The Arctic Chill - Part 2

It's nice with Dan Ray undoing you Crazy Boston's News Radio.

Well, let me just recap for those of you who have not been with us throughout the evening. We started off tonight and really talked with four interesting guests. In the first hour. We talked with a historian Jay L. Bell about President's Day and his President's Day and the story of the canons that the British troops went after in seventeen seventy five and the efforts that followed upon that of then George Washington, who was not president, coming to Massachusetts.

J L.

Bell will be doing a presentation on this in Cambridge, and if you missed the eight o'clock I he's one of the really interesting guests. We talked with Norman Smith, the rapto specialists of the mass Audubonne Society about these beautiful full Arctic owls that at this time of year literally migrate south. Uh. They it's it's to me, it's just an amazing to see these owls have actually seen. Uh the owls that that I'm referring to there, they're beautiful,

Uh.

They harp their harpoon hunters. They they they hunt bluefin tuna, which is extraordinary and else it does work on a with a foundation of children with a rare disease. All in the eight o'clock hour. Then we talked in the nine o'clock hour with one of my favorite guests, Professor Jeff Myron of Harvard University, and talked about the debt that we as a country have run up. It's getting close to thirty seven trillion dollars. That was an extraordinary hour.

Alice, Oh, Dan, I'm absolutely freezing. The thing that's getting me is the ice now. I think I mentioned on January twenty first, I slipped on the ice and I have a fraction to tell.

Uh.

So I have been I have been housebound. I don't think I'm going to go out till the spring whenever that happens.

So when you say you fractured your patella, how bad is it a hairline fracture or did you actually did the did the bone bifurcate?

Well, well, it's it's actually well bifurcated. But but I don't have to have surgery. But I'm in this grace. It doesn't really work, but I have to keep my legs straight, perfectly straight for.

Like, so are they are they hoping? Are they hoping that over time, without surgery, the bone will will re reform or re knit.

Well, little, it'll attached just like like like I guess in the olden days, they would put you in a cast and that would be you'd go you'd go crazy if.

Your whole leg was in a cast.

But it was like today, I was I was going absolutely nuts and I was just praying, understanding, God, I know that you care about me. And I start to think about the people like to have the fires and all this other stuff can't be that there. This isn't the worst thing in the world. And then all of a sudden, I mean, out of a clear blue the

But it was.

It was awful. But like when you're talking about the weather, I mean, I do go by the window and I look out, and I said, I don't know if I ever want to go out again, because you have this fear, you know, of slipping on the ice.

I will tell you I've had some extended, I should say, attenuated experience. My brother fractured his patella last June and he had to have surgery and it's a long recovery and it's only now getting to the point where it is recovering. So, boy, I wish you. It sounds to me like you might have lucked out because he he actually the kneecap split and he had to get actual, you know, surgery and then recovery and rehabilitation, and hopefully yours is going to be a little less problematic.

Well, I better not have surgery, because I said, my dance card is full. I have had I've had both my knees replaced. And so some of the Oh I thought you had your knees to replace, how come you because they leave that.

Oh, so I did not realize that. So the so the the the new mechanical knee still has a your actual.

Potlio Yeah, yeah, well.

Please please please please be careful and hopefully whatever you have to do, you can get back to it. And uh, I don't know, look, run the risk here of slipping and sliding, and and I'm sure that there are people today who slipped and slid and hurt themselves. It's it's been a miserable month of February. And I still am hoping that someone can grab a farm, an old farmer's

Again, do you believe in that?

I mean no, I don't believe in that. I don't believe in it, per se. I think it's fun to read, but your long they have a tough time forecasting the weather three days at advance, never mind a year.

Just like just like the what's his name, Punkture Johnny phil Oh, yeah, well.

