heat wave.

It was 24°F today! It felt so warm I actually decided to leave my coat, and mittens, and hat, and scarf, and snow boots in the car this afternoon and go into work after lunch without the "keep me warm" extra clothing. It was awesome. It felt so warm. Almost hot. When did 24° become warm?! So, lets see ... that means that from the low yesterday to the high today, we had a temperature swing of nearly 70° - only in North Dakota.

Speaking of the weather yesterday ... I did more research and I'm 99 percent sure that the various areas in North Dakota (most had temps around -44°F) yesterday were the coldest temperatures in the United States — by a lot. Yes, this is including all of Alaska. Wowzers. That's impressive. I feel empowered and brave all of a sudden.

For those of you who enjoyed my fun facts about 40 below temperatures, you might like this article (and video) from the Bismarck Tribune. The video is especially amusing - check out what bubbles, balloons and hot coffee do at 30-40 below.

I'm in the process of trying to document sun dogs. Check out that link - or wait for my report on them if you'd like my perspective. I've gotten so interested in the wonders of extreme cold weather I'm beginning to think I may be in the wrong career. Not really. Well maybe. Anyway, sun dogs are one of those things that you see all the time ... until you want to take a photo ... then you can't find them. I heard they were awesome yesterday but, (go figure) I was too wussy to go outside.

Tomorrow I'm driving 45 miles south to Linton, ND, to teach Corey's grandpa, 'Grandpa Andy' how to use a computer. It'll be a learning experience for both of us, I'm sure. I'm really looking forward to it. Maybe I'll even be lucky enough to catch some sun dogs on my drive.