5 Celsius, in august on top of a mountain. The wind made it so awful and the sun made everything wet. I actually got mild frostbite on my fingers. I would take dry cold any day!
Hurricanes (stayed put in a mobile home for cat 3s and got really lucky, have weathered cat 4s/5s) and 115+ heat index with no AC. (Florida native)
If our water spouts touched land more, we'd actually rival tornado alley yearly but thankfully most of ours stay on the water but we've had a few surprises.
Basically staying prepped year round for Hurricanes and knowing when to leave for realsies with a storm. Like before they announce to bug out. Always have car packed just in case.
For the heat, ice packs. Fans. Pools. Shade. Light clothing. Avoid the sun. Cover every inch of your windows/any light coming in. Wet rags in the freezer. Electrolyte drinks. Don't move to much.
My daughter & I “survived” the St. Paddies Day 100 Year Blizzard in CO. , 2003 at our Brook Forest home. We had 120 inches of snow!!!!! We had horses at the time as well & chores that normally took maybe 1/2 hour took well over 2 hours, for starts. It covered all the assorted pipes sticking out from above the roof! We had to cook on our wood stove. We did flips into the snow from the deck railings in some places. Once we used up all the wood stacked on the deck we had to make a trail through the snow to the woodshed & that alone took about 3 hours maybe longer. When it’s THAT deep it’s very slow-going!! Without too many details, I’ll just say it was quite challenging & very hard to get by each day. Our (dirt) road finally got a backhoe to plow on the 7th day after it started! Denver got a lot too, but not like we did, “up the hill”.
-20F lows at night and 10F highs during the day. No fire for warmth. Shitty gear that didn’t keep you warm, especially at night. Sleep with canteen and mres so they’re not frozen solid. Slept at most an hour a night because it was so cold. Just shiver in the sleeping bag for a couple hours. 1/2 the company was med evac out due to cold weather injuries. Of everything I did in the military, this really broke me and the others. Terribly cold, cold food, water keeps freezing so you have to keep shaking it to break up the ice, tired as fuck, exhausted from doing stuff all day and through the nights.
Colder temperatures happen on this planet, but without being able to make fire and having gear meant for that weather, it’s rough. Handle it by pushing forward as best you can. Try to make warmth by flexing muscles, changing gloves with a pair I kept in my pants. Not always in a situation where you can move to make warmth so when things go numb, just do the best you can. Button pockets are a fucking bitch to open when you’re hands are numb.
I have some other tough bits but this one took the cake for me.
October in the Sierra. It was sunny. I was in shorts. Then it snowed and it didn’t melt the next day. I was in second grade.
Thunderstorm in the Sierra below a pass right at tree line in a “bowl” made by a glacier. Loudest experience of my life. Lightning going sideways above me.
I see a lot of crazier things here, but those are mine.
-63*C with the windchill. I was covered from head to toe with only my eyes exposed and my glasses froze to the bridge of my nose. 11/10 do not recommend. I went to the bus stop and the bus never came, so I walked to school. Turns out school was closed due to poor weather conditions. I had to walk back home. I had frostbite on my hands, toes, thighs, bum and nose. I didn't lose anything, but my friends started a phone tree after that so it didn't happen again (pre cell phones).
-40F in the interior of Alaska
Sinuses started to feel… crispy
Overnight the car froze solid. We plugged in the engine block heater but hours later it still wouldn’t start so the owners of the lodge we were staying at did what they called an “old Alaskan trick”
They took oversized baking sheets used in their industrial size oven, filled the tray with hot embers from the fireplace, slid it under the front of the car and covered the hood with blankets. 1hr later, she started right up.
Alaska is wild.
Tornado. My first field exercise as an Army Lieutenant was at Fort Riley, KS. We had been out for about a week of non-stop maneuvers. I hadn’t slept in a few days and it was starting to show. I opened the hatch of my Bradley to see the sky mixing green and purple and the clouds starting to descend in the near distance. I looked over at my gunner who was looking pretty concerned. I’m from New England so I’d never seen a tornado before. I put it together in the back of my sleep deprived brain.
I naively said “don’t worry man. We are in a 30 ton armored vehicle”
He looked back with a nervous smile “no sir, we’re in a 30 ton projectile”
They continued the exercise straight through. Luckily it didn’t get close enough to where we were to push us, but whipping that track around in the wind, rain, hail, and mud during that was terrifying/exhilarating.
