South Carolina cold vs. Wyoming cold

fatlander

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Coldest I’ve ever been was 35 degrees barely spitting rain in a treestand in Virginia. A quick morning hunt turned into an all day sit based on deer activity, and I didn’t have the gear for it.

Cold to the bone is the best term to describe it.

The single digits I’ve experienced out west have nothing on that type of cold. There’s a reason everyone that hunts coastal Alaska told about how brutal the weather is. Barely above freezing and rain (or super high humidity) the most miserable weather to hunt in.


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GSPHUNTER

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There are several factors which effect how similar temperatures are perceived. The actual temp, humidity, air movement and radiant heat. One other factors is psychological, you may feel colder on a cloudy day as compared to a sunny day at same given temperature, similar to how extended periods of dark get some people depressed.
 
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Can't say I've ever noticed the phenomenon. I've had friends from SW MT move to MN and complain about the winter cold saying the humidity makes it worse but heck if I can tell the difference when i'm traveling.
 
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When I was fresh out of school I had a project at a Russel Stover (candy) plant. Spent time in their freezer. It was 7 deg F and fairly high humidity. Coldest I've ever been.
 

KHNC

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I am curious if others have experienced this. I've noticed that there is a significant difference in the "feel" of the same temperature in different locations-namely SC vs. WY.

The temperature here now is 46 with a real feel of 40 and humidity of 46% . If I were in Wyoming (instead of SC) and had to guess the temperature, I would guess it to be around 20. I have been out in Wyoming with the temps in the teens and if feels like SC with the temp in high 30s or even 40.

I've heard folks say it is the humidity and possibility the difference in elevation but how can my perception of the cold be that different in these 2 locations?

I was sleeping in the back of the truck near Lander a couple of weeks back. I was perfectly comfortable sleeping and I did not need heavy layers even before first light. There was frost on some of my stuff and I would never have known the temp was that low just by how I felt.

I mean the difference I feel is not a couple of degrees-it is substantial. I remember being in Dubois WY years back and the temps were in the teens.
I was hiking pretty hard so I built some body heat but I was good with 1 long sleeve shirt-back in SC I would have been freezing in the same temp range.

Is there a logical explanation for this? Am I the only one that experiences this?
I have a house at lake murray and hunt in the west every year. Home is WNC. I agree on what you are saying. I have always thought it was the humidity. I was out in Wyoming in Sept elk hunting this year. Its always the same. When i climb a tree in SC friday morning , I plan to be loaded with layers!
 

KHNC

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I’ve never been colder than the 35 degree walk home at an ATA show in Atlanta or Indianapolis (can’t remember)… and I came from -20 in Duluth, MN. Go figure. Combination of cold and damp, slushy dress shoes and slacks. I didn’t know if I was going to make it. I hate the eastern winters.


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We may have been at the same show in INDY> lol
 

DanimalW

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There’s definitely an acclimation effect to cold too. I spent the weekend in Arizona for a wedding and soaked up as much sun as I could. The 28 degrees I came home to was much colder than when I left. People in the south will never understand folks wearing shorts on a warm, sunny 50 degree day in March. It’s all relative.
 

Hardly_Hangin

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I am curious if others have experienced this. I've noticed that there is a significant difference in the "feel" of the same temperature in different locations-namely SC vs. WY.

The temperature here now is 46 with a real feel of 40 and humidity of 46% . If I were in Wyoming (instead of SC) and had to guess the temperature, I would guess it to be around 20. I have been out in Wyoming with the temps in the teens and if feels like SC with the temp in high 30s or even 40.

I've heard folks say it is the humidity and possibility the difference in elevation but how can my perception of the cold be that different in these 2 locations?

I was sleeping in the back of the truck near Lander a couple of weeks back. I was perfectly comfortable sleeping and I did not need heavy layers even before first light. There was frost on some of my stuff and I would never have known the temp was that low just by how I felt.

I mean the difference I feel is not a couple of degrees-it is substantial. I remember being in Dubois WY years back and the temps were in the teens.
I was hiking pretty hard so I built some body heat but I was good with 1 long sleeve shirt-back in SC I would have been freezing in the same temp range.

Is there a logical explanation for this? Am I the only one that experiences this?
Agree 100% - i spent some time in jackson hole wy in February snowmobiling, coldest temp was -8 and average was mid 20s through the week, but felt no worse compared to low 20s to high 40s at home. It seemed like as long as i covered my skin and blocked the wind i was good. Cold here cuts deep and hurts - i look like a michellin man by the time December all day rut hunts roll around.
 

dank

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Yup I grew up in PNW and now live in WY. I would rather be in a dry 40 below with the sun shining then in the PNWs 40 above but dark, dank, damp, drizzly, depressing lol.
 

dank

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When WY wind starts going it can be pretty f*#$ed though. Little pieces of dirt and snow wippin into your eyeballs at 50 mph. Usually a solid 5 oz fill down jacket keeps me warm outside even on the coldest days however, assuming I'm not just sitting or something.
 

Rich M

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Go to WY and experience cold before you compare.

SC doesn’t move the mercury compared to WY. Suck it up buttercup kind of cold.
 
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You always get guys talking like it’s nonsense to suggest what the OP did. But, it’s true. Where I live it’s not high in elevation. My house sets at about 3500’. It usually gets cold here every winter. Zero to minus 10 is about average lows. Last for two to three weeks. The snow that cones with it is fine and dry. Blows around like dust. It’s a dry snow and the air with it is dry.

Funny thing is, it feels a heck of a lot colder when it’s 20 and humid. Which is the rest of winter. January is when it gets dry here. Months before and after are humid. So, when it gets to the single digits in. November, December, February, and March, it is a cold that makes the dry January weather warm. Even though the thermometer says it shouldn’t.

I used to travel weekly from Ny back to WV buying logs. I spent a good deal of time on log yards in every state from NY to Rocky Mount VA. I carried the typical clothes for winter weather. My most prized warm clothing bc was a set of KEY brand insulated coveralls.

I’d work in them everyday if the week coming south. The farther south I cone, the more layers I had to have under them to stay warm working up logs.

It’s real. And the farther south you go, the more cold is felt.
 
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I need a jacket if it hits 60 in Colorado.

So.......it's much colder in the south in the winter than the mountain states.......last Dec/Jan we had freeze warnings in Scottsdale.......I've been cold as heck in Hawaii in Jan and Feb.......is there any place in the U.S. that's actually warm all winter that I can be a snow bird in? Perhaps my wife is right, we just need to move to WY and embrace the suck all winter.
Key West
 

Fatcamp

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LOL. When we went to the Keys the lizards were falling out of the trees.

We have our first blizzard coming in a couple days. 40mph winds, single digits, snow. I get what OP is saying, but the south don't see that. Unprotected you would be dead in an hour or two.

Coldest I ever got was in Arizona. Go figure. But I was unprepared, I don't play that game anymore, and never have up here.
 
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We have our first blizzard coming in a couple days. 40mph winds, single digits, snow. I get what OP is saying, but the south don't see that. Unprotected you would be dead in an hour or two.

It looks like we are going to get another tropical depression buzz up the coast this week...it was 78 here yesterday with like 60% humidity.
 

GSPHUNTER

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Yup I grew up in PNW and now live in WY. I would rather be in a dry 40 below with the sun shining then in the PNWs 40 above but dark, dank, damp, drizzly, depressing lol.
I would agree except for the 40 below, maybe 10 below. I have been in minus 35 and it sucked.
 
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