Colder Than A Brass Monkey

Wally Coker, our 33/40 Skywatcher for Clay/Deerfoot, posed that question this morning. He has always wanted to know where that brass monkey term came from. He first heard it years ago on an episode of M.A.S.H.

Wally, I used to hear it as a small kid growing up in Havana Junction. It seems to be just another way to refer to bitter cold weather.

And the bitter cold weather we have. I had planned an Alabama update, but since the arctic cold is making news over many states, let’s expand this update to Alabama, Regional and National.

ALABAMA
The cold front is pushing into the southern counties just before noon. Obviously, the colder temperatures are over the north. This is a dangerous situation. Low temperatures tonight will dip close to zero in parts of the extreme north. We are still saying lows around 10-12 across Central Alabama, including the Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Anniston corridor. It is entirely possible that some of the colder spots in the area to dip down to around 8, including Pinson. There are lots of communities in this part of Alabama that get colder at night than Birmingham Airport. Although we don’t get reports from there, I believe that the low-lying area adjacent to Lakeshore Drive in Homewood could be several degrees colder on a clear still night. Three low temperatures from our weather watchers: 22 in Scrougout, 26 Jasper, and 25 McCalla. Tomorrow morning we will post a long and comprehensive list of low temperatures.

LATE MORNING IN ALABAMA
19 Redstone Arsenal, wind chill 8
22 in Decatur, wind chill 9
22 Huntsville, wind chill 12
22 Haleyville, wind chill 11
23 Muscle Shoals, wind chill 13
27 Albertville, wind chill 18
27 Ft. Payne, wind chill 17
30 Anniston and Birmingham, wind chill 20
33 Tuscaloosa, wind chill 23
42 Montgomery (colder air got there later)

REGIONAL AND NATIONAL
21 Memphis, wind chill 8
16 Nashville, wind chill 4
-34 Minot, North Dakota, wind chill -57
-35 Bismarck
-27 Alexandria, Minnesota, winc chill -49
-12 DesMoines, wind chill -34
17 New York City, winc chill 3

CANADIAN
-31 Brandon, Manitoba, wind chill -56
-20 Churchill (Polar Bear Capitol of the world), wind chill -47

COMMENT: I have often wondered if polar bears shiver when it gets that cold. They probably can stand more cold than any other animal on earth.

USA EXTREMES
91 yesterday afternoon at Santa Ana and Lake Forest, California
-43 this morning at Garrison, North Dakota

REMARKABLE WARM UP IN ALASKA
The coldest in our biggest state this morning was -8 at Northway. It was only a few days ago that they were reporting -54. About a week ago, the thermometer strained real hard and dropped down to an unbelievable at 68 below at Chicken, Alaska. Another example of the change, over on the west side of the state, the NWS in Juneau was issuing some flood warnings because of heavy rain and melting snow. Stanley Creek had reached the fifth highest level in history.

CHICAGO
Their low this morning was 10 below zero. They were expecting a high this afternoon of 2 below and a low tonight of 16 below. Bryan Peters says he is going to stay away from the windy city for a time, even though he loves to visit there and also his daughter lives there.

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