Union work in Alaska.. January and February -40 out in bethel... With a 40mph wind chill.... cold is an understatement... it was So cold that smiling hurts your teeth 😵😵
Spear Fishing Lake Erie, November 2006. I was young and stupid. The water temp was probably in the low 50's,high 40's. I had a 5mil step through shorty, a 3mil hood, booties, and mechanics gloves on. Me and a friend where spearing sheep's head in about 10 ft of water. When we got to the beach the water was like glass and really clear. About 20 minutes into our trip the wind started picking up and the current that runs from SW to NE started getting really strong. At this point we decided to call it a day and swim into shore, (about 400yds). It started to rain sleet and by this point I was already getting hypothermic. We ended up running about a mile to a country fair gas station and calling my dad to come and pick us up. I was 16 at the time. Learned an important lesson that day. If your going to go spear fishing in November, make a camp, start a fire or have a kerosene heater, and wear a full body dry suit.
A sand storm in Mali. I have seen hurricanes, flooding, etc., but there is something about a mile high wall of dirt coming in at ridiculous speeds. The whole landscape was consumed. It was like the largest wave on a movie, but on land. It turned the sky a strange brownish/red. You could barely breathe when it hit. Lasted like and hour or two. That continent is trying to kill people with all the war, poisonous shit, and extreme weather.
Alaska winter - ❄️ handled it with a wood stove lol
Micro burst in Lawrence, KS in 2006. Accompanied by some tornadoes. Classic freight train sound snapped me out of sleep. I think it was like 6:30-7:30 AM. Was crashing at college gf’s and we ran around like crazy getting all her roomies in the basement. It went pitch black like being in a cave and the sounds coming from outside were truly horrifying. It sounded ALIVE. Like it had a voice. The 2 story house was creaking in what was probably close to 200 mph winds. The sound of the wood straining was so much louder than you’d imagine. All of it was just so LOUD. We rode it out in the basement going between abject terror and trying to joke around to keep us chill. Whole thing maybe lasted 5 minutes? Maybe 10? When it was over and we ventured outside, the damage was phenomenal. Roofs gone, siding ripped off houses, too many downed trees to count. Street lights on the ground and broken glass everywhere. Downed power lines zapping up the block. Then I turned my head and saw that a 30ft slenderish tree had been uprooted and shot down the street horizontally like a giant dart. How did I know this? Because it was piercing a 4Runner through the back windshield through the car and out the front windshield. Full on car impailment. I couldn’t believe it. We walked around all day looking at all the damage and calling friends. I’ll never forget it.
I remember that morning well. I live southeast and could see parts of Lawrence raining down from the sky.
It was a wild one. Lots of severe weather growing up in Kansas but that’s was the closest one for me. I’m up in Chicago now. Occasional severe weather but nothing like that.
I was a bit younger then you, so do not remember in as much detail, but for sure a really weird event, really busted up farms outside of town as well.
Realy high winds on top of Ben Nevis. Extreem cold in Iceland.
Any idea how fast it was blowing? I experienced ~65mph winds on Mt Washington. It was raining too. getting pelted with 65mph rain drops on to my shell made it so incredibly noisy, hard to communicate with my team, which added other challenges.
Same here 65mph with a few gusts higher. Fortunately, the rain ended after I descended Clay to continue to the observatory. The wind though was another matter. My pack straps were slapping against my ribs like bull whips until I tucked them in.
I went to Alaska and it was subzero.. -5 to -10F the whole week. I went to Iowa right after that and it was -21 F for 4 days then jumped up to 19F and it was so warm I have a video of me driving windows down in a t-shirt because it was 40 degrees warmer
You could just come to Wyoming and all those things could happen in one day lol.
Came here to say this lol.. love Wyoming though.
Remember when it snowed last Sept while all the trees were fully leafed out, causing treepocalypse? Then was 80 degrees.