That's that's a you know, I've listened. Someone said that he's wrong like seventy eight percent of the time or something like that, which I don't say. If he sees his shadow, that means more winter. If he doesn't see his shadow, that seems opposite. If he sees his shadow, the sun might be out. I think that's all like the chamber, that's the chamber of commerce, and it's it's like when you read your horoscopes. You ever read your horoscope in the paper, and it's you know today will

Yeah, you know, did I think about you with stuff like that? Because about the Red Sox do you think do you ever ready? How are we gonna do? Are the Red shows?

Oh?

I think? I think the signing of Bregman is great. I mean, he's he is a really good player. But now they have a little bit of a controversy because Raffie Devers apparently does not want to be a d H.

I know, did you hear Alli just said you're gonna do it?

DH?

No, No, he's very clear. It was Dan Shaughnessy who was asking him the questions. And you know, it's funny in the old days, In the old days, before twenty eighteen, you'd have all three major TV stations down there covering it. You know, you know, Dan Roach should be down there from Channel four and you know whoever it was at Channel seven and the old days would be John Dennis or whatever, and I'm dating myself there and Channel five

He and I hope that I want to go up to Worcester. Now, your son does something up there, doesn't He isn't in charge of the start.

For many years, he was the general manager of the past Socks and the Red Sox. That team has been purchased now by a venture a private equity company. Uh. And he has moved on to another position outside of baseball. But you know the poll he was very much involved for Well. He was the general manager. Uh, worked for Larry Lukeino and Larry passed away last spring. And she know about the same time that this venture capital company

UH.

And I just think that he felt that there was not going to be as much of an opportunity with the venture capital company as there was with Larry Lucino. He had worked he had worked for for Larry when they were with the Red Sox together, and went with Larry to Protucket and then was instrumental in persuading Larry that that the days in Patucket. You know, the politicians in Rhode Island were difficult for the pass Socks to work with. They wanted to rehabilitate McCoy Stadium, but the

Now, back to Dan ray line from the window World of Nice Sight studios on WBZ News Radio.

All right, let's keep it rolling. We go to Glenn and Brighton, Glenn, welcome back. How are you, Sarah? A little chilly out there in bright tonight, I'll bet.

You, uh yeah. The reason I'm calling I told to see a producers in the substitute. I told, is this the wind this winter river or the windiest winter river. There's a difference.

I think maybe both could be both. Glenn with the wind, the temperatures twenty and with the wind forty fifty miles an hour, it feels like it's below zero.

So that's my feeling.

I'm not an expert. We had Isaac Longley from accu weather on last year.

I don't know if you heard him or not, but yeah I did.

It was just, you know, it's crazy, it's crazy, what you what we're dealing with. And I still hope that someone out there has an old farmer's almanac who can tell me, I know what they predicted for this February. You know that goes on sale like in the summertime, you know, for the next winter. And I would love to know if they were accurate. Let's give them credit. If they weren't accurate. Let's give them some.

I know, well, I don't think faith. I'm the one got to talk to. I have no faith in the farmer's home. Like you say, we can't predict weather four days ahead, We're going to predict weather a year ahead.

Yeah, no, I know what. But it's it's fun, you know, to read it.

Then you say, you know when you're really young, said Tony Phil It's something to do. It is.

And it's also like during the look during the fall, there are a whole bunch of things where they say if the squirrels you're gathering nuts and and and you know early, or if they got a lot of fur. You know, there are all these they kind of like what you call you know, I guess theories that.

Well, it may or may not work, but I was hoping. I was hoping. I'm almost as much time as the last colony because I have quite a bit to say on the weather ahead. Keep going going, well, it started after Christmas. I just noticed I'll put on bezy and I'll hear Emma Freeman say it's thirty two degrees potential, say the wind who is nineteen and this is in the day. So I want I just I don't ever recall the wind show being this persistent. Now I was yesterday.

Was he like a featured speaker or something there?

Yeah, well, yeah, he was a guest speaker.

Oh good, okay, yeah, he was in the garden. What role was it? What was what role did he play in The Godfather?

You know? He told me, and I can't remember. I was too busy drinking my chardon eye, but that's.

Okay. He kind of was w So you you braved, you brave the weather yesterday to do that, which is good. That's a good thing.

