What is the coldest weather you have observed in?

Ed

32 degrees is cold enough for me!

 The coldest I recall ever observing in was back in January when the morning low was somewhere between -5° and 0° F.

That's easy. -55°F while filming Auroras, my bones can't handle that cold any more.
 

I live in New Hampshire the weather up here really is crazy, the coldest I have been out observing is -15F with a 10mph wind.

Every year we have an event that we call the Frozen Buns Event, we go out in January or February around new Moon, we dress like we are involved in an arctic expedition, all I can say is I'm glad we have a heated warming room that we keep at 50 degrees, I dont think I would attempt it,

Dennis 

johnm:

That's easy. -55°F while filming Auroras, my bones can't handle that cold any more.
 

Wow... sounds like an adventure with a cool story behind it already!

My coldest was in the late 1980's, went to visit my sister in Topsham Maine. Got so cold up there I shivvered so much my Dad in Florida got cold!!!

Really was probly around -15F

My entry will seem like a heat wave compared to the ones above.

My coldest so far has been about 32 degrees, but that will change Thursday night. Temperatures are forecast to be around 23 degrees, so that will be my coldest night of observing.

So far the 15 dg night a week ago has been the coldest since I started the hobby, but I'm sure I'll beat that later this month.

I can't imagine -55 F.  Coldest for me was in high desert at Joshua Tree where it got down to -2 C. Second coldest was an early morning hillside in February at Goldstone Observatory in Washington to observe the 1979 total solar eclipse. Don't recall the actual temperature but touching bare metal with bare skin was something to be avoided.

New low this week -4.  It was really not much fun.  It just makes everything much harder.

Ed 

Five degrees below zero Fahrenheit is my record.

Dave Mitsky 

-27 Fahrenheit about 6-7 years ago. Wasn't even too bad

I think the coldest for me was 28 degrees, to cold man just to cold.

Al

 -10 celcius last August/September and around here that is cold. I spent 15mins at a time outside and 30mins inside warming up. Invigorating, but kept me awake for hrs.

I guess it is all relative.  I have lived as far south as southern Texas (where freezing temps are excedingly rare) to here in Chicago were 0F is common.  Everyone always thinks that it is cold where they are.  When we lived in Texas we though it was frozen there if the temp got below 40F.  Now that we live in Chicago we think of that as mild.   

Personally -55 is just about as cold as I can imagine on Earth and would never, ever go out in that kind of temperature.  For me personally, 10F is the lowest I plan to go out in.  After that it is too cold to function easily.

 Maybe we should modify the question to be "What is the lowest temp that you would routinely go out in?"

Ed 

Nope!   30dg F , That's where I draw the line!   After that , the Astronomy books in front of the fireplace are in order....

 I wouldn't go out again for any length of time beyond -10C it is cold enough for me. Having done it once I know what to expect and will get better prepared. Hot chocolate and warmer socks, maybe even two pairs.

All in all, still a meaningless question. It's all relative to what you're used to.

I'm from the north, we regularly worked in minus 60-65F temperatures, by the thermometer, I won't even write what the wind chills can be in 60MPH winds.

Someone from milder climates or tropical regions could feel cold at plus 50F.

I found the following entry in my journal from 01/13/2007 at 05:15:

 "I brought out the telescope to try my new filters on Jupiter and look for McNaught's comet.  The comet was a "no show".  As I put the filters on the eyepiece, I found that the threads are so fine that it is easy to cross-thread them.  Screwed around with one for nearly five minutes before it threaded properly.  Meanwhile, I was freezing my***off as the temp this morning was 2' F."

I got a kick tonight, going back through my journal.  This was right after I got my first telescope and was new to the hobby.  Despite the cold, my entry indicates a successful viewing of Jupiter that morning.  Tonight, the temperature was 19' F and was cold enough to convince me to pack it up--along with developing wind and clouds.  

Some of the answers on here make me feel a bit of a wuuss! My coldest observing has been done at -7 C. I try and observe as many clear nights as humaly possible and the coldest conditions are usually the clearest.