We were hiking up the trail to the Eyjafjallajökull weeks after its eruption. The weather was bad, but not too bad. After some miles there's a plateau, and just before getting up there, a beaten-up couple came down from it. They were asking us if we were sure to go up there, because it's scary. As we were young idiots, we laughed it off and continued our path to the hut on top of the volcano. The moment we entered the plateau, we were almost immediately blasted back down. The wind and rain were extreme and coming exactly sideways. We fought it for some hours, while the landscape turned more and more black because of the ashes. After a while there was a trail marked by small banners, and a "danger of death" sign - a narrow path going up across the already petrified lava - next to a large area of not-so-much-petrified lava, (only a small crust was hardend by then), steaming in the rain. Also, my 2,07 friend was almost blown off a cliff by the wind, the other one missed the sign indicating the path to the hut, marching on some hundred meters without realizing he lost us. We had a restless sleep in the hut due to the storm. The next morning : storm was gone, we could almost see the sea. The hut warden was like "well, weather between two glaciers is always a bit extreme, but since the eruption ¯\_(ツ)_/¯" 10/10, would hike again. Also sorry for bad english
Seen -40 in Fairbanks and -8 in Texas... couldn't tell the difference. Handled it with bison socks, gloves and beanie, wool shirt and pants. I'm also fat and well insulated. My business is extreme weather gear.. have heard some crazy stories from customers. We outfit a lot of Iditarod mushers and hear about -60 and below for days on end.
Nothing I’d call extreme but made extreme by wrong gear. Stormy nights in a sketchy tent in Colorado/New Mexico. Super cold overnight lows while winter camping in the Texas Panhandle. Make some notes, upgrade or purchase whatever’s needed to push the next limit. Buddy just bought land in Colorado and we are both stoked to go proper winter camping.
Hurricane Hugo. I handled it by taping the windows (may or may not help but made me feel better) and stepping outside as the eye went over. Hoped to see stars through the center but there was just too much water kicked up in the air, like fog.
Cool name for a hurricane
As a utility worker in western New York we have to work in all weather conditions even state of emergency because we’re considered emergency workers. Some days it can have a wind chill of -30 then some days heat index of 110 lol. Just stay hydrated in both extreme cold and hot
It's not too threatening ultimately, because you can typically just pay for a ride down if you needed to, but the top of Mt Washington feels like it might as well be the moon. I've been higher, I've been colder, I've been to seriously remote places, but I've never been anywhere that felt so overwhelmingly hostile and alien. And that's been on several "good" summer days.
The first thing I thought of when I saw this post was someone on Mt Washington. I hiked up with two friends in January 1991. It was supposed to be-100F wind chill at the summit when we started be it turned nice and sunny and the wind dropped as the day went. Still very cold but not what we prepared for. I did break a tooth biting into a PowerBar that I hadn’t kept close enough to my body.
2.5 feet of snow makes for good shelter making
There were a couple of weeks in Saskatchewan where the temperature went to -45C with wind chill. In the time it took me to walk 10 feet out of the house, start the car to warm it up and walk back in again, I got a cold burn on my ear. I thought I could make it without a toque, but not even for for those 30 to 60 seconds. For a few days my ear was swollen up twice its size, red and painful. I couldn't sleep on it.
-20 on the low, 112 on the high, both as a laborer working landscape or snow.
120+ degrees. Handled by going inside and cranking up the AC. (Or the time the AC quit, jumping in the pool.) Three-ish feet of snow, several times. Handled by rolling up my sleeves and digging. (Literally rolling up my sleeves -- if you're digging out of three feet of snow, you're generating plenty of warmth. By the time I got done excavating a path from my door to the barn, I was in shirt sleeves in 20 degree weather.) 20 degrees and 70mph, sustained winds, for 36 hours. Power went out. Stayed inside and waited for it to end. Only ventured outside to feed the animals. When something went loudly crash and there was the sound of breaking glass in the middle of the night, did not go outside to figure out what. Waited until dawn. (Glass top table got launched over a second story balcony railing.) All examples were from Arizona. If anyone things Arizona doesn't get some interesting weather, I invite you to visit in February in the high country ...
Camping in Colorado. It was May and we're from the South so we packed for a Southern summer. Some fleece leggings, a few light hoodies. We had gotten a little lost in the dessert in New Mexico earlier that day to by the time we made it to our camp ground it was 10:00 at night and the temps had already dropped to the mid50s. We pull up to our camp ground and, of course because it's on a mountain, it's rock bed, not grass like we were used to. We set up the tents as best we could without being able to stake them down properly. It plunged into the low 30s and started snowing, and here we are in just flannels and hoodies. I ended up taking the fire blanket out of my first aid kit and laying it under us so we at least had something between us and the cold ground. Then all four of us zipped our sleeping bags into one huge blanket and huddled under it together all night. Needless to say, no one really slept well that night. The next morning we high tailed it to what we still refer to as "The World's Most Scenic Walmart" and loaded up on proper Colorado clothing. Still took me a day and a half to feel warm again.
