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Yes, Your Tongue Will Stick to a Frozen Pole—And Other Stories

It was so cold that . . .

Written By: David Phillips

What happens when winter temperatures are in the negative double digits? These reports caught our eye, not only because they made us shiver but also because, more often than not, they were prefaced with “I swear this is true.” 

Yes, these are all reports from Canadians because, well, they know cold. Some of these accounts may indeed be apocryphal, but taken together, they give new meaning to the phrase “It was so cold that … .”

–43°F

Several children got stuck to their playground equipment and had to be thawed off; Moosomin, Saskatchewan, December 19, 1983.

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And, yes, your tongue will stick to cold metal playground equipment and flag poles if the temperature is at or below the freezing point! Don’t try it! If this happens, warm water will release the tongue.

–54°F

When a Winnipeg hotel caught fire, a person trapped by the flames simply poured a pitcher of water out the window and slid down the icicle on December 24, 1879.

–45°F

In Kapuskasing, Ontario, tires fell off the rims of cars on January 15, 1994.

Subzero weather causes air in tires to contract, makes the rubber of the tire stiff, and causes the seal where the rubber meets the metal rim to loosen. The resulting air leak can make the tire flat!

–73°F

The snapping cold made sleds squeak so loudly that it scared the horses in Iroquois Falls, Ontario, on January 23, 1935.

–45°F

When cattle peed, they had to keep moving so that the icicles they made didn’t freeze them to the ground in southern Saskatchewan on January 1938.

Yes, pee freezes in freezing temperatures! We’ve known hikers climbing windy Mount Washington, New Hampshire, whose pee froze midstream into pellets. 

–51°F

Outside of town, you could hear the school bus creaking 10 to 15 minutes before it reached the driveway in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on January 1938.

–43°F

Winnipeg’s old downtown Louise Bridge over the Red River shrank more than 5-1/2 inches on February 1, 1996.

–22° to –40°F

Lake Ontario froze hard enough for motorists to drive safely between Toronto, Ont., and Rochester, N.Y., over the lake— if the wheels on their cars would turn—in February 1934. 

Lake Ontario has completely frozen over only twice in history: February 1934 and the winter of 1874–75.

–46°F

Smoke froze in the chimney and choked out the fire, and ravens just nodded at each other rather than squawking in Rivers, Manitoba in 1948.

Frigid Factoids

  • Seawater freezes at 29°F.
  • Because mercury freezes at –38°F, alcohol is used in thermometers in colder zones. It freezes at –173°F.
  • Fifty to 70 percent of body heat is lost through the top of your head, but only if the rest of your body is covered up. (Your mother was right, as usual.) 

See 10 more myths about the cold!

Got any more fun facts about what crazy stuff can happen in freezing weather? Please share!

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About The Author
David Phillips

David Phillips

David Wayne Phillips, CM is a senior climatologist for Environment Canada (Department of the Environment), spokesperson for the Meteorological Service of Canada, and author.

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Comments

<span>Wildwoodwillie</span> Sun, 01/12/2025 - 12:05
I have heard there is a point where its too cold to snow, where the air cannot hold moisture. True?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/joe-bills">Joe Bills</a> Mon, 01/13/2025 - 09:31

The two ingredients required to produce snow are moisture and cold. Snow doesn't form unless the atmospheric temperature is at or below freezing. If the ground temperature is warmer than freezing, the snow will melt as it falls. If ground temp is low enough, the snow will stick. So while it can obviously be too warm to snow, it never really gets too cold to snow. Snow can occur at extremely low temperatures, but typically doesn't, because super-cold air tends to be dry. Temperature also effects the type of snow. Snow that falls when temps are close to freezing typically holds more moisture, making it heavier and wetter. As temperatures drop, moisture level usually does too, making the snow lighter and fluffier. While it never gets too cold to snow, snow does become a lot less likely as temperatures drop to 0°F or below. Here's what our friends at the National Snow and Ice Data Center have to say about it: https://nsidc.org/learn/parts-cryosphere/snow/science-snow

 <span>Allyssa</span> Fri, 12/29/2023 - 10:41
OMG! How AWFUL!!!! Give me a tropic isle anyday!!!!
<span>Mecr</span> Sat, 12/09/2023 - 08:11
In today's Almanac (December 9, 2023) there is an article "10 Myths About the Cold" that states that, contrary to common belief, you do NOT lose most of your body heat through your head. You are contradicting yourself, Almanac!
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 12/11/2023 - 10:17

We apologize for the confusion. They are actually saying similar things. The key is that, as the "10 Myths About the Cold" starts out saying, if you are not wearing any protective winter clothing to keep you warm, you will lose about 10 percent body heat through your head, somewhat proportional to surface area. However, if one is wearing protective clothing on all parts of the body except the head, the head is the most likely place where heat can escape. That's where the "50 to 70 percent of body heat is lost through the top of your head, but only if the rest of your body is covered up" comes in, and why the "10 Myths" article indicates in general that if you are bundled up, you lose more of your body heat (than the usual 10 percent) through the top of an uncovered head. 

Hope this helps!

 <span>Cynthia Parker</span> Wed, 01/01/2020 - 01:48
It gets so cold in Minnesota that sometimes we have to light matches and thaw out the light bulbs so we can turn them off.
<span>Denise T</span> Mon, 12/30/2019 - 12:40
Just goes to show, you need a sense of humor to live in 'Cold Country'. LOL!
<span>Lise Chenoweth</span> Mon, 12/30/2019 - 09:41
I experienced 60 degrees below 0....In the hospital where I worked,we could not get the patients out of bed, and there was frost on the baseboards in the hospital.Walked home with a wool scarf over your nose in order to be able to breathe. The following year,I left for Hawaii and never returned to Canada!
<span>Jo</span> Mon, 01/15/2018 - 16:33
Yes, these stories are true. I live in Alberta. Just this past December, 2017 the temperature was a crispy -43c, between Christmas and New Years. Keep your car plugged in, so the battery stays warm, keep your pets indoors, hunker down until it warms up! And it always does!
<span>Gary</span> Sun, 01/14/2018 - 20:34
I lived in northern Minnesota on the iron range. One winter it was so cold that when people talked their word's froze as they tried to speak! When the thaw came in late July the whole range area was A thunderous roar of random word's being uttered!! I moved south to central Minnesota as I just couldn't take the cold any longer being 65 year's old. Much better here. It was only 17 below last night and tomorrow it is going to shoot up to 1 below!!