Well that's new Englanders. I mean eight inches of snow. I mean I remember two years ago we had a blizard on a weekend. It was like no, actually it was twenty twenty two. It was three years ago. It was the late January we had.

We've had a couple of real easy winters. The last I find out my driveway plowed once last winter, and I don't think I had it plowed once the winter before. And this year you mentioned couple you missed.

You keep mentioning fifteen. You said the middle of I think it was the end of January. I remember it was Monday, January twenty sixth because my birthday is January twenty thirty, and it was in the forties, and there was no snow on the ground. Three days later, around four thirty in the afternoon, it started to snow light and it didn't stop till the end of March week.

My recollection is somewhat different, and maybe people will either. I think that was around January nineteenth twentieth when it started, and it was pretty much over by the end of February, because if you think it went through the end of March, I don't have that recollection, but I'll see what people say gonna. I may look it up during the news break here at the bottom of the hour, but I'd love to hear what people have to say on it, to be honest with you.

Yeah, twenty twenty fifteen got we we were home free, and then all of a sudden we just got dumped on for two weeks.

No, you and I agree totally. We were home free. There was nothing in November, not that it often is. Nothing in December, and we got through at least half of January, and it looked like we're all set. You think it started on the twenty sixth. I think it's maybe a week beforehand, but I think it wrapped up at the end of February. I don't know if I could find that for.

Certain, but I remember it because my birthdays on the twenty third.

All right, Well, let's see. Maybe someone out there will either say, yeah, Dan, you're right, or Glenn was right. You said your birthday's on the twenty sixth, and that's what twenty third started.

Twenty third You pinted on the twenty third.

I think it was just a little earlier than that. But well, we'll know.

I've pinted on the twenty six three days after my birthday is one?

You got the twenty sixth. I think it's earlier. We'll figure that out, and hopefully someone will call us with the Farmer's.

Almanac, so I have a photographic memory.

Well, we will see. We'll get an answer. Glenn that that's the.

Me you can. Steve Wavelli used to ask me what temperature was the last time Gary for Woolburn called, and I told you he looked it up and I was right.

I stand in admiration. So let's we'll see coming up with my break here and we'll we'll figure it out. I'm gonna I'm gonna get I will get information and I'll report right after the news break here at the bottom of the hour.

Fair enough, all right, all right, thanks Glenn, Thanks, thank you too, good night.

All right, we'll take quick break. I got some wide open lines here six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty or six point seven nine three, one ten thirty. Tim in Winthrop was going to be first up on the other side of the break. Do you do you The general question is do you remember a colder February in your lifetime here in New England? And I don't care whether you're in Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire doesn't matter. I think it's been brutally cold

Night said right after this, It's Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.

All right, let's uh. I got some information here. Okay, So new England record snow track of Boston breaks all time seasonal snow record twenty fourteen to twenty fifteen. We know that, Okay, one hundred and eight point six inches of snow officially mark making the twenty fourteen twenty fifteen season the all time snowy season in the city. Okay, so one hundred and ten point six inches is the record. Okay, this seems a little inconsistency by a couple of inches,

Yeah?

I got two points. According to the other network, the Weather Channel, they we're talking on the weekend, and this is not us, Rochester, New York has had eighty seven days straight of a cold snap. That's a record for them.

Well, but here's the deal. That's what everybody knows. Rochester, New York.

We know that. I just want to get and Boston, according to them, has had sixty two days of the longest coat snap ever for us. Right now, we're in it right now.

Really, I didn't know that. And how did they define Okay, how do they define? Tim?

If you know, forty degrees, it has to be forty degrees twenty four?

Hold on, hold on, all right, So it's under forty forty degrees or under is what you're saying.

Yeah, but it has to be forty degrees for the whole day. That's what they said, because it was like that a couple of years ago.

And but but they last you go, whoa, Tim? Slow down?

Right?

Slow right? You must have watched the Daytona five hundred yesterday. Slow down?