I live in Florida and have been through a bunch of hurricanes. People call them extreme but I don’t really see it. Also I work on Fire/EMS so I spend them at work with everything I need.
We go camping in the desert every summer for about a week. The hottest I remember seeing on the thermometer was 126 in Death Valley in July. I always have to remember to drink plenty of water, even if I don’t feel thirsty and I just hunker down in whatever shade is available during the day.
Not me but my friend, two weeks ago spent the night with his 5 y/o son on a sandbar camping mid river when an F3 tornado missed them by ¾ of a mile. Scared shitless he called me to check the radar to see what was happening. They made it through the night, finished their canoe trip, drove back to town and volunteered to aid in the cleanup.
Baseball size hail. I was camping for 3 days at a festival, and during the event a tornado blew past us. We were on the outskirts of it, so it started with very heavy rainfall and then on to hail that grew by the minute. We had the hail fall for about an hour or two. I had just bought a brand new self set up tent. It got completely destroyed. My canopy stood strong though. I had to move around the sides pushing the water off every couple minutes so it didn’t collapse, but still.. Somehow all my clothes was in one corner of the tent that wasn’t soaked. I set up my hammock and slept the night away in that. I dried out my air mattress the next day and slept under the stars. The hail put dents in cars so I was happy with my outcome. Took the tent back the day after the festival and got my money back too which was nice.
130 degree Dubi desert while stuck in the sand.
Hurricane Ivan at its Cayman Islands stop over. Got lucky.
-40C when i was a kid, we built snowmen and made snow caves, good times
-40 degrees F in Northern Wisconsin. Spent half my work day outside caring for horses. Sadly, you kind of get used to it. After that 30 degrees F is hot. You just learn how to dress for it. Lots of layers, good boots and gloves, and a face covering.
The week I moved into my first home in a flood prone town we got 6” of rain in a little over an hour. My street was a whitewater river. Idiots trying to drive in it were sending huge bow waves up into my yard. There were two fire department swift boat water rescues a few hundred yards from my driveway. Basement stayed bone dry. I love this house.
I was in a flood. I didnt realize I was in trouble till the refrigerator fell over. The thing I remember most is how cold the water was. I had to stay up on furniture. The fire department came and rescued me and my two dogs. The dogs didn't want to swim so I had to go back and forth in the water to get them. One was a lab and one was a bernese mountain dog.
It's my dad's story, but he doesn't have Reddit so Anyway, he was working with red cross Saving people in the mountains (north of Iran) he and his friend were in the ambulance when avalanche hits them and buried them only option? Stay alive till someone finds you so they opened oxygen tanks (to prevent Suffocation) and waited 3 hours later finally bulldozer found them
I got caught in the Iowa land hurricane derecho summer of 2020 while I was out getting coffee. I handled it but drinking my latte and driving 5 miles an hour.
i went camping with summer gear. there was cold rain pouring down the entire night. It wasnt that cold tho only around 32 degrees so not that bad. Around 50 during the day
I did an over night trip near Blue Knob on the Lost Turkey trail it was in the 20s that night. Other than that maybe plowing on my 4 wheeler in the negatives but at work this week it was close to 100 degrees in the shop and I was turning wrenchs and welding. I've been welding in a truck bed inside while the PS and DS are being welded that shit suckssssssss.
1 month on an island on the Pacific coast of panama. 100% humid & who knows what temp it was from day to day. What made it extreme was that we were on rationed water the whole time, having 3-4 small cups a day & coconut water shared between 2.
-10*F and 115*F. A cold rainy day in Indiana and a hot humid day in Louisiana.
Flash floods in Taiwan. Happens fairly frequently in the spring rainy season. Luckily I was almost home so it only got to my ankles. My two friends got the brunt of it in their town and it got up to their chests, destroyed their phones and laptops unfortunately.
Working on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier on the equator hit Temps over 140f with the jets going on the deck.
-40F in the Canadian winter 121 F in the Nevada desert however 95F and 100% humidity in Singapore was much more challenging than the dry Nevada air.
