How low? minus 15
Most people can't stand to be outside for more than a few minutes these days as temperatures have routinely dipped below zero with wind chills reaching as low as 20 below.
But try working outside for several hours every day.
Cranberry Township mail carrier Curt Latham is out on a daily basis, working a 22-mile route that includes an area near the township golf course and stretches to Route 19.
Likewise, Corey Robinson, a mechanic with the state Department of Transportation in Butler County, said he and his co-workers must often respond to plow trucks that need repairs, with calls sometimes lasting for the better part of a shift.
Both men said dressing appropriately is key to battling the frigid weather.
“The biggest thing is layers,” Robinson said. “Bunches of layers.”
Good overalls, boots and thick socks are necessities, he added.
Working on mechanical equipment has its challenges in cold weather, but Robinson said the most important thing is dressing to stay warm.
Latham, who's been carrying mail for more than eight years, agreed about dressing warm, saying he beats the cold by donning four layers when he steps outside.
He wears Under Armour sports clothing in addition to two sweatshirts and a heavy coat. He also wears two pairs of socks, thick boots and gloves to keep his extremities warm.
But the recent weather has been hard on even the most prepared workers.
Latham of Ellwood City said the recent cold spell is the worst he's had to endure. Not necessarily because it's the coldest, but because it's the longest.
“This is pretty close to the worst it's ever been,” he said. “There have been days here and there in the past that it's been awful, but we're going on an entire week now.”
Latham is classified as a rural carrier, which means he doesn't have to wear a uniform and he doesn't have to walk his route.Instead, he drives a postal vehicle, which poses another problem as secondary roads are often not cleared immediately after a snowfall.What's more, Latham said, is that he often has to get out of the vehicle to deliver larger parcels to residents' doorsteps.He estimated having to get out of his car about 50 times on any given route, a process that involves turning off his vehicle and losing all heat inside.“The heat dissipates pretty quickly,” he said.But even with a flushed face and freezing fingers, Latham said the cold doesn't hinder him. The cold isn't going away anytime soon so there's no use to complain about it, he said.“It's just a mindset,” he said.While the winter can be difficult, Robinson said it is part of the job.“In Pennsylvania, we get a little bit of everything,” he said.However, Robinson said the extreme cold brings different problems with equipment due to plowing snow.“Trucks will get a flat tire or fuel will gel up,” he said. “Plowing is hard on anything.”While working outside is unavoidable, the department has policies to prevent drivers from being stranded along with broken down trucks for an extended period.The mechanics work in shifts with three or four workers, which allows one of them to be available to respond when needed.Also, the department has a foreman at each of its salt stockpiles around the county who will respond to a disabled truck to pick up the driver until it's repaired.“The foreman is almost always the first to get to the scene,” Robinson said.Picking the driver up is key since repairs are sometimes a lengthy process.“It could take an hour to better part of the day,” Robinson said of repairs. “It depends on the call, really.”Jim Chesney, the postmaster in Cranberry, said his main concern is keeping his workers safe.The staff on a daily basis has a “circle meeting” in which they gather to talk about the weather and ways to stay warm and safe.“The first thing for us is ensuring their safety,” he said. “It's pretty easy to see if our carriers are dressed properly.”With 19 routes in Cranberry and another eight in Mars that Chesney oversees, it's a daily challenge for him to keep his carriers safe and relatively warm during the brutal winter cold.
The overnight temperatures in Butler County shattered the previous record of 2 below zero, which was set in 1936.Just after midnight, the thermometer at Butler County Airport read 8 below zero, and stayed there until dropping to 9 below at 3:15 a.m.Just before 6 a.m., the temperature dipped again, to minus 15. The hour-by-hour readings at the airport were:midnight — 8 below1 a.m. — 8 below2 a.m. — 8 below3 a.m. — 9 below4 a.m. — 9 below5 a.m. — 11 below6 a.m. — 15 below7 a.m. — 15 below8 a.m. — 11 belowOther, even lower temperatures were recorded around the county by the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh. Near Portersville, a temperature of 25 below zero — and that was without a wind chill factor — was recorded. Additionally, 20 below zero was recorded near Connoquenessing, 19 below was recorded near Harmony and 18 below was recorded near Saxonburg. The reading at Buffalo Elementary at 6:35 a.m. was minus 21.Last winter's lowest temperature was 11 below on Jan. 7.