I like that.

What do you mean it's got It's gonna be under forty degrees for the entire day, is what I think.

Yeah, for most of the day, that's what he was saying. I couldn't understand what when he meant, well, I kind.

Of understand what you're saying. Tim. What I'm saying is I thought you originally we're trying to say it has to be exactly forty degrees for the entire day. No, what you're trying to say is it doesn't reach forty degrees for the entire day.

Maybe right, No, No, no, it has to be forty for the entire day, that's what he said.

Okay, so so at no point during the day does it ever get to thirty nine degrees? Is that what you're telling me?

No, it gets a thirty, it gets the thirty nine, but it has to go over forty for a complete day. That's what he was saying.

No, Tim, I didn't want to I get you, Tim, Tim listening, but please think what you just said to me. It has to go over forty. Is that what you just said?

Yeah, for a whole day, that's what he said. That's what Paul. Well, I'm not going to mention the guy's name, so it.

Could be so it could be forty eight degrees, and it's if it's over forty that's what you're telling me.

Well, he was saying, But I'm saying what he I'm just for beating what I said.

No, he's what I think you're trying to say. Let me help you out. I think what you're saying is that for the entire day, the temperature cannot exceed forty degrees. So it could be thirty six in the morning, thirty eight at noontime, maybe being forty degrees, and then it drops back and so that would be the first day of the cold snap. If it goes over forty degrees, then the cold snap is snapped. How long have we been under forty degrees? As far as you.

Know, we've been on a forty degrees he said, sixty five days as of two days ago. This is Sunday on they do a special show.

So is the heat. I hate it.

It's weather rech out. It's in the morning. I don't know the general's name. First name is Paul, and they mentioned Boston, they mentioned Worston.

Tim Tim, I've never had this difficulty having a conversation with you. Just listen to my question. Okay, I'm asking simple questions and if you hear the question, you can answer. And if you don't know the answer, tell me. Okay, some guy here, so you're saying that you watched some program on television called Weather Recharge.

Correct?

Okay, what station was that program?

Whether that's on the Weather Channel or the Weather Channel?

Okay, And they're saying, and they said that in Boston or did they say Massachusetts?

What did they say they said in Massachusetts?

Okay? Yeah, well, I don't know. Sixty five days, tim correctly, that's a long will take us back if today was the.

Sixty fifth day before christener.

Take us back to yeah, well into Christmas before Christmas, that's possible. That's possible, I guess.

But he said it's the longest cold snap right now, and some of those guys in Boston are saying the same thing, like this is what they can remember. I'm sixty eight. This is the longest cold snap that I can remember. How about you? Dan?

Well? According to an article that I'm looking at from the Weather Channel, which was produced or weather dot com excuse me, which I've found here now again, this came out in twenty fifteen. It said in terms of what we're talking about, which is the longest day. In twenty fifteen, Boston had failed to reach forty degrees, which is what we're talking about, from January twentieth through March third. So that was a record streak of forty three consecutive days record.

I agree with, you're right, Yeah, you're right.

We'll see. Maybe he said, Maybe he said thirty five days. I don't know. We'll figure out.

I could have meant, he could have meant the whole Massachusetts. I don't know what he meant, but.

Why All right, Tim, But thank you for that for those clarifications.

One more thing outside of that, it says before I go, it says, my phone says two more weeks of this and let's see what happens. I'm not going to go there. But the other thing with the Red Sox is I'm not bullish on them because what the Dodgers are doing, they're ruining baseball. They're spending so much money. I like the bregmant thing, but the Red Sox are not being thea to the fans because now they charge pay per view for their network, for their local network. That's not

But what players would you replace? Tim? What? What Red Sox players are you looking? Dan?

We need pitchers.

You got seven starting pitchers right now.

We need to all of these status. At least.

Gelato is pretty good. Crochette, the guy from the White Sox pretty good.

Yeah, but we can't compare to the Yankees of the Dodgers. They got all this well, we used to complain about Sky.