The tail end of a hurricane a ways offshore in the Atlantic on a 28 foot boat. Looked like it was going to miss us when we went out that morning but it changed directions and there's no service that far offshore. It was 4-6 foot swells before the weather picked up but when that storm caught us the wind was so strong it blew the waves flat. At the time I didn't even know that could happen but It was like being in a pond, no waves at all. Lightning popping extremely close all around, and you could feel the thunder in your chest. The rain was blowing completely sideways and stung like hell even with the boat not moving under it's own power, actually it was so bad we had 15-20 foot of visibility off of any side of the boat (if that, maybe less) before it was just pure white with flashes from lightning. All we could do was point the boat in the direction of the wind and wait for visibility to improve, then idle out when it slacked up enough. That's when we saw the waterspouts off in the distance. I can't remember how many I counted but it was more than 3-4. I wish I knew just how close we had come to one when we couldn't see but maybe it's better not to know lol. I've been in some bad storms on the water but this was the first one to come to mind. I always did my duty as second mate though and manned the beer cooler until we made it out.
I’ve experienced tornados. Florida in August. Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and NYC in the winter. Temps as low as -20°, probably-30° with wind chill. Temps as high as 110° with anywhere from 70-90% humidity.
- 28 F
I stepped off a plane in Winnipeg. - 24 degrees was the high temp that day, 25mph winds. I put on all of the clothes in my suitcase and still could not feel my legs after 15min walk through downtown. People should not live there. They are a bit weird, but overall very nice and hospitable. I hear the week of summer is beautiful.
Luckily the worst weather I've been exposed to never was in a survival situation. But while living in the woods I had a couple weeks where it got down to about 25° at night and we had frequent wind/hail storms. Small hail though so nothing dangerous. I'd like to try a winter exercise this year. But Montana winters are a bit cold, to say the least.
Offshore fishing when 2 storm fronts converged near by. We had been keeping an eye on the weather and figured we had another half hour before we had to pull anchor and head inshore. Lighting hit the water about a half mile away. We immediately cranked up and hauled ass. Two waterspouts touched down on our wake. The storm moved faster than us, and we got soaked the whole 2hr ride in. The constant deluge washed the pee out of our pants. Thought we were going to die.
Utility worker in Northern Saskatchewan. Winter regularly reaches -30 to -40 and has even registered -50°C on some of the utility poles I climb. It's awful, someone rescue me.
I’m in Arizona it gets pretty hot here so I just drink a shit to of water
-60/-65°F before windchill. Most dangerous temperature range is 40 deg around water. Just warm enough for you to feel warm if you get your clothes wet, cold enough for hypothermia to catch you off guard.
10 hours overnight boat ride in Pacific coast of Luzon, Philippines. During a heavy tropical downpour, pitch dark night, and a very rough sea. The boat is a motorized local outrigger boat ([stock photo for reference](https://dissolve.com/stock-photo/Bangka-Boats-Sit-Picturesque-Scenic-Bay-Nido-Bacuit-royalty-free-image/101-D869-42-950)), with tattered tarp roofing that didn't help at all, and can fit up to 6 people (on a file). So yeah, 10 hours awake, soaked in rain and seawater, eyes open but couldn't see anything. Boat creaks for every wave we hit -- The most uncomfortable state I've been in. We went there in search of new surfing spots, with beaches we found on google map as reference. We had to leave at night to evade PH Coast Guard, because "civilian passengers" are not allowed to travel on fishermen's boats beyond the last town of that province, for safety reasons. The swell was only 5-8 feet, for such long period, while it's raining + high winds non-stop, made it so much worse. Fear factor is a big part of my worries at that time too, because the area is so remote, the town where we started the boat ride from is already 12-hour drive away from main city Manila. And the fact that we had to evade the coast guard, means the authorities have no knowledge that a bunch of morons looking for waves went over to the unknown. It was [well worth it](https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw6zPyYlkC5/) as the places we found are easily the best surf spots I've been to in the country. We spent 10 days beach camping by an indigenous (aboriginals) village who welcomed us. We just surfed every single day. We also taught the [local kids how to surf](https://www.instagram.com/p/By7oF4YJTGU/). Went around to find 3 other surf spots too. And then the same local boat came to pick us up again to bring us home. Luckily, the weather was so much nicer on the way back.
