MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) -- The temperature in International Falls, Minnesota, fell to a record 40 below zero Monday, just a few days after the northern Minnesota town won a federal trademark making it officially the "Icebox of the Nation."
It was so cold that resident Nick McDougall couldn't even get his car trunk lid to close after he got out his charger to kick-start his dead battery. By late morning, the temperature had risen all the way to 18 -- below zero.
(CNN)
Folks in Northern Minnesota use head bolt heaters (that's what we called them - CNN says engine block heaters) to keep the oil in their cars warm so the starter motor could turn the engine over. The heater's electrical cord hangs out through the grille, and you use an extension cable to connect that to a socket. In Duluth, my Dad had wires run in from the garage to the house so he could turn the heater on in the morning before he had breakfast, so the car would start when he was ready to go to work. International Falls is the only place I've ever been where they had electric sockets on the parking meters. Back in the day when folks had milk delivered to their doors, International Falls had heated milk trucks - to keep the milk from freezing.
I once knew a guy who was staying in a hotel in International Falls, on the fourth floor, who accidentally dropped his hat out the window. It was too cold to go outside and get it so he took a pitcher of water and poured down. The water made a long icecicle that froze to the hat, and he pulled the hat up with that.
OK, that last part is just made up. But the rest is true. International Falls is a really, really cold place.
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