Let's play the season to see how they do. Tim Okay, I got to run, Tim.

I just don't want the Dodgers to ruin baseball because the ratings on baseball are horrible right now without the Yankees and Red Sox.

Tim, this has been a really interesting phone call, and I think we should end it right now. Thanks very much, doctor. Later we covered the waterfront. Will take a break, I promise, And I'm told that Sean has the Old Farmer's Almanac. And if any of you would like to join the conversation and actually have a conversation, I'm available at six, one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty. Had a couple of little frustrations there with Tim, who normally is pretty much he was wound up tonight.

Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.

Let's go to the man who has the Farmer's Almanac. Sean, bail me out here. How are you, buddy?

I'm good Dan, How are you today?

Sir? Good? So what does the Farmer's Almond? Is it the Farmer's Almanac of the Old Farmer's Almanac? I always get that mixed up.

I think it's the Old Farmer's Almanac. And I just went on Google and they do give you a summary too, instead of having to pay for the subscription. I just pull up the summar quip, which I thought you'd find interesting.

Let's hear it all right.

So Region one is the Northeast. That's basically mass Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, in eastern New York. The prediction is there is always cold and snowy. That's no brainer. But we're predicting a gentler the normal season that's not so rough and tough. Then is how cold the winter be winter temperatures will be about average overall. January expected to be about four degrees above average, but the oldest periods will be mid December in late February.

Well, I don't think they nailed it then, Oh man, I think that they tried to sort of cover themselves. But what was that first sentence that you read.

They're predicting a gentler the normal season that's not so rough and tough.

I think that's where they blew it. I mean, obviously it's funny when they write that. It's always sort of open to some form of interpretation. But of course was not a gentler season. The month of February has not been It's been brutal. It's been brutal.

And yeah, the final, the finals. In the as will there be snow, it says yes, there'll be plenty of snow. However, precipitation in snowfall will be slightly below normal by about one or one half percent. The snowiest periods, it's important. The snowiest periods will be in early December, mid February, in early March.

Well, if it really keeps going here, okay, i'll take, I'll take. I'll give them the mid February. But if all of a sudden we've seen the end of the snow and it's just going to be cold weather. The big story is not that the storm, the snow we've gotten has not been overwhelming. This is not twenty fifteen, this is twenty twenty five. But the cold has been overwhelming, there's no question.

Sure. The wind exactly.

Oh, I mean today it was howling. It was howling. I I was outside for like maybe two minutes and it was like, let me back inside. Yeah, brutal. How is it up in Beverly. I'm sure you're on the water up there. It has to be tough up there today.

Yeah.

You see the signs, the street signs are blow in, the lamp post are blowing, which is that's pretty heavy for this air. Even so, it was, it was definitely substantially that had to be pretty much bundled up all the way.

All right, seanppreciate you you're grabbing that for me. That was very kind of you to do. I really do appreciate it. Thank you much good I do, thank you, sir. I got a couple of open lines, come on, fill them up. Six one, seven, two, five, four, ten, thirty six one, seven, nine, three, one, ten thirty. This the coldest winter you ever remember. It's the coldest winter for me. Let me see what Rick and Bill Ricker says. Rick, am I on the money? Or what do you do?

Oh, I agree, it's it's more like cold Rica. Yeah.

I like that.

Yeah that was dead. It's been incredibly cold. My only recollection of thinking about cold winters was in two thousand and seven. I don't know if it extended into February, but it was January or February. I remember I was. I was at my parents' house. I was still living with them, and there was stra a couple of stray cats, well one that I knew for sure, and there was another beautiful cat that used to come and see me at night and I'd feed him, and it was so

And what we call feral cats.

One of them is that never I could never grab her, but she used to see me. This this other one may have had a place to stay. Looked really good. But he didn't have a call her and he was always out in the freezing at night. And but cats have a high metabolism. They can stand the cold, you know, because they stay warm somehow through their high metabolism. But I was so aware read I just said, I'm putting this cat in the shelter. It's curious.

