Monday, 12:40 pm: It’s cold and clear. It only climbed above zero degrees Fahrenheit after 11:00 am. Even our hardy dogs didn’t accompany me when I was bringing arm loads of firewood for our stove. They comfortably watched me from the window. Luckily for me my wife had hot chocolate waiting for me when I was done. I have to admit they did try for a short time, but it was too cold for the pads on their feet.

Van Buren, which is about 12 miles away, has a new Cooperative Weather Observer station located at their waste-water treatment plant. We both had extremely low temperatures last night. Van Buren’s temperature was -17° [F.] and mine was -16.9° [F.]. Just being outside early this morning wasn’t for the faint-hearted. I waited until it warmed up to above zero to bring in firewood. Warming up to zero sounds so strange, but true.

My wife’s niece, Claudia, and her husband Christian and their daughters will fly to the Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands over the Christmas holidays. It is days like today, that travel option looks really good. Gute Reise! I don’t have to say button up and stay warm – enjoy the sunny beaches and warm weather.

Current values from our Davis Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 10.4° F / -12.0° C

Barometer: 30.20 in / 1022.6 hPa

Humidity: 51%

Wind: Calm

Visibility: > 3 miles

Skies: Clear

Precipitation: None

Since midnight:

Low temperature: -16.9° F / -27.2° C

High wind: 3 mph at 11:07 am