doubtful reader

In my last post, I had an anonymous reader post that they doubted the veracity of my story with the cold temperature being what it was. The reader noted, "The record low for whiteface in the winter is -40C and I doubt you were there on that day." The reader is probably correct - I doubt it was that cold the day that Tim and I went skiing on Whiteface Mountain. So you may think that the number of -61 C is a farce, my story is shot to hell. Its not and here's why.

Weather conditions are given in two different ways with regards to temperature - absolute temperature and with the factor of wind chill/heat index. Most people are concerned the most with the latter since it is a measure of how the temperature feels to their body - hence the reason why the number was reported. I was out in those conditions and the wind was affecting my body. Was the absolute temperature actually that cold that day? Nope, but it was darn cold.

First off, the time frame for this event is February 1993. I was stationed in Saratoga Springs, NY and our shift had just come off of "mids" - the 8pm to 8am watch. As was tradition with our group, we would rent skis from MWR and head to the mountains. Tim and I grabbed our stuff and headed for Whiteface - we always wanted to ski the "Olympic mountain". So we packed up the car and headed north, when we got there we found the mountain gloriously deserted. Once we got out of the car and headed over to the counter to buy our tickets, we understood why. It was bitter cold and there was a sign that told of the weather conditions on the mountain. The top was closed to skiing but you could ride the gondola up; it was also -79 F and closed due to high wind conditions. However, you could ski the bottom half of the mountain where the wind was slightly less and temperatures were a bit warmer (they said it as being -68 F). We saw an opportunity and took the gondola up, walked outside for a moment, then proceeded to get on the next gondola and ride it back down. We spent the rest of the day on the lower slopes, in the somewhat milder conditions...

But Expat, what were the real conditions out there? I went out and did some research about the weather conditions on that day and found some interesting results. First off, the minimum temperature on record for that day was recorded at Saranac Lake, about 20 miles (30 km) away. The coldest temp was recorded at being -31 F (- 35 C) in Saranac; by the way, the elevation of Saranac is about 1550 ft (about 500 m) above sea level. Coldest temperatures normally happen at night, right? So the odds are that when Tim and I got to that area, temperatures were higher than that. Let's say that was late morning when we got to Saranac and the sun was warming things up - let's say it was about -15 F/-26C (which means it warmed up by 15 F before noon). That's a decent warm-up if you ask me, 15 F (6 C) in a few hours of sunlight.

Umm, Expat, that's not what your story said. There's a big difference between -15 F and -35 F (temp needed to make the wind chill that cold). Absolutely correct again. Please remember that Whiteface Mountain is at elevation compared to Saranac.
The summit of Whiteface is 4650 ft (about 1500 m) and as you rise in elevation, the temperature of the air cools at an approximate rate of 5 F/1000 ft. Using my handy-dandy math skills, I find that with the 3200 ft of vertical difference that the temperature should be about 16 F colder at the summit of Whiteface Mountain. Hmm, that puts the temperature somewhere around -32F (-34 C) at the summit. This is an approximate value as the temperature of air can vary from 5-7 F per 1000 ft, I have estimated on the low side.

Winds of 45 mph can cause a wind chill of -79 F with an absolute temperature of -35 F. But we didn't ski in 45 mph winds, that would be almost impossible. However, if you look at the wind chill chart, -68 F is achieved with a gust of 20 mph, not impossible to ski.

If you doubt anything I have had to say in this post, please verify my data. I have given my sources below, check them out as you please. If there is doubt about other aspects to my story, feel free to comment and I'll address them accordingly.

- Expat Nomad

Sources
Weather Conditions for Saranac Lake, NY in Feb 1993
Stats on Saranac Lake, NY
Stats on Whiteface Mountain
Wind Chill Chart