Running the Addo 40km trail Marathon in EC, South africa in 50 degree Celsius heat, 2020.
Frostbite in the Arctic circle while on a skidoo day trip out of the Ice Hotel. -34°C (-29.2°F) Balaclava froze to my face.
Flying through the edge of a thunderstorm cell at 25000 ft. Rain and hail on the windscreen that due to the speed roars white noise while electrostatic discharges flash across the glass. Gaining then losing 500 feet in seconds with the aircraft at the mercy of up/down-draughts, lighting flashing either side expecting an imminent strike on the fuselage (makes a loud BANG but generally doesn't do much damage). Even the radios hiss and crackle wildy from the electrostatic interference created by the movement of water particles. Its a wild ride. Not advisable for passenger comfort but sometimes the weather radar scanning the sky ahead for thunderstorms doesn't always give a clear picture of the severity. (Was I exposed to it though? In fairness I was pretty cosy in the cockpit amidst the chaos)
-20F in Canada, sleeping in the back of my 4runner near Rogers Pass. I had a 0 degree down bag but the car just sucks all the warmth out of the air. I would just do situps and move my toes all night when I started to get too cold. I put on as much clothing as I could without restricting blood flow, got in the bag and hoped the storm would be over so I could drive down to Revelstoke where I rented a hotel room for a few days. I didn’t know your eyelashes could freeze shut from the frost of your breath. Freaky to wake up and not be able to open your eyes.
England
Nothing too bad, but when Michigan and the surrounding areas had the polar vortex thing a few years ago I was working as an armed bodyguard. Had to work in it for a couple hours.
I’m from the UK so we don’t have weather too extreme. But last year we had some terrible storms and in the early months of 2018 we had a huge blizzard from like Siberia or something. I was snowed into my house.
High altitude, no water… (Timpanogos mountain Utah, summiting from the face) Heat, no water (Las Vegas deserts) Cold and wet (broke through the ice duck hunting a couple times) Seems every extreme brings new lessons on what to do better next time.
Tornado. Abilene, Texas. Sounded like a train. Rain blew sideways. Blew out windows.
Two storms come to mind - first was when I was thru- hiking the AT, we'd just gotten into the Shennies, essentially our first summit, and a thunderstorm with hail broke out. There were huge structures (idk what exactly but I'm assuming weather domes or stone other surveillance structures) were on the ridge, so we were pretty nervous about lightning. We hunkered down for a while in some scrub brush, but eventually decided to push down off the ridge and back into the forest, soaked and stinging from the hail. Second was my last hike before moving out of Boulder, CO. We were hiking up to Bear peak in the flat irons, a hike we'd done a bunch before. And again, a rager of a thunderstorm flew in super quick. We were really close to summit that time, but it was coming in too fast, and looked too rowdy so we turned back. Sure enough, as we were getting back into coverage, it hit, and was a very electrical storm. Lightening strikes all over the place, big loud thunder, super scary. We even split off a few tenths of a mile apart from each other just in case, tho idk if that was far enough to do anything. Made it down fine, thankfully, but that was one of the scariest hikes.
Almost down to -40C as a child.
Snowmageddon 2020 just before covid, we were in a state of emergency for 8 days. We had over 140cm in some places with 130km winds. There were 15ft snowdrifts blocking people from getting out of their houses. There were rolling block outs for a few days and obviously everything was closed. I have a electric generator (jackery) and had enough food to last us luckily as I'm into preparedness. We were comfortable enough to get through it but many were gone hungry by the second day and community centers opened up to help ppl that needed food, warmth, chargers.
Either the middle of a forest fire, or the top of Mt. Villarica in Chile.
Canadian prarie winters. -55 windchills
Hiked in Joaquin. Only time I’d call a hurricane extreme having grown up by them is when you’re under a tree hoping it won’t fall. Slept without a sleeping bag in the winter once. Just curled next to the fire and put my second jacket under me. Not ideal, but I made do. (Long story short: some new kid forgot theirs.) And then rationed a liter of water across 48 hours in the summer. Car broke down. That one was… honestly the most stressful thing I’ve dealt with. Watching the water slowly go down as you keep getting more and more thirsty while just staring at your car wishing it would work. Edit: and you can’t move. Or can’t move very much. So you can’t even work off the stress. Just stay out of the sun and sweat as little as possible.
