Missouri vs Philadelphia: Winter Weather

People kind of roll their eyes at me when I head out in the winter weather in only Mizzou hoodie and maybe some fingerless mitts and roll out my usual line "Oh please, I'm from Missouri."  But it's true.  Coming from Missouri, I'm used to much harsher winters than we get here in Philadelphia.

I was reminded of this last night when the West Philly knitting group broke up for the night, and Elizabeth put on her scarf, mittens, cuffs, and winter coat, and I threw on my... Mizzou hoodie and fingerless mitts.  She exclaimed, "Is that ALL you have?!?!" "Yep.  I'm from Missouri."

When we got to the corner where we usually part ways (we walk about halfway home, because she lives near me), we talked for about ten minutes until she finally said, "Okay, I'm sorry, but I'm FREEZING!"  I said, "Oh, okay.  I'm sorry.  You have to tell me these things because this kind of weather honestly doesn't faze me at all."

I was reminded again of the difference tonight when an acquaintance posted to Twitter that her school already cancelled classes for tomorrow.  Snow had only started to fall an hour prior to her post!  The forecast is for 4-6", but who knows what we might actually get!  I called Mom to tell her that schools here were already cancelling, and we laughed.

Meanwhile, in Kansas City, there are seven inches of snow on the ground, the forecast for tomorrow is a wind chill of -15º to -20ºF (yes, that's 15-20ºF BELOW zero), and they have NOT called off school yet.  Also, here's what the handbook from my former grammar school says about the recess policy (I was looking at the handbook earlier this week trying to find out if the school still has open classrooms like they did when I went there, or if they have walls now; I don't generally make it a habit to go around checking out school handbooks):

• +6º F and above     May have full outdoor recess
• +5º F to -14º F       May have shortened outdoor recess
• -15º F and below   Must have indoor recess

*These guidelines are based on the wind chill index

So, see - truly, I come by my winter heartiness naturally!