Winter Olympics How cold is it actually?

[Moondog55]

I have been watching naturally and I hear everybody talking bout how cold it is but I haven't heard an actual measured air temperature.
I know that the Korean peninsular can get very cold tho.
So does anybody have some data for the conditions there at the moment?
One of the reasons I ask is that I have seen some shots of Aussie visitors that look very cold and obviously under dressed but the locals do not look to be wearing clothing that is all than big and bulky and just looking at clothing levels I would have guessed about -25C

[Zapruda]

Not that cold, actually. Some Australians think its cold when they visit Canberra and its a balmy 15c...

https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/sou ... g/historic

[Moondog55]

OK At that temperature there will still be moisture in the air so it will feel colder and that does explain some things.

[Zapruda]

OK At that temperature there will still be moisture in the air so it will feel colder and that does explain some things.

Definitely, 91% humidity and with those lows the temperature would absolutely feel colder.

Similar to our mountains. The high humidity always makes me feel about 5 degrees colder than it is.

A decent summary.

A question often asked is, "What's the effect of humidity in cold weather?" According to most books, having a higher humidity makes our body evaporate less water, resulting in less cooling. If that theory is extrapolated to very cool conditions, it would say that a cold and moist atmosphere would result in a person not being as miserable as if it were a cold, dry atmosphere. But it is not so. The reason is that people wear clothing. To an unclothed person, it is probably correct that in the humid atmosphere you would not be as cold as in the dry atmosphere. But we wear clothing. Often, as the humidity in the air increases, the insulating value of clothing decreases because of the moisture captured on the fibers of the clothing. This is the wicking effect of moisture in clothing. It can greatly accelerate the heat loss through clothing. Even though the clothes do not appear wet, the humidity in the air may create a thin layer of moisture on the fibers and result in greater conduction, or transfer, of heat through the clothing.

The person who says, "The coldest I have ever been was that cold, windy day when the humidity was so high," probably is telling the truth. It probably is realistic that it was because of the humidity reducing the insulating value of the clothing rather than the direct humidity effect on heat transfer from a person if they were unclothed.

[GPSGuided]

Watched mogul finals over the last few days that ended past midnight Sydney time ie. 10pm in Korea. The commentators reported it was down to -17 deg C on the mountain with moderate wind. That's pretty serious I think. I have not heard any comments going past -20 deg C unless you add in wind chill. It would be pretty rough for the spectators who are standing in the open and then have to get back to their accommodation down the mountain. Been in -25C conditions in neighbouring NE of China and it wasn't fun to hang out.

[wildwanderer]

Its dam cold in winter especially with the wind chill. Its just the locals are hardcore and wear fairly lightweight clothing for the conditions. Its 0 to -15C in winter but 30C with high humidity in summer.

Ive visited in January (winter) and you see police and soliders at the tourist sites/govt buildings wearing nothing more than light pants and a jumper, standing at attention for hours. In a similar postion I would have frozen after the first 10 minutes.

Having said that. South Korea is an amazing place.(even in winter) highly recommend a visit.