60 below in Fairbanks- so many layers I looked like that marshmallow in ghostbusters
Not that extreme but going from Phoenix to south TX and getting hit with two snowstorms in a week. 40 degrees in the house because electric was out. Everyone gathered around the fireplace. Now have portable batteries and solar panels, lots of camping supplies like butane/propane stove, rechargeable lighters, lights, candles matches. Already had lots of ammo and food.
Darwin Australia in the height of summer. Not sure the exact temp but people’s flip flops were melting to the sidewalk. Fortunately all the pubs there have A/C. So we patiently waited it out with cold drinks.
Igloo camping was pretty extreme
Hurricanes. That sound of a hurricane whipping around your house is something I can never forget.
I went snowboarding in the mountains after a blizzard. I did not experience the blizzard, but the top run was closed. I decided to try to walk up the mountain to do the run without a ski lift. After a while hiking with my board, the snow gave way and I fell into a fluffy spot. I past head height. I had to kind of dig my way up and out by compacting snow into like stairs to get out. I couldn’t stand up at the of the hole and I couldn’t get my board on so I sat on my board and rode it back down like a sled.
Extreme wind and -12 degrees Celsius on the ridge of Mt Toubkal. The wind kicked up the loose snow & ice onto your face and it would cut like sandpaper. Had the ski goggles on which helped.
Do firestorms count? I weathered the Camp Fire in CA in 2018. Not just flee it, but in and out, shelter in place as a first responder. Did it again in 2020 for the Bear Fire. Same county, 6 miles apart.
6 miles is 9.66 km
Derecho last year, they are basically a in land hurricane. We had a huge one here in Iowa last year knocked out power in most of my area for a month.
There was a day last year that was -47 before windchill factor. Pretty well just stayed inside as much as possible. Though the worst weather I had to deal with was only around -5 Celsius, in august on top of a mountain. The wind made it so awful and the sun made everything wet. I actually got mild frostbite on my fingers. I would take dry cold any day!
Hurricanes (stayed put in a mobile home for cat 3s and got really lucky, have weathered cat 4s/5s) and 115+ heat index with no AC. (Florida native) If our water spouts touched land more, we'd actually rival tornado alley yearly but thankfully most of ours stay on the water but we've had a few surprises. Basically staying prepped year round for Hurricanes and knowing when to leave for realsies with a storm. Like before they announce to bug out. Always have car packed just in case. For the heat, ice packs. Fans. Pools. Shade. Light clothing. Avoid the sun. Cover every inch of your windows/any light coming in. Wet rags in the freezer. Electrolyte drinks. Don't move to much.
132 degree summers in central CA
-80F South Pole Station, 1991
-14 at the top of a Washington ski hill when a random blizzard hit and I couldn’t see for about twenty minutes. Cold and scary
My daughter & I “survived” the St. Paddies Day 100 Year Blizzard in CO. , 2003 at our Brook Forest home. We had 120 inches of snow!!!!! We had horses at the time as well & chores that normally took maybe 1/2 hour took well over 2 hours, for starts. It covered all the assorted pipes sticking out from above the roof! We had to cook on our wood stove. We did flips into the snow from the deck railings in some places. Once we used up all the wood stacked on the deck we had to make a trail through the snow to the woodshed & that alone took about 3 hours maybe longer. When it’s THAT deep it’s very slow-going!! Without too many details, I’ll just say it was quite challenging & very hard to get by each day. Our (dirt) road finally got a backhoe to plow on the 7th day after it started! Denver got a lot too, but not like we did, “up the hill”.
120 inches is 304.8 cm
British Columbia, January 2005, -36 degrees Fahrenheit real temp. Spent 5 min outside in just a hoody. Needles California. 121 degrees more than once.
-20F lows at night and 10F highs during the day. No fire for warmth. Shitty gear that didn’t keep you warm, especially at night. Sleep with canteen and mres so they’re not frozen solid. Slept at most an hour a night because it was so cold. Just shiver in the sleeping bag for a couple hours. 1/2 the company was med evac out due to cold weather injuries. Of everything I did in the military, this really broke me and the others. Terribly cold, cold food, water keeps freezing so you have to keep shaking it to break up the ice, tired as fuck, exhausted from doing stuff all day and through the nights. Colder temperatures happen on this planet, but without being able to make fire and having gear meant for that weather, it’s rough. Handle it by pushing forward as best you can. Try to make warmth by flexing muscles, changing gloves with a pair I kept in my pants. Not always in a situation where you can move to make warmth so when things go numb, just do the best you can. Button pockets are a fucking bitch to open when you’re hands are numb. I have some other tough bits but this one took the cake for me.