I'm just curious. How were you able to get the cat? The federal cat wouldn't come close enough to to grab him right or grab her.

Well, this this is I believe this was a This was a boy and I was able just to put this guy in a in a in a cat thing. So it may it may have had an owner, but I tried to put the word out and uh, there was never a caller. And so.

So understand I'm trying to stay here. So you you get the cat, and you you scoop the cat. Out and you put him in your car, and you at least give him the warmth of the car at night. Did you ever think about bringing him into the house or.

No, Well, I couldn't have. At the time, I couldn't have. It wasn't my host, you know, I couldn't record. But yeah, I got I didn't have an option. But I just remember I remember putting the cat in in a shelter, and I found out that a nice, an older woman adopted him, and I visited him before he was adopted. He was pissed at me. He wouldn't even look I mean was he was not happy with me. But it was so cold. It was so cold like right now. But I don't know if it's just I'm reminded of

Did you know so you brought him to the shelter. Was he upset that you brought him to the shelter? Is that is that?

Well?

The cat was pretty the cat was pretty easy, you know. I was able to deal with the cat easily and brought him to the shelter. And I tried, like a couple of weeks putting up signs and no, I get that.

I get that. So he was your He was your cat on a temporary basis. Good for you.

Yeah, he used to come at night. He was a dog, a beautiful cat, and I had the cat was more like a dog. He used to run to me. And but I was so afraid with this brutal cold, it could have even killed a cat, and the cat probably would have survived fine, but it was a good looking cat, and I didn't want it to become ragged. It may have been left behind by a family that had moved or something, but there was no indication of it. Always ticks me off from people don't put collars on their animals.

You did a good thing. You took care of the cat under some difficult circumstances, and the fact that he ended up with an adoptive home. That's a great story.

No, thank you, thank you. And like I said today, with my house here, I could then I could grab up a cat and to take the cat on if it was if it looked like it was it was really roughing it outside and it was too much, I could help it. I couldn't at the time. It wasn't my place. I just want to quickly add. So that's

Yeah.

Well I remember the first one. I mean I remembered that first one. That's why I thought about it.

Yeah, absolutely, you're talking about the January twenty third, the really one that mocked that season.

Oh, I remember the big one, but I remember the one being forward and it just kind of started, that's all. It was so simple that's right. That's that's how it got going. So maybe I'm I'm more on the money than Glenn was, because Glenn was insisting it was the twenty sixth or or yeah.

I mean, I don't even know. I thought it was. I knew it was. I knew it was into the twenties, all right, it could have been. Yeah, but that was a big window. Another big winter was twenty ten to twenty eleven. That was a huge winter. And that was all all right, Rick, I'm gonna.

Let you run here. Man, I'm flat out. I think I'm one more call. I going to try to sneak in. Okay, Thanks, Rick, appreciate it. Thanks, talk to you soon. Good night. All right, Dan, if you get that one of the call, let's wrap them up here real quickly. Put the name up and let's go. Mike. We're gonna give you a real quick minute or so, go ahead, Mike.

Oh listen a minute. Dan, I'm just curious. So this last hour doesn't interest me. Maybe you know, obviously some people called and were interested, but we can't change the weather. Move to Florida, take a ten day vacation. I like the season.

So what would you like to have talked about this hour, Mike, what what other than what would you like to what would you like to have talked about?

Well, I'm not complaining. I'm not complaining. I don't call it a complaint, but just a suggestion when you're planning your program. The professor that was on was very interested. Uh, you had a lot of callers there. Why was opening on nine to eleven? Two hours would have been great?

Well, I'll tell you why, Mike. Let me explain to you why sometimes when you're a professor at Harvard you sometimes have classes the next day. You know, Mike, you should you should apply for a job as a producer and you can help us out here. Any suggestions you want to make are always welcome. Uh. The comment that you made to start off with, certainly end of the program, which I thought was a pretty good program on a bit of a hour. No, but I appreciate you calling nonetheless.