Now don’t laugh at me. It was cold up north in Arizona and on the reservation the last few nights. What would you do to stay warm during extreme cold, especially if you did not have any heat? We’re going to run through a few things to keep you, your family, and maybe even some of your friends warm and safe.
Prepare to Bug In
When temperatures drop, and the wind starts howling, you might start feeling anxious. As the temperature drops and the snow begins to fall, your home might feel like it’s closing in on you. It can be difficult to cope when the temperatures drop drastically, the wind howls, or it begins to snow outside. But, that’s not anything that a little preparation can’t solve! In this blog post, we will teach you five practical tips on how you can stay warm during extreme cold weather. These simple tips will help keep you safe from hypothermia and frostbite when it’s cold outside.
When it’s cold outside, stay inside.
Staying outdoors for prolonged periods can lead to hypothermia and frostbite, according to Joseph Basile, MD, MBA, FACEP, interim chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Staten Island University Hospital.
If you’re outside when it’s freezing outside, Basile suggests paying close attention to the warning signs and symptoms of hypothermia, which include:
- Shivering
- Exhaustion
- Confusion
- Memory loss
- Slurred speech and
- Drowsiness
Bundle up
If you have to venture out into the bitter cold, the best plan of action is to bundle up in layers. layers are a good idea because they trap air in between them. Doing so will provide insulation for heat. In addition, wearing a hat will prevent heat loss, but you want to make sure that any hat you wear also covers your ears. Another tip is to wear mittens instead of gloves. The gloves separate your fingers leaving them to get cold faster.
Make Your Home Warmer
Now that we have established that you really don’t want to go out, or at least you should try to be in a shelter, even if it’s a homemade, temporary shelter, there are things you can do to make your home warmer.
Make sure your windows are closed tight and sealed to keep the cold air out and the warmth in. If you have any cracks or openings, using caulking to seal them up will be a big help. Your hardware stores also have foam insulation that you can put around your windows. Installing storm windows will also help. Oh, and don’t forget to seal your doors as much as possible. If you don’t want to dole out the money to get a door draft stopper, towels, rags, or rolled-up rugs will work just as well.
Some additional suggestions for how to stay warm during extreme cold when you are home are below:
- Close off any unused rooms.
- Rugs or carpets on the floor will make it feel warmer.
- Add insulation in the attic and the crawl space
- Do some baking to heat up the house. Isn’t it time to bake some cookies or put a roast in the oven?
- Hang curtains. Keep them open when the sun is shining in and close them when the sun goes down.
Stay Warm During Extreme Cold
We have covered staying warm when going outdoors and how to stay warm during extreme cold. Next, we covered how to keep your house warm. But let’s go one step further and talk about how to keep you warm on the inside. What can you eat and drink to keep your innards warm? Not only does keeping yourself covered up keep you warm and toasty, but eating or drinking certain types of food can also keep you disease free and warm. Let’s look at seven types of food that will make you feel much more comfortable when it’s cold indoors.
- Nuts
- Ginger
- Whole Grains
- Soups
- Honey
- Hot Coffee / Hot Tea / Hot Chocolate
- Water
As always, check with your healthcare provider just to be safe.
Conclusion
While it doesn’t specifically pertain to staying warm, Prepare to Bug In also has an article on weather bomb preparation. Moreover, it gives you additional tips on other things you should do to prepare for when you are stuck inside your house. You need to cover all your bases. Not only do you want to stay warm during extreme weather, but you also need to survive. You never know how long that cold snap or winter storm will last. To prepare is to survive!
As a refresher, you can stay warm during extreme weather by staying inside whenever possible, bundling up if you do have to go out, making your home warmer, and warming up your body from the inside out.
Prepare to Bug In is a subsidiary of Borlok Virtual Assistants, LLC. Our mission is to learn as much as we can about bugging in and survival techniques and then to pass that information on to our readers. Enjoy!