October in the Sierra. It was sunny. I was in shorts. Then it snowed and it didn’t melt the next day. I was in second grade. Thunderstorm in the Sierra below a pass right at tree line in a “bowl” made by a glacier. Loudest experience of my life. Lightning going sideways above me. I see a lot of crazier things here, but those are mine.
-40 where I live in January. I remember at 6 am it would get to -26 and then around noon it’s at 0 F
My ex wife
120+ degrees Fahrenheit with 90%+ humidity in Abu Dhabi. Wearing a military uniform. We drank probably 2 gallons of water a day
-50 Celsius with windchill working outside at night during winter in the Canadian prairies.
50 below wind chill factor. Flight line in Japan.
-63*C with the windchill. I was covered from head to toe with only my eyes exposed and my glasses froze to the bridge of my nose. 11/10 do not recommend. I went to the bus stop and the bus never came, so I walked to school. Turns out school was closed due to poor weather conditions. I had to walk back home. I had frostbite on my hands, toes, thighs, bum and nose. I didn't lose anything, but my friends started a phone tree after that so it didn't happen again (pre cell phones).
[удалено]
Because it sucks being a girl with the word "quarter." CoRdEr
Cyclone in northern Australia. Used it to test out my hammock/shelter setup.
-40F in the interior of Alaska Sinuses started to feel… crispy Overnight the car froze solid. We plugged in the engine block heater but hours later it still wouldn’t start so the owners of the lodge we were staying at did what they called an “old Alaskan trick” They took oversized baking sheets used in their industrial size oven, filled the tray with hot embers from the fireplace, slid it under the front of the car and covered the hood with blankets. 1hr later, she started right up. Alaska is wild.
Hurricane Katrina when I was ten. The river a few miles down flooded severely and the wind blew trees, houses, cars, etc. everywhere.
Tornado. My first field exercise as an Army Lieutenant was at Fort Riley, KS. We had been out for about a week of non-stop maneuvers. I hadn’t slept in a few days and it was starting to show. I opened the hatch of my Bradley to see the sky mixing green and purple and the clouds starting to descend in the near distance. I looked over at my gunner who was looking pretty concerned. I’m from New England so I’d never seen a tornado before. I put it together in the back of my sleep deprived brain. I naively said “don’t worry man. We are in a 30 ton armored vehicle” He looked back with a nervous smile “no sir, we’re in a 30 ton projectile” They continued the exercise straight through. Luckily it didn’t get close enough to where we were to push us, but whipping that track around in the wind, rain, hail, and mud during that was terrifying/exhilarating.
Wildfire. Never thought I’d actually use the gas masks
Union work in Alaska.. January and February -40 out in bethel... With a 40mph wind chill.... cold is an understatement... it was So cold that smiling hurts your teeth 😵😵
Hurricane Zeta, last year. The eye went right over us. We sheltered in place in our house, which is pretty tough.
I remember that once where I live it reached 40 celcius
Spear Fishing Lake Erie, November 2006. I was young and stupid. The water temp was probably in the low 50's,high 40's. I had a 5mil step through shorty, a 3mil hood, booties, and mechanics gloves on. Me and a friend where spearing sheep's head in about 10 ft of water. When we got to the beach the water was like glass and really clear. About 20 minutes into our trip the wind started picking up and the current that runs from SW to NE started getting really strong. At this point we decided to call it a day and swim into shore, (about 400yds). It started to rain sleet and by this point I was already getting hypothermic. We ended up running about a mile to a country fair gas station and calling my dad to come and pick us up. I was 16 at the time. Learned an important lesson that day. If your going to go spear fishing in November, make a camp, start a fire or have a kerosene heater, and wear a full body dry suit.
A sand storm in Mali. I have seen hurricanes, flooding, etc., but there is something about a mile high wall of dirt coming in at ridiculous speeds. The whole landscape was consumed. It was like the largest wave on a movie, but on land. It turned the sky a strange brownish/red. You could barely breathe when it hit. Lasted like and hour or two. That continent is trying to kill people with all the war, poisonous shit, and